AsiaPower PowerSound 405 Bluetooth Speaker Review – A tiny little surprise!

Bluetooth speakers are more of a matter of convenience. They are handy, easy to carry around and clutter free. My wife loves listening to her playlist while in kitchen or when indulging in her hobbies or at work and she loves the wireless speakers for the fact she can carry her music around. There are many like her and you can even toss the speakers into your handbag and travel. So wireless speakers are increasingly getting popular and even getting better at delivering good audio. Today, we have a tiny little Bluetooth speaker at our review desk and this one is from AsiaPower, a Mumbai headquartered company which is a joint venture with Powercom Co. Ltd, Taiwan. Before we get into the fine details of the PowerSound 405 speaker, here is what it offers.

• 3 Watt speaker
• A2DP function
• Bluetooth connectivity
• Aux in function
• Speakerphone function
• 400mAh battery
• More than 2 hours music playback
• 10meters range
• Water resistant rubber oil finish

Design and build quality – Tiny little Cone

The PowerSound 405 is really small. Smaller than the smallest of the coffee cup I have in my kitchen. So it doesn’t need a second description of how portable it is. You can sneak it easily into your hand bag without worrying about the extra space or weight. It weighs 141grams. It just need a teeny little space to keep it anywhere. It also sports an interesting conical design with a nice looking triangle facet on the sides. It reminds me of the conical drums. The body is made of rubberized material which gives the extra grip and also has a nice texture to it. It also could easily handle the occasional bumps and falls it might encounter without any problem. The bottom side of the speaker houses the controls and we have the power switch as well as play/pause button, call button and two buttons that doubles forward/backward for tracks as well as volume controls. Going with the triangle design language on the facet, event the buttons are carved out in similar geometrical pattern. There is also a thin, black rubber strip which is more to shield the bottom from the dust and scratches. On the bottom of the side, you find the aux-input, USB port for charging as well as a microphone. There is also a small status indicator tucked in the sides (you can see it glowing in one of the pictures above) and a vertically written logo is not screaming on the face. The top has the speaker grille and inside nests the 3W speaker and the PowerSound 405 does not deliver a 360degreee sound experience and hey, we cannot expect that either in this tiny little speaker box.

On the march, get,pair, listen

Pairing the PowerSound 405 is a breeze. Once your Smartphone is paired, the next time the speaker auto connects when the Bluetooth is on at your device. When you power on the speaker, there is a sound indicator which is neither loud nor meek, and the bluish status indicator blinks awaiting a Bluetooth connection. Once a bluetooth relationship is maintained, the indicator light steadies. A short press on the volume / next track buttons shift the tracks and a long press adjusts the volume. The buttons are quiet responsive and though both the functions were put into the same button, it did not falter when performing.

What about performance?

Frankly, I did not had much expectation when I first saw this little fellow. It also happens, when we have least expectations, there is surprise awaiting at times. It was a moment of surprise when I played the first song and it also happened that the first listen had crisp vocals and a wonderful string instrument to begin with, which the PowerSound 405 capably delivered to its good ability. Immediately, it was evident the 405 is good at trebles. The vocals are crisp and the clarity neat. If your kind of music is bass-heavy, you will be disappointed with the PowerSound 405, this is simply not meant for you. I really liked the sharpness of the individual notes and the clarity the PowerSound 405 could throw. Being a small speaker, it cannot fill the room for a party but for your family and especially for an individual soul casually unwinding or engaged at work simultaneously listening to music, this works.  Sound is consistent and clear and may be there is this slightest hint of tininess on high notes but not particular to crib about. I don’t like attending calls on a Bluetooth speaker but for the sake of testing when I did try, the first call I attended and I could hear the PR friend telling me, she can’t hear me. Though later, few more calls went through OK but I would stick to just listening music with this speaker. The box claims a 10meter working range and when I tested it, it worked to that claim but without any walls to break in. A wall could disturb the range.4 A small body also means less space for battery, so the speaker squeezes in just a 400mAh battery with a listed playback timing of 2 hours and our tests yielded a good a little more than 3 hours at 50% volume. So if you are outdoor, you might have to carry a powerbank and a small consolation, small battery charges up fast  and also your powerbank probably has a better capacity to fire it for multiple times.

 To buy or not

The PowerSound 405 comes at a MRP tag of Rs 1,999 but I found it selling in the range of Rs. 1,599 to Rs 1,099 at e-commerce sites and at those price points it definitely is worth a buy. If your kind of music is not thumping bass and is a mix of rich vocals and mid-range, PowerSound 405 is a good buy at this price for its size. The music might not be filling but has an air of crispness and rich clarity.]]>