9 August 2007 9:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Parrot, the makers of all things Bluetooth, are pushing their credentials even harder with the launch of the Parrot Party, a light and compact mobile wireless speaker. But can the sound impress as much as the company's BoomBox? We get listening to find out.

Small, compact and shaped like a dog bone - it's about the size of a drinks flask - the main focus of the Parrot party, is that it allows you to send your music to it from any Bluetooth Stereo (A2DP) music source such as a mobile phone, MP3 player or PC with just one click and then enjoy the results.

This isn’t Parrot's first wireless speaker – their Sound System and Boombox have previously been launched in the UK, but it is their first portable offering, and at 23cm long, weighing 620 grams and with a 4-hour rechargeable battery it is certainly that.

Despite being lightweight, the Parrot Party delivers surprisingly good sound performance via the Class D-amplifier and two 2 x 3 Watt wide-band speakers.

In addition to the normal mode, there are two sound features which promise you more for your money; "Stereo Widening", which enlarges the stereophony, and "Virtual SuperBass" which promises to reinforces the bass frequencies.

In practice and they do add something to the overall noise, however neither should be the main reason for buying the Parrot Party. We aren't sure why they bother with the choice apart from then saying you've got two more buttons to press. Hey if it's good you are going to want it on all the time.

If you don’t have a Bluetooth Stereo enabled device then you can still play your music wirelessly by using a dongle, and there is a line-in port too.

Verdict

At £80 we were very impressed with the Parrot Party. It's easy to use, sounds great for the money and means you can share you phone's music at the touch of a button when you are out travelling or on a picnic.

The sound is no match for the Parrot's BoomBox offering, but then it isn't supposed to be. However what it is better than, is the usual ropey half way offerings around the £50 mark.

Score

Review Recap

Made by

Parrot

Price as reviewed

£79.99

The good

Sound, portability, uses rechargeable batteries

The bad

White plastic look is a bit dated, two "sound technology" buttons are a bit of a gimmick

Quick verdict

It's easy to use, sounds great for the money and means you can share you phone's music at the touch of a button when you are out travelling or on a picnic

Score

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