Altec Lansing Orbit speaker review

Can a portable speaker sound that good?

25 October 2007 11:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Portable speakers need to be small if they are going to be truly portable. They should also allow you to share the music with the most people at a picnic or something.

In steps the Altec Lansing Obit, a small round speaker that promises to give 360 degree sound to include everyone.

According to Altec Lansing the sound quality is achieved by the company's "Fusion 360" technology that integrates a cone design with a custom-built Altec Lansing speaker to project a 360-degree sound field.

The small speaker takes 3 AAA batteries and in-keeping the portable moniker there is no in-the-box charger, nor the chance to add one either.

Keeping things simpler still the speaker is turned on and off by twisting the speaker anticlockwise and the small 3.5mm connected cable is suitable for the iPhone with its recessed headphones socket.

Amazing for something so small, it actually sounds very good and we were very impressed by the performance of the Obit. Even better it works with the iPhone because of the longer 3.5mm speaker connector.

Verdict

Of course this isn't going to fill a party with noise, but then its not designed for that. What it is designed for is sharing your MP3 player music on the go at a picnic, hotel room or merely anywhere where you can throw an impromptu party. And for that its pretty cool.

This has got to be one of the smallest speakers we've seen on the market that actually performs.

We love it.

Score

Review Recap

Made by: Altec
Price as reviewed: £30
The good: 360 degree sound, size, weight
The bad: Only one speaker, no AC charging option
Quick verdict: This has got to be one of the smallest speakers we've seen on the market that actually performs
Score
Winner