Cambridge SoundWorks Oontz Curve Bluetooth speaker review: A wireless speaker that’s a relative bargain at $30
The Cambridge SoundWorks Oontz Curve has some shortcomings and isn’t head and shoulders above the rest of tiny budget Bluetooth speaker world, but you’re not going to do too much better for $30.
Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET’s Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He’s also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Nook e-books and audiobooks.
I’m not sure why Cambridge SoundWorks named its smallest Oontz Bluetooth speaker the Curve, but like the company’s other Oontz speakers it sports a direct-to-consumer budget price tag that’s made it a popular item on Amazon. While the list price for the Curve is $59.99, the online price is currently $29.99, which is about as affordable as it gets for a Bluetooth speaker.
Cambridge SoundWorks Oontz Curve Bluetooth speaker
The Good
The very affordable Cambridge SoundWorks Oontz Curve is a compact wireless Bluetooth speaker that has a built-in rechargeable battery, offers relatively decent sound for its tiny size, has speakerphone capabilities, and has transport controls on the unit itself.
The Bad
Can distort at higher volumes; battery life is only OK at 5 hours; glossy finish is eye-catching but attracts fingerprints.
The Bottom Line
Cambridge SoundWorks’ Oontz Curve has some shortcomings and isn’t head and shoulders above the rest of the tiny budget wireless Bluetooth speaker world, but you’re not going to do too much better for $30.
What I liked about the Curve is that it’s got some heft to it — it doesn’t feel like a cheap speaker — and seems well built (it weighs in at 9 ounces). I’m not sure how much I dig the design; it’s a bit shiny and for some reason made me think of Darth Vader’s helmet. But if nothing else, it’s eye-catching and the speaker comes in a couple of different metallic color options with additional colors coming soon.
If you read the reviews on Amazon, people seem to love this little guy, and it does sound as good — and play as loud — as competitors that cost twice as much. However, it’s not without some shortcomings.
With some tracks I played it sounded good, relatively speaking anyway. But with other tracks the Curve got bent out of shape and distorted badly at medium to high volumes. It just doesn’t handle certain bass frequencies well (it had a hard time with the bass line of Wayne Wonder’s «No Letting Go,» for example). It can also give more complicated music a harsh edge that will make critical listeners cringe.
These speakers can output some bass, but unsurprisingly, they sound thin compared with larger speakers. They’re strongest in the midrange, so vocals and acoustical material come across best. It’s also worth mentioning that it has a built-in speakerphone, which works well, and a set of transport controls on the unit itself. Most people will use a smartphone or tablet to control music playback, but some like having a Pause/Play button on the speaker itself. That’s here.
Other speakers in this category include the Divoom Bluetune-Solo , which has both an audio input and an audio output, so it can double as a Bluetooth transceiver for your home stereo (the Oontz Curve has an audio input and comes with a cable for connecting non-Bluetooth devices). There’s also the JBL Micro Wireless and HMDX Jam Plus , which is a little bigger than the Curve but similar in shape. They all sound very similar. Of the three, I like the design of the JBL Micro Wireless, but it does cost $60. The Divoom and HMDX units cost less, but they’ll still run you $10 or $20 more than the Curve.
Battery life is rated at 5 hours, which is only OK, though you can do better if you play your music at lower volumes. The speaker charges via Micro-USB (a cable is supplied).
A carrying pouch is not included. That would have been a nice addition considering that if you want to preserve the shiny finish — yes, it does show fingerprints — you’ll probably need to protect it when you stick the speaker in a bag with other items that might scratch it.
Conclusion
Don’t me wrong, while I sound a little critical of the Curve, I think it’s a decent deal. It isn’t considerably better than the rest of the tiny budget speakers out there, but you’re not going to do too much better for $30. Just don’t come in expecting to get incredible sound for that money and you should be happy with the Curve.
Review: Cambridge Soundworks OontZ XL Bluetooth Speaker
Our appreciation for Cambridge Soundworks dates back years before Apple released the first iPod — a time when the company’s affordable multimedia speakers frequently outperformed more expensive rivals. Though Cambridge had a somewhat rocky time with its iPod docking speakers, it recently entered the Jawbone Jambox-style portable Bluetooth speaker market with the OontZ lineup — a series of three compact, battery-powered speakers that gave up fancy materials in order to compete aggressively with the Jamboxes on price.
This month, Cambridge debuted OontZ XL ($150), which it has pitched a competitor to Jawbone’s $300 Big Jambox and similar speakers; however, with an introductory price of only $100, users will be able to buy it for only 1/3 or 1/2 the Big Jambox’s price. Is OontZ XL a serious competitor to Big Jambox and its increasingly numerous rivals? Your personal answer will depend on whether you just need similar audio performance, or expect a strong combination of sound and fashion-forward design; as the much lower price suggests, OontZ XL makes compromises in both categories.
Unlike the colored metal and plastic Big Jambox, or its substantially aluminum $300 rival Braven 850, Cambridge designed OontZ XL with a soft touch rubber-coated plastic chassis that’s currently available only in one color—jet black. Measuring roughly 10.2” wide by 3.5” tall by 3.4” deep at its deepest point, its proportions are highly similar to its aforementioned competitors, but its D-like shape is softer: nearly flat on the front and sides, with a C-shaped curve connecting the top and bottom. The front is striped with horizontal lines of dot perforations, and the sides have slightly grippy, wave-like concentric C patterns. Collectively, OontZ XL’s design choices are fine rather than beautiful; no one would confuse this cosmetically with the distinctive Big Jambox or clearly Apple-inspired Braven 850.
Cambridge doesn’t try to hide any of OontZ XL’s functionality. A microphone hole is very obvious on the unit’s top left, alongside light white-illuminated battery and Bluetooth pairing indicators, while a collection of large six circular buttons handle track, volume, Bluetooth and power on/off toggling.
Four dot-shaped rubber feet on the bottom help to keep OontZ XL stable even when music is blaring at top volumes.
Beyond two forward-facing treble and midrange drivers, OontZ XL has an unusual slit in the top back that hints at ventilation for three passive bass radiators inside; the company doesn’t identify any of the drivers by size. The slit surrounds a rubber-capped, pill-shaped panel containing power, USB-out, and aux-in ports; Cambridge includes a wall power adapter and 3.5mm auxiliary audio cable in the package. Notably, the rechargeable battery inside can be used to power the speaker for 10 hours at a relatively loud 70% volume level, or offer spare power to a device connected to the rear USB port with a self-supplied cable. Cambridge provides no guidance on the recharging capabilities of the battery, but we found that it runs at 0.5-Amp speed—full-speed for iPods or half-speed for iPhones, which we’d expect to get perhaps one full charge, depending on the model. By comparison, Big Jambox cannot be used to recharge a device on the go, but Braven 850 includes a huge 8800mAh battery with iPad-ready 2.1-Amp output capabilities, and the prospect of three to four full iPhone recharges.
The biggest challenge we faced in evaluating OontZ XL’s sonic performance was benchmarking: though it’s marketed as a competitor to $300 speakers, it’s so much less expensive that the comparison isn’t truly fair. Judged in a vacuum, it produces classically “good” sound at reasonably high volumes: the audio skews a bit bass-heavy, which most people prefer, and can be turned up to a peak level that’s just a bit short of small room-filling. As a speakerphone, OontZ XL is respectable rather than great; callers said that we sounded a little closer but noticeably more muffled on Oontz XL than on the iPhone 5 itself—a surprise given that the microphone isn’t hidden inside the front grille, like some competitors.
But to address the obvious question, no, OontZ XL is not truly the sonic equivalent of its aforementioned competitors.
Besides a somewhat lower peak volume level—roughly 80% of the others—and a bit less bass, such that its rivals produce deeper, richer sound, it also has more of what was historically called “boom and tizz” audio, with more pronounced highs and lows at the cost of definition in the midrange. On a positive note, you’ll hear slightly sharper highs coming from OontZ XL than the Braven 850 or Big Jambox, but we found that the sonic curves on the 850 and Big Jambox sounded smoother, particularly in the mids, making their renditions of songs more realistic. OontZ XL also exhibited some bass distortion that wasn’t as obvious in its supposed competitors. If the prices were equivalent and we had to choose between the models, OontZ XL wouldn’t win.
But the prices aren’t equivalent—they’re not even close. OontZ XL is better understood as a more affordable and sonically superior alternative to the standard Jambox, albeit in a much larger chassis. While OontZ XL has a $150 MSRP, Cambridge sells it for $100, a huge gap given that the $300 Big Jambox can’t be had for less than $250, and the newer Braven 850 currently can’t be found for less than its $300 MSRP. Compared against other $150 speakers—and even against the original Jambox—Oontz XL becomes a much more interesting option. It has a wider dynamic range than the Jambox, making the smaller unit sound comparatively flat, and a much higher peak volume level, which isn’t surprising given that the Jambox relies on tiny speakers that occupy around 1/4 of OontZ XL’s space.