NOTABRICK Bluetooth Speakers,Portable Wireless Speaker

I've been using the same usb powered speakers for my computer for over 10 years even though I upgraded computers twice, so I figured it was about time to upgrade the speakers. I was comparing a few bluetooth speakers with the Echo Dot 3rd Gen just because I have two of the Echo Dot 3 in my garage, they're bluetooth and they put out good sound. I narrowed it down to the Notabrick Ki Wireless Speaker and the Echo Dot 3 due to price range and reviews. The Notabrick won for me because it's not just bluetooth but its powered by a rechargeable battery that has a long life, I could just plug it into a usb port on my monitor to charge every now and then and it could be portable to pair with my phone which is a bonus. I ordered two and they arrived today fully charged. I read the manual to learn how to pair them together for stereo and to pair them to my computer which was pretty straightforward. I played something on Hulu just to make sure they were working then decided to play Pandora. WOW! I wish I had these speakers when I was hosting house parties back in the day. I've been playing around with them all evening, and this is what I've found:Cons1. When two are paired together there is a master and slave. The slave will not play music from the micro sd slot unless it is unpaired from the master. The master will play music from the micro sd slot but only on the master speaker even though it is paired with the slave.2. The top of the speaker has a soft rubber material on it which attracts whatever is on your fingers very easily and the symbols are difficult to see from a short distance in evening light.3. When paired with my computer the connection doesn't seem stable enough. I get a little static/interruption for a second or two every 30 seconds or so. I recently upgraded my computer with the ASUS AX3000 Dual Band PCI-E WiFi 6 (802.11ax) which supports 160MHz Bluetooth. I switched to the bluetooth radio on the motherboard and that was worse so I switched back.Pros1. Speaker not much bigger than a soda can produces strong sound quality and volume loud enough for outdoors.2. If you like base you'll love these little speakers, the base is strong without distortion.3. When paired with my computer I can see the speaker's battery level via bluetooth devices.4. When two are paired together powering off one speaker powers the other off as well.5. When two are paired together I can control the volume for both speakers from either speaker.6. When two are paired together connecting the included audio cable to the master speaker sends audio to both speakers.7. After 10 minutes of not being connected to a paired input device (ex: computer, phone) the speakers turn themselves off. So 10 minutes after my computer goes to sleep the speakers turn off.8. Stable bluetooth connection with my iPhone 14 Pro with no static or interference.9. If you have the ability to store music on a micro sd card you can bring the music to an outing with something not much bigger than a soda can and you don't have to tie up a phone, tablet or laptop.SummaryThe cons I can live with and aren't enough for me to return them. These little speakers can be used as stationary or portable on the go speakers with quality sound loud enough for outdoors and paired with another speaker has great quality stereo sound with solid battery life. Outstanding speakers at a very affordable price. I definitely recommend these speakers.Customer Service Update 17MAR2023Had one speaker freeze on me, wouldn't play audio, wouldn't change modes, indicated it was paired with the other speaker and wouldn't shut down. I contacted the seller via Amazon and Notabrick got back with me in a few hours with instructions on how to perform a reset. (Hold the play button down forces a shutdown and reset). Instructions worked perfectly and my speaker is working as it should. EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Compared to all speakers of all types, this one would rate a 3 or no higher than a 4. However, factoring in its size, price, convenience, and portability, I give it a 5. Of course, I haven't tried all of the similar speakers available out there, but I can imagine that it would be hard to beat this one. The tone and clarity are excellent. The speaker has a strong bass response. If you hold it in your hand, you can feel it, although you may not hear it. That's because it isn't in an acoustic enclosure. Its enclosure is its surroundings, and indoor acoustics vary a lot. If you have it indoors and it is convenient, you might try moving it to different locations or even on different surfaces to get the effect you want. Even the distance from a back wall can make a significant difference. Its major drawback is that it is not recommended to leave it plugged in at all times. Therefore, it must be frequently recharged.Update: I just added a second speaker. I had no trouble at all pairing them. I just followed the provided directions and it worked fine. What can I say? Wow! The stereo is great. I'm just playing music from an Aiworth mp3 player and the sound is terrific. I wouldn't have room for shelf speakers where I have these. I would highly recommend a pair of these speakers.

I have two for my own personal use and it is great that they can pair to each other. Later I started to do audio/video support for a church service, and when I realized the JBL speaker they were using was outputting sound in the center of the room, I realized we should buy two more (I wanted to keep mine for my own uses). So we got some for the church too. Now they're sending out the music in stereo and filling the space much better than before.The build quality is excellent. The bass is powerful, but balanced with the other sounds. The sound is pretty flat at times, but music is mastered for headphones, not speakers. If you want better sound, you need a larger speaker. The volume can easily reach levels above that which is comfortable in a room about 30'x30'. So unless you are outdoors, you will probably never have these speakers on maximum volume.The bluetooth connects easily. I've had two problems so far. One is that when using them paired to each other, one will be lower volume than the other. I power them off and back on again, and the issue goes away. The other problem is that the pause/play buttons sometimes don't register. I don't really know why this is happening, but subsequent presses of that button eventually work in most cases. In other cases they don't work at all, but I think that may have to do with the device they are paired with. I'm not sure.The buttons are not super easy to use because the raised rubber symbols don't convey information to my fingertips very easily. I find myself having to look to choose the correct buttons, but in many cases I am in dark conditions (my car at night) and I find it easier to use my phone to control the speakers. Battery life is good. Charging takes a long time, so they must have a pretty big battery.