Marley No Bounds Bluetooth Speaker
£34.99
Pros
- Great Design
- Great Sound
- Easy to Pair
- Waterproof
Cons
- User Guide Text too Small
- Poor Microphone Quality
- Not Bassy
- Control Buttons are too Discreet
Today I’m reviewing the Marley No Bounds Bluetooth Speaker. I’ve been wanting to review a product from House of Marley for some time. I love their product range and super excited to be able to finally review a speaker from them.
The No Bounds speaker is IP67 (Water & Dust Proof) and can be used in an outdoor environment.
Another big selling point is the fact the speaker is buoyant and will float in water. This is because of the cork material on one side of the speaker.
A 10-hour battery lifespan will also ensure you can listen to your favourite tracks for longer too.
But is this speaker any good? Will it impress or disappoint me? Time to test it out!
Packaging and Contents.
The Marley No Bounds Bluetooth Speaker comes packaged in a cardboard box which features product images, specifications and is completely recyclable. The packaging measures 12.5cm x 12.0cm x 7.5cm and weighs 400G.
Upon opening the box you’ll find the following; 1x Speaker, 1x Micro USB Cable, 1x Carabiner Clip, 1x Multi-Lingual User Guide.
Marley No Bounds Bluetooth Speaker.
The Marley No Bounds Bluetooth Speaker by House of Marley is made from exclusive Rewind Fabric, Regrind Silicone, Regrind Cork and Recyclable Aluminium. The speaker measures 11.0cm x 5.0cm and weighs 280G. You get a hanging hook on the top which measures 4.0cm.
The speaker I have is Grey in colour with a mottled finish to the side, you can get more colour combinations including Black, Blue, Red and all with a Cork backing.
Charging and Setting Up.
The No Bounds Speaker comes with a pre-installed 1100mAh Lithium-ion battery and will require a charge using the supplied Micro USB Cable (Which measures 55.0cm). You need to hook the USB end of the cable up to any 5V DC power source. The Micro USB charging port is located underneath a protective cover on the side of the speaker. You’ll also see the AUX port located next to the charging port too, this is so you can use a wired connection if required using a standard 3.5mm audio cable.
The charging time takes around 2 hours to fully and will last for around 10 hours on a single charge.
Once charged you’ll need to pair this speaker to your device via a Bluetooth connection. To do this power on the speaker by pressing and holding the power button on the side of the speaker. An audible tone will alert you that the speaker is on. Now go to your Bluetooth menu on your device and connect to ‘No Bounds’, you’ll now be paired and ready to play your music library.
Controls.
You’re also able to control your music library using the speaker itself, you can do the following actions using the buttons located on the side of the speaker.
Play/Pause: Press the middle button and your music will pause/play.
Increase Volume/Skip Track: Press the + button once to increase volume, if you press and hold the same button, you’re able to skip to the next track.
Decrease Volume/Go Back a Track: Press the – button once to decrease volume, if you press and hold the same button, you’re able to go back to the previous track.
Answer/End a Call: Press the middle play/pause button to answer/end a call.
The buttons although discreet, blend in too well into the speaker. I think they ought to stand out a little clearer or at least increase the tactile area of the control buttons. But you do get used to their located with practice.
Float Test.
The Marley No Bounds Bluetooth Speaker by House of Marley is advertised as being able to float in water. I’m a little nervous about chucking this speaker into water, although the speaker is rated to IP67 standards. This rating enables the speaker to be able withstand being dropped into a body of water, up to a meter of depth for half an hour. So, it should be able to cope with floating using the cork materials. But I wouldn’t recommend using in the pool or anything like that, I’d suggest this rating is more to protect you in case the speaker accidentally falls into water.
But I had to test the theory of a floating speaker. One thing to make sure if you’re going to use near to water is to ensure the protective seal to the AUX/Charging port is completely closed as water could ingress into these ports.
So, I filled my bathroom sink up and chucked in the speaker. It sank and then bobbed back up into position with the cork side facing down. The front Grey section of the speaker became wet, but water started to repel from the material. The speaker kept playing too without any issues. So, the claim of a floatable speaker is true and an honest reflection of the capabilities of the speaker.
No water managed to ingress through the protective seal and the ports remained dry.
Sound Quality.
The sound is clear and very good in quality, the bass is average and not punchy enough for my thumping bass preference. But if you’re after a great sounding all round speaker then the No Bounds speaker certainly won’t disappoint.
The speaker is incredibly loud and only requires small amounts of volume to be able to fill a room with your music. Increasing the volume to the high end of its capabilities doesn’t produce any sound distortion whatsoever, which is great!
The Bluetooth signal can achieve 30M of stable connection and I tested this out and can confirm it’s a true statement.
You get a handsfree calling feature with the No Bounds speaker, but this is more of a token feature as the user experience is very poor. The microphone is poor, and the call quality is not very good. A caller can’t hear you very well and you’ll also struggle to hear them too. Which is a shame!
Aside from the handsfree calling feature the overall sound quality is very good, although more punchy bass tones would be welcomed by myself.
Technical Specifications.
- Brand: House of Marley
- Model: Marley No Bounds Bluetooth Speaker
- Manufacturer Code: EM-JA015-GY
- EAN: 846885009710
- ASIN: B079V1LB8R
- Driver: 50mm
- Bluetooth Version: V4.2 BLE
- Bluetooth Range: ?30M
- Frequency Response: 150Hz – 20KHz (-10dB)
- Impedance: 4?
- Sensitivity: 81 ± 3dB @ 1KHz @ 1W @ 1M
- THD: 200Hz – 20KHz <10%
- Microphone: Yes
- Microphone Sensitivity: -42 ± 3dB
- Battery: 3.7V/1100mAh Lithium-Ion Battery
- Battery Life: 10 Hours
- Charging Time: 2 Hours
- Charging Method: Micro USB
- Certification: IP67 Rated
- Compliance: CE, FCC, RoHS
Conclusion.
I was really looking forward to reviewing the Marley No Bounds Bluetooth Speaker by House of Marley. I must say the speaker is very good, the sound is clear, crisp and has no distortion whatsoever. My only personal preference would be for more bass, but that’s just my opinion. I was a little disappointed with the handsfree calling feature as the microphone is quite poor and another thing to point out negatively is the multi-lingual user guide. The text is far too small and not very clear and set up the speaker either.
Another preference would be for greater distinction on the user control buttons, either by infilling the button symbols with a darker colour or by increasing the tactile surface area.
Overall though I still love this speaker and happy that I got to finally try out a product from the House of Marley. I’m a happy reviewer right now!
If you want the Marley No Bounds Bluetooth Speaker for yourself, it’s available for purchase only on Amazon. The RRP for this product is £59.99.
Product sample provided by House of Marley in exchange for a detailed, unbiased review.
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