Griffin Evolve Wireless Speakers Review and Unboxing

Filed Under Gadgets & Hardware, Geek on 2008-03-14, 12:25

A few weeks ago a set of Griffin Evolve wireless speakers arrived. I had been needing to get a decent solution for listening to music when hanging around the house and my laptop speakers weren’t cutting it. I wanted something that would work with my iPod since that’s where my music lived and something that I could use anywhere in the house. The Evolve wireless speakers seemed like just the solution.

What are my thoughts on the speakers? I love them. Being able to come home and pull the iPod out of my pocket and plug it directly into a set of speakers and continue listening to the same song is a nice convenience. In addition to that I can grab one of the speakers and take it into any room I want. They’re small, light, and the sound quality is pretty good. I was mostly concerned that the sound quality would be crap, akin to my experiences with FM transmitters, but I am pleasantly surprised and have no complaints about sound quality. They don’t have a whole lot in the realm of bass, but for their use (background music) they’re fine and I’m sure my neighbors are appreciative. They do get really loud though. For the audiophiles in the crowd that spend hundreds of dollars on cables, these probably aren’t the right solution. But if you’re a casual listener (especially if you’re still using those awful iPod earbuds) that just wants to have some nice background music in the house with the convenience of playing from your iPod, I highly recommend these. The selling points for me:

They accept my 80gb video iPod in its protective case without needing an adaptor
I don’t have to worry about screwing up my last.fm stats since all my music plays from my iPod
They’re black and look nice
Charging them is simple and easy, just set them on the base
Range extends to anywhere within 150ft
Additional inputs on the back so I can use any audio source
Remote control is wireless and works anywhere the speakers work
iPod charges while docked
Switch on the base that changes from Stereo to Mono in case you want to have only one speaker in a room

My only improvements/complaints:

No way to control song playback other than using preconfigured playlists and Next/Back
It would be awesome to have a small LCD on the remote to view/control the iPod
It would be nice to have a 5.1 version for use with my media center too
A bit pricey
Not a whole lot of bass
While they aren’t nearly as bad as my PS3, they do gather some dust well
I worry that the dock might snap off because I’m not using an adaptor since my protective case doesn’t fit in with the adaptor

All in all, I highly recommend them if you feel like you need a wireless solution for casual music listening. I may even buy another pair of speakers to add to the set in the future. You can find pretty low prices from different sellers on Amazon. I went with ANTOnline who shipped incredibly fast. Below you’ll find pictures of the unboxing, aka geek-porn:

Tagged: iPod, Mp3s, Music, Speakers, Wireless

Comments

mr. i don’t know

can you connect these speakers to a mac?
i mean the charging base…
i would like to buy them to replace the one i’m using now..
and also…
is the base strong enough comparing to BOSE?
(i like Griffin Evolve wireless speakers’ shape and good sound..)
mr. i don’t know

can you connect these speakers to a mac?
i mean the charging base…
i would like to buy them to replace the one i’m using now..
and also…
is the base strong enough comparing to BOSE?
(i like Griffin Evolve wireless speakers’ shape and good sound..)
mr. i don’t know

sorry
i noticed the info about the bass..
-.-
mr. i don’t know

sorry
i noticed the info about the bass..
-.-
http://www.geeked.info Ed Hunsinger

You can connect anything to the speakers with the right audio cable (i.e. anything that converts to the familiar red/white RCA cables)

The bass isn’t all that great. They’re nice for background music for parties and small gatherings, but not really up to par for shaking the walls.
http://www.geeked.info Ed Hunsinger

You can connect anything to the speakers with the right audio cable (i.e. anything that converts to the familiar red/white RCA cables)

The bass isn't all that great. They're nice for background music for parties and small gatherings, but not really up to par for shaking the walls.
Jules

i recommend these speakers to all here! they are fantastic. the concept of being able to take them around anywhere in my house is so cool. go buy them now!
Jules

i recommend these speakers to all here! they are fantastic. the concept of being able to take them around anywhere in my house is so cool. go buy them now!