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Bluetooth loudspeaker: "worth buying" but heavy on batteries - review

How good can a loudspeaker be if it's this size, and runs on batteries? Oh and uses Bluetooth...

Anybody who thinks Bluetooth portable music speakers are crap, is probably right - until now, reports Hugo Jobling in a full review of a new high-speed Bluetooth device, the Supertooth Disco.

His analysis is that the device is good enough to buy for someone who wants to share a great song they have on their mobile, but doesn't fancy sticking one bud of that cool headset into a stranger's earhole.

Pictures on the Supertooth web site don't match the images on Jobling's review; he has a matt black one, not the dull grey shown in the official images. So his enthusiasm for its appearance is less puzzling than you'd think:

...the Supertooth Disco makes the right impression out of the box. When first removed from its packaging the speaker set is wrapped in a neoprene carry case which has a decent amount of padding at the front, save for a recess accommodating the volume knob

As his review makes clear, good enough. At least, as long as you don't crank the volume up to 10 on the dial, it's OK. But if you crank it up, you won't get the promised ten hours of play time, either. And usability?

Depending on what phone you use you'll also be able to pause and skip tracks using the Supertooth Disco itself. iTunes and Windows Media Player responded just fine to the controls, as did an LG Viewty. While, for the most part, it's probably just easier to whip out whatever you're using to stream the music in the first place and manage music directly, having the option on the speaker itself is always better than not.

But in the end, it doesn't get his nod, because of price: at £100.oo it's too high, says Jobling.