JBL Voyager review: Not the best companion for a long journey

JBL has flooded the market with portable speakers and today, we’ll be taking a look at one of their premium models. Called the Voyager, the speaker can be used in two form factors – with or without the sub-woofer. But is this dual personality worth the hefty asking price of almost Rs 16,000?   Design and Build The design is certainly unique. The Voyager is made up of two units primarily – the portable speaker and the dock. The portable speaker is the circular cut-out you see in the middle. It pops out by simply pushing the base inwards a bit. It’s held in place by a magnetic clip so it’s easy to slot in and out.   [caption id=“attachment_226482” align=“alignnone” width=“691”] Extremely sexy design[/caption]   The base unit is positioned upwards for better dispersion of sound in the room. The rubber feet hold the unit in place even when the bass gets thumping. The transparent enclosure around adds to the classy aesthetics as well.   The Voyager can stream audio via Bluetooth but you also get an auxiliary-in port and USB for charging the portable speaker.  Overall, the Voyager uses a very clever design and the build quality is simply superb. It’s available in white and black. A word of advice here – stick with the black version. The white unit that we received tends to gather dirt and grime very easily and will end up looking shabby in no time.   Features The portable part for Voyager consists of two 45mm full-range drivers while the docking station features a 77mm sub-woofer. The entire unit boasts of a frequency response of 20Hz to 20KHz. The portable unit packs in a Lithium-ion battery as well, which is good for 5-hours of use according to JBL.   [caption id=“attachment_226480” align=“alignnone” width=“691”] The portable speaker is easy to pop in and out[/caption]   There’s even a built-in microphone for answering calls with their Soundclear technology.   Performance Setting it up is pretty easy. You simply pair your phone or tablet with the portable speaker, which is where all the controls are as well.   [caption id=“attachment_226479” align=“alignnone” width=“691”] Packs a punch when teamed up with the dock, but not so much otherwise[/caption]   With the sub firing along with the satellites, the sound is rich and room-filling. Volume levels are quite good, enough to fill a small hall at home. The Voyager also produces omni-directional sound so there’s hardly a blind spot no matter where you sit. The speaker handles most genres with great ease. Hip-hop and Trance tracks are faithfully delivered with adequate punch.   However, remove the portable speaker from the dock and the sound quality drops drastically. The lack of bass is immediately noticeable and the Voyager sounds like pretty much any other portable speaker in the market.   Battery life is not the greatest either as it lasts for about 4-hours at full volume.   Verdict and Price in India At a street price of Rs 14,990, the JBL Voyager feels particularly expensive. It sounds great with the whole unit assembled but strip off the woofer and the sound falls a bit flat. There’s also no NFC for easy pairing with smartphones and tablets. The Voyager is an interesting take on the Bluetooth speaker system but it’s simply too expensive to be taken seriously.