“Great big sound from a little box”
FOR Big, space-filling sound; quality build; handsome looks AGAINST No NFC; feature count not as extensive as rivals
“Short on ‘non-audio’ skills, the Heavy Metal concentrates exclusively on being a speaker”
There are, admittedly, only so many ways to design a compact, portable Bluetooth speaker, but there’s no denying the JAM Heavy Metal HXP920 has ‘a hint of Bose’ about it – specifically the Bose Soundlink Mini. But, hey, both are fine-looking units, so we’ll leave the ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’ discussions for another day.
For now, we’ll just concentrate on the terrific build quality that your £60 buys you. From the moment we unbox the JAM, we imagine its maker demanding more of our shillings. And, you know what, we are on the right track.
It was previously priced at £100, and a chunky price cut has resulted in the Heavy Metal being a cracking buy. Although, before the team at JAM start high-fiving each other, can we request (significantly) more eco-friendly packaging? When it comes to plastic, less is definitely more.
Eschewing the plastic
Fortunately, when it comes to the actual contents, JAM eschews plastic-fantastic in favour of (highly recyclable) aluminium. The result is one handsome-looking portable speaker. The wrap is smooth, the metal feels cool to the touch, and the weight is just right – sufficient to feel reassuring, not enough to weigh you down on your travels.
Look at the top of the chassis and you'll find the six-button control panel. This puts you in charge of a shortlist of standard requests – power up, track skip, volume up and down, that sort of fare. Up against the likes of the Lava Brightsounds 2 – aka the Swiss Army knife of sub-£100 portable Bluetooth speakers – the JAM is short on ‘non-audio’ skills. Sure, it will operate as a speakerphone and it gives out voice prompts, but that’s your lot. The Heavy Metal, you see, concentrates almost exclusively on the job of ‘being a speaker’.
Modest dimensions
And what a speaker it is. Hook up your Bluetooth device, or use the 3.5mm auxiliary input, and sound delivery immediately belies the unit’s modest dimensions. This is a great big sound from a very little box.
Play the title track from Leonard Cohen’s final album, You Want It Darker – a demanding tester for any self-respecting Bluetooth speaker – and the JAM does an admirable job with the Canadian’s vocals, conveying the solidity and emotion of his gravelly, gravely delivered, words.
Bass impresses. Big and bold, it helps make for a room-filling sound. Being hyper-critical, we’d like a little more tautness and a dash of extra pace to some of these lower frequencies, but at this price we are happy. The ‘largeness’ of the JAM’S sound is rare at this sub-£100 level and an occasionally relaxed bass delivery is a price most won’t mind paying.
Smiles all round
Switch from Cohen to something more up-tempo (though you could say that's almost any other music) and the little metal speaker continues to make you smile. Daft Punk’s Lose Yourself To Dance gleefully bounces along; the handclaps are snappy and the rhythm guitar is undeniably groovy. Crank up the volume and you’ll eventually get a touch of hardness out of the JAM – those handclaps get a little too snappy – but the reach of the overall sound means you’re less inclined (metaphorically, at least) to twist that dial.
A further plus is the Heavy Metal’s non-discriminatory approach to genres. Whether playing classical or indie or rock, performances are consistent and highly listenable. That big bass helps, and the little speaker’s weighty sonic character is a great foil for the sometimes sonically lean world of MP3 files and Bluetooth transmission.
Because it's worth it
One sign of a mediocre Bluetooth speaker is that its owners leave it unconnected when they want to just quickly play a track. You know the scene; you stumble across a song on Youtube and settle for replay from your laptop’s awful-sounding speaker system. That won’t happen with the Heavy Metal – hooking it up is always worth the effort.
A slightly higher spend buys a more refined performance – for £80, the Ultimate Ears Roll 2 delivers more detail and sweeter treble – but if your budget is £60 max, the JAM Heavy Metal is a shoo-in.
VERDICT The reasonably priced JAM Heavy Metal produces a full sound from a well made, good-looking slab of metal