Audio Pro BT5
With stylish Scandinavian looks and weighty sound, can the BT5 fill a gap in the Bluetooth speaker market?
Does the world need another Bluetooth speaker? Of course not. There are no doubt already more speakers shoved in the corners of spare rooms than we could possibly need, let alone those in everyday use.
So why should we concern ourselves with the Audio Pro BT5, for it is simply just another Bluetooth speaker? Mainly because Audio Pro has an excellent recent record when it comes to wireless speakers of this size. And keeping it simple might just set it apart.
No multi-room feature
For many, the feature set of a Bluetooth speaker might be as important as the sound. While the Audio Pro BT5 is very much a Bluetooth (4.0) speaker, it isn’t a multi-room speaker.
It doesn’t talk to Audio Pro’s Awardwinning multi-room range, and there’s no Airplay, Spotify Connect or voice control. There is a 3.5mm auxiliary input for connecting non-bluetooth devices, but that’s about it.
On top, six small buttons allow you to turn it on and off, pair devices, switch between Bluetooth and the aux input, and adjust the volume. There’s no remote control, but as you’ll be using your phone or computer as a music source, that’s where you’re most likely to be doing the controlling.
Pairing works easily as we switch between a Macbook and an Android phone, and move around different rooms. The connectivity works seamlessly, the connection appears robust. It’s mains-powered, not portable, so this isn’t one for the great outdoors (unless you have a long cable for the garden). So far, so good.
Even the fussiest, most style conscious households would surely find favour with this little beauty. A great size for a Bluetooth speaker, it’s straight out of a Scandinavian design book, which makes sense for a brand that bills itself as the ‘Sound of Scandinavia’. It would look perfectly at home on your favourite Instagram page.
But while we’re nothing but positive about the size and style, the buttons feel a little cheap and clunky. Still, once the speaker is up and running, you will probably barely use them. Inside is a digital Class D amplifier, sending 10W of power to a 20mm textile dome tweeter and 30W to a 10cm woofer. The BT5 comes in three finishes, which Audio Pro calls drift-wood (light brown), walnut (our preference) or black, and all three feature a grey fabric grille.
Clarity, detail and weighty bass
Given time to get up to speed, the Audio Pro BT5 eschews the normal pitfalls of compact wireless speakers. The sound is neither bright nor lightweight. We listen to Masters at Work’s I Can’t Get No Sleep, and the fidgety trumpet riff and shuffling drums are rendered clearly and with detail. There’s weight to the kick drums and bass notes, too.
Dr Dre’s Still D.R.E. should always cause a solid head nod and the BT5 delivers the goods, offering up a well-rounded sound as Dre’s trademark glossy production levels are handled confidently. The thud of the drums is there, though could perhaps do with a little tightening up; but we’re just happy there’s some decent bottom end on show for a speaker of this size and price.
The Audio Pro BT5 is perhaps most at home with pop, rock, speech radio and podcasts, its balanced delivery working well with vocals and having no problem making the most of tracks with limited dynamic range. Timing can slip a touch when it's given a more demanding rhythm, whether a thundering electronic track or a complex orchestral work, but we can forgive it at this price.
Listening for an extended period of time, and to a range of sources, it’s clear that while the Audio Pro BT5 isn’t perfect, it is a solid speaker for the size and money. Put this one in the ‘does what it says on the tin’ category.
Simple and stylish
Despite the number of Bluetooth speakers on the market, we haven't reviewed many of this size and style – they’re normally more portable, and a little cheaper and smaller, or bigger, and packing more features and multi-room.
So you may be thinking the Audio Pro BT5 could fill a gap and look rather nice on a shelf somewhere. It’s simple, stylish and effective – maybe there is room for one more Bluetooth speaker after all.