Speaker is subtle in style, but big with sound.
I’ve become a big fan of wireless speakers. I never knew what I was missing until I was introduced to my first Bluetooth speaker. From that time, I was hooked. I love having the option to take music with me wherever I go. I have had the opportunity to test out many different styles of speakers and sometimes, it’s really nice to get back to basics and just have a speaker that gives you clear, deep sound without all the bells and whistles. That is just want you get from the Creative Metallix Plus Speaker.
Details
The Creative Metallix Plus is a Bluetooth speaker that features an impressive 24-hour battery life. It’s custom-tuned to provide enhanced bass and acoustics. You also have the flexibility to connect two speakers for a wider sound option. The speaker is rated IPX5 and is considered water resistant. The speaker has two custom-tuned, full-range drivers plus a hidden passive radiator for the enhanced bass feature. The speaker uses Bluetooth 4.2 technology which helps it to stay connected and stream audio in a more seamless fashion. In addition to Bluetooth, you can also connect the speaker through the built-in 3.5 stereo jack (cable not included).
User Experience
The speaker arrived in a brown cardboard box with minimal information printed on the outside. I rather like this minimalist approach because it means that tons of money isn’t sunk into the packaging — it goes back into their product. At least, that is the hope. When you open the box, you will find the quick start guide, warranty information, safety information, Micro USB charging cable, and the speaker itself. The speaker is wrapped in plastic for protection purposes and once you unwrap it, you will find a very nicely constructed speaker. It’s solid and has easy to use controls on the top of the case. Out of the box, the speaker had about 50% battery charge.
Getting started with the speaker is very easy and basic for Bluetooth speakers. You press/hold the power button until you are greeted with a friendly voice stating that the speaker is now in pairing mode. To connect, you simply have to visit your device’s Bluetooth device menu and select Creative Metallix Plus. Within a couple of seconds, the speaker is paired. I actually connected it to using both my iPhone 7 and my 13-inch MacBook Pro. Both devices remembered the speaker in its Bluetooth device list and it was easy to connect to, but I couldn’t connect to the speaker with my phone while I was actively using it with my laptop.
The Metallix speaker puts out a really decent sound. While it doesn’t sound like a subwoofer is part of the speaker, the quality of the audio played through it defnietely doesn’t sound hollow. I played music through both my iTunes library and Pandora and thought that music sounded wonderful. I was actually very impressed with how well more complex audio tracks were handled by the speaker. To test that out, I pulled up Netflix and watched the prologue to the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and the first few minutes of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Both movies have very complex soundtacks and mixes that include rich sound effects, voice tracks, and of course a very deep music track. The Metallix did a superb job handling both music and movie mix tracks.
As far as volume goes, the controls go along with the connected device. For example, if I am connected to my MacBook Pro, then the volume control on the speaker will control the volume on the laptop and not add to the volume from the laptop. With that in mind, I measured the decibel levels that came from the speaker as it played music from my MacBook Pro. Here are the results.
| 0% (room noise only) | 52 dB |
| 25% Volume | 68 dB |
| 50% Volume | 77 dB |
| 75% Volume | 86 dB |
| 100% Volume | 92 dB |
Conclusions
The Metallix Plus Bluetooth Speaker from Creative Labs is a really nice option for a portable speaker that is subtle in style, but big with sound quality. It has a simple interface and it’s very affordable. I would recommend this speaker based off of the quality of it sound and how easy it is to use.
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For more information, visit creative.com.
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