HMDX Hangtime Wireless Bluetooth Speaker Review:
HMDX Hangtime speaker lets you wirelessly connect most Bluetooth-enabled devices from up to 30′ away.
This little device is pretty nifty. It is a small Bluetooth speaker with a built-in clip for easy portability, simple controls, and speakerphone capabilities.
The best part of this product is its straightforwardness. If I had not been writing about it, I wouldn’t have bothered reading the user manual. Everything about charging, setup, and use are exactly what you’d expect. The controls are standard power, play/pause, and volume up and down. There are two lights that flash, one to indicate Bluetooth activity and one for battery life (the speaker should last up to 4 hours on one (slow) charge, but I admit I haven’t tested that claim quite thoroughly enough to say anything about it). I’m glad I read the user manual, though, because it is “full of information and sarcasm—just like that English teacher you had that crazy semester.” It also calls people lame.
So, turn the speaker on, pair it with another device via Bluetooth (I used it with both my Galaxy S5 and MacBook easily), and play music, audiobooks or any other audio-based files. The volume output varies quite a lot. Sometimes it can approach loudness, other times it’s hard to hear even if it’s attached to your person. The inconsistency may depend on the song, the paired device, or some other factor that I have yet to figure out. This was my biggest issue with the HMDX Hangtime. I was fiddling with volume controls a lot, which was annoying because the speaker makes a really unattractive noise if you reach the max volume. Outside the volume issue, the sound quality was average for a small, portable speaker.
The unattractive noise was my second issue with the speaker. It makes sounds when turned on or off, when it pairs with a device, and when it reaches maximum or minimum volume. It’s a small thing, but it got annoying after the second or third time.
One thing I like about the HMDX Hangtime is its speakerphone capabilities. Much of the time I spent testing this product, my phone spent charging. I had the speaker clipped to my belt or pocket to listen to music as I moved around my house, while my phone was sitting in my room (the packaging says the speaker is wireless up to 30 feet). If I got a text or if my phone rang, the speaker would pause the music momentarily and chirp out a notification. You can also answer or ignore calls using the play/pause button. Your music picks up where it left off before the call.
Overall, the HMDX Hangtime is pretty neat, though there are a few cons. I had fun testing it out. For more information, visit http://www.hmdxaudio.com/hangtime-wireless-speaker.html.
