Otone Blufiniti Bluetooth speaker review

You're spoiled for choice for when it comes to Bluetooth speakers and it takes something different to stand out from the crowd. Otone's trying exactly that with its Blufiniti Bluetooth speaker, which sports a curiously odd design, bright colours and it promises to boast some serious audio chops all for around £45. Is that enough to make it stand out? We put one to the test to find out.

The good

When it comes to Bluetooth speakers, plenty of them share the same basic style and look, and it's refreshing when a company comes forward with something completely different and out there. Otone's Blufiniti speaker does exactly that, with a curvy design that comes in six different shades and it's sure to divide opinion too. Of course, it's the sound quality that counts on a speaker, as you'll hardly be staring at it all day long while it pumps out track after track, and the Blufiniti largely impresses - especially for the price. Its 5w drivers pack out decent sound in the mids and treble ranges, although the bass left us wanting more.

Its decent sound quality isn't all that the Blufiniti packs either, as you'll also find NFC onboard for quick pairing with Android phones - which not all speakers boast - while there's also a 3.5mm jack built-in for connecting up audio sources the old fashioned way. It's also small too, measuring up around the same size as a bottle of water which is pretty impressive for the quality it outputs, and you can easily throw it in a bag and keep it with you all the time. A built-in microphone lets it perform double duty as a loudspeaker for calls too, and we had no issues with the audio quality there either, making it handy to throw on your desk. Its battery life is great too, with the Blufiniti lasting for around 10 hours, and it charges up to full in around two.

The bad

Unfortunately, while the sound quality is pretty great, the Blufiniti is surprisingly quiet. Even at max volume, it doesn't quite reach the output you'd expect, and while that does stop it from distorting compressed and streamed tunes at high volume, it does limit its use when you're outdoors.  It also suffers from a lack of bass, which is fine if you're a fan of lighter, poppier tunes, but for deep rumbling tracks, you'll be wanting to get a bit more out of it.

The design itself of the speaker is also likely to split opinion, as you might think it looks like a lumpy piece of tech, rather than a decent speaker. The colour scheme is also a negative point too, as the main body of the speaker is a green-grey hybrid that's not the most attractive. The different colours that are available only cater to the bottom and top of the speaker, and we'd rather wish the whole body was given a splash of colour instead.

The bottom line

For the price, the Otone Blufiniti is a quality sounding speaker even if it lacks oomph and bass, but its design is likely to split opinion. Still, even with summer over, if you're after a Bluetooth speaker with plenty of connectivity to take on the go that puts sound quality over everything else, it's well worth a look.