14 DAY TRIAL // Another day, another wireless product announcement, although this time we have something a bit less ordinary than usual to fuss over: the Braven 710 portable, palm-sized speaker.
We've seen them before: speakers small enough to be held in the palm of your hand, speakers that rival wired ones in sound quality, speakers that can pair up and act as a dual-satellite stereo system.
Price constraints and engineering limitations don't make it easy to fuse all those things together though.
Fortunately, that doesn't mean it's impossible. In fact, it has been getting easier each year, as circuit production technologies have become smaller and better.
Braven is the one that has developed a product that combines those benefits, giving it the name of Braven 710.
The ability to link together and act as a stereo system is actually the only new asset, since the others were included in previous-generation models. The technology that makes it possible is called TrueWireless.
On that note, the Braven 710 also possesses large buttons on one end, for adjusting volume, powering the speaker on and off, starting or pausing a soundtrack, etc.
What's more, the aluminum case is pretty sturdy and even provides some protection from the elements. The water resistance may not be on the level where you can safely dunk the thing in a bathtub, but rain should be easily enough handled.
What's more, there is an internal 1400 mAh battery, which not only supplies the speaker with energy but can be used to recharge your mobile gadgets (iPhone and iPad mentioned specifically).
Sadly, according to witness reports, the voice quality can be found lacking when making calls through the speakers. Still, if that's the only drawback, the Braven 710 remains a solid buy, although the price of $169.99 / €125.55 (or €169.99 if exchange rates don't reflect reality, which often happens) won't win any points.