In the history of audio system, very few products have expanded or gained momentum as rapidly and dramatically as wireless speakers. In the last few years, the constant advancements in the wireless audio technology have assisted this genre to bloom from novelty to nearly-pervasive. From speaker docks to boom boxes, we have often transitioned to a myriad of wireless speakers which help you stream the total history of recorded music from your armchair. With the ocean of multifarious choices, buying a pair of speakers can be a daunting task for a first time buyer. Here is a comprehensive guide to help you choose high quality wireless speakers.
Common wireless tech available in the market
Before we start streamlining on the wireless speaker field, let’s throw some light on the common wireless tech that you’ll find in the market.
- Bluetooth: For majority of the people, the best wireless protocol would perhaps be bluetooth. Although some may still have the notion that bluetooth is the tech behind all those annoying headsets but little do they know that bluetooth for wireless audio has indeed taken a quantum leap since its inception. Bluetooth technology is usually handicapped by a distance of 33-50 feet, bluetooth chips are in-built into almost all modern devices as they don’t require any network for connecting. It takes seconds to connect.
- NFC: Near Field Communication or NFC is yet another wireless protocol which you’ll hear about when you go to purchase wireless speakers. The range is extremely restrained and requires devices to be close enough to touch each other for transferring data. As long as wireless speakers are concerned, it’s useful for simplifying the bluetooth connection between your speaker and phone, which is called pairing and this is obtained by tapping the devices together. In short, NFC won’t be helpful for everyone and is not even too necessary.
- Wi-Fi: Bluetooth may have occupied a lot of space in wireless audio, Wi-Fi is still considered to be superior in some ways. When Wi-Fi is at its best, streaming can provide you with a host of features and services for your speaker and accessing audio from various sources like NAS storage devices. You can opt for high resolution audio transmission through Wi-Fi which is often not possible through Bluetooth, thereby making it perfect for those who look for premium speakers to play high resolution audio files.
- DLNA: This is the short form for Digital Living Network Alliance and is an organization and open protocol for transferring pictures, music, and video from one device to another through Wi-Fi speakers. DLNA is also omnipresent and you find them almost in everything from photo frames to game consoles but at the same time it is even slow and clunky.
Therefore, before you set to the market to buy wireless speakers, you should first inform yourself about the different wireless tech that you get in the market. Take into account the pros and cons before deciding which one to choose.