The AIWA MI-X330 is a speaker that we can promise will put a smile on your face when you listen to it for the first time. If you are someone who loves that flat sound signature or someone who likes to have some bass thrown into the mix as well, you will enjoy owning the speaker. Everything from the build quality to the sound signature screams quality!
However, if you are looking for a feature-packed speaker, then this is not the one. We’d recommend you look at the Sonos Roam or the LG RP4G XBoom 360. They bring many more features to the table, with the Sonos being priced lower than AIWA’s offering
The Bluetooth speakers market has been growing exponentially in recent years. Brands offering products across price ranges and catering to the demands of a variety of consumers, the number of offerings that are available can cause a problem of plenty for the average consumer. One such brand that has taken a plunge into the sea of Bluetooth speakers is AIWA. The Japanese brand, known for its TVs in the yesteryears, has stepped into the world of Bluetooth speakers for about a year now.
It would not be wrong to say that they are doing their job well. Most of the products from the brand that have shown up at the Digit Test Centre have exceeded expectations. Even amongst the fans of great-sounding speakers, the brand has registered its presence with authority.
So, when AIWA’s latest MI-X 330 Meteor showed up at the Digit Test Centre, we were obviously excited. Without giving many spoilers, we’ll say that our enthusiasm was served well, and the speaker did not let us down. This is despite its price tag of ₹34,990. The speaker was also the winner of the Digit Zero1 Award 2022 for being the best-performing Bluetooth speaker, so enough said already. Here’s a detailed look into our time spent testing the AIWA MI-X 330 Meteor Bluetooth speaker –
AIWA MI-X 330 Meteor: Build and Design
The build and design of the speaker is where you get the first sense of why the company priced the speaker so exorbitantly. Sure there are many other speakers available at a higher price, but looking at the specs of the speaker does put it among the higher-priced ones available right now. The speaker has a metallic body and an exquisite detachable leather strap, which can be used to ferry around this 3kg speaker. Everything from the dials to the subtle branding on the top and front plates of the speaker scream quality.
On the speaker, you get buttons to control the input mode and basic play pause, power, and track change controls. There are two additional dials, one for volume and the other for bass control. The dials allow for precise control of the volume and bass level, which is something that will surely be appreciated by enthusiasts or anyone who is shelling out ₹34,990 on a Bluetooth speaker.
There is a small circular display on the front of the speaker that displays information about the volume level, the battery of the device, and the connectivity. All of these have a smokey black finish to them, with a lighter shade of the same colour used to give parts of the speaker some neat and necessary accents.
On the back of the speaker, you will find a neat selection of ports. You get a micro-SD card slot and a USB Type-A port that allow you to play tracks directly off your storage device. You also get an AUX port as well as a 3.5mm jack for connecting microphones to the device. And rounding this strong I/O panel is a USB Type-C port that can be used to charge the speaker.
AIWA MI-X 330 Meteor: Features
With the AIWA MI-X 330 Meteor, you get a set of features that are adequate for the job. It does not come packed with all the bells and whistles like some other speakers in the market. The features are limited, yet useful. One that stands out is the TWS Multi-Link. This feature allows you to daisy chain multiple devices together.
This can come in handy if you are looking to fill up a large room, which would otherwise not have been possible with a single speaker. Or you can use this feature to link two speakers and create a truly wireless stereo setup.
Most important of all, the speaker comes packed with two 31 mm 15 W tweeters and an additional pair of 3.5-inch middle-range subwoofers as well. We have already showered all of our love for the speaker in our Zero1 award article. But we’ll be going even more in-depth in the next section here.
Apart from this, looking objectively, the AIWA MI-X330 is a pretty barebones speaker with no bells and whistles that you’d get with some other speakers in the market. You do not get support for voice assistants or the ability to take calls on the speaker. What you do get is an unmatched audio-listening experience, which is what most people shelling out so much money on the speaker would want. But there is a sub-section of consumers who will want some additional features in a Bluetooth speaker, which they are spending a chunk of their money on. This is where the AIWA will fall to the back of the pack.
AIWA MI-X 330 Meteor: Performance
The tweeter and sub-woofer combo that we talked about in the last section of this article produces a sound that can be best described as – aural bliss. The speaker is not the loudest you will find out there, and it was trumped by some other speakers that showed up at the Digit Test Centre along with it. However, the sound that is produced, even at the maximum volume levels by this speaker, is something that would put most competitors to shame.
In songs like Centuries and Hotel California, the AIWA MI-X330 Meteor held its ground with grandeur. And, when playing tracks like Uptown Funk, we got just the right amount of bass response from the speaker, which added to the audio listening experience. Additionally, the ability to tune the bass using the dial on the speaker gave us some more flexibility. The vocals of the artists in songs like Rescue Me were clear, and we were not left out in the wild fishing for lines we love the most!
As for the highs, the word that we'd use to describe them would be – sparkly. They were not harsh but registered their presence with ease and grace. Musical instruments that are generally presented in this frequency range were heard clearly without adversely affecting the listening experience, especially in heavy metal tracks that are loaded with cymbals and hi-hats.
The overall output pleasantly surprised us by being very close to neutral for the most part. Yes, the soundstage of the speaker is not as broad as some of the truly 360-degree speakers out there. But the sound output from the speaker is clear and loud enough to fill a large room with ease.
In our testing, the speaker got fairly loud without showing distortion in its sound, and the latency when playing files using the Bluetooth connection as well was minimal. Powering this setup was a 5000mAh battery, which, as claimed by the brand, is supposed to last anywhere between 6 to 10 hours. When we put those claims to the test, we found that the speaker, at 50 per cent volume, and the bass set at the mid-way mark, lasted about 7 hours, which is well within the claimed range.
AIWA MI-X 330 Meteor: Verdict
The AIWA MI-X330 is a speaker that we can promise will put a smile on your face when you listen to it for the first time. If you are someone who loves that flat sound signature or someone who likes to have some bass thrown into the mix as well, you will enjoy owning the speaker. Everything from the build quality to the sound signature screams quality!
However, if you are looking for a feature-packed speaker, then this is not the one. We’d recommend you look at the Sonos Roam or the LG RP4G XBoom 360. They bring many more features to the table, with the Sonos being priced lower than AIWA’s offering.
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Satvik Pandey
Satvik Pandey, is a self-professed Steve Jobs (not Apple) fanboy, a science & tech writer, and a sports addict. At Digit, he works as a Deputy Features Editor, and manages the daily functioning of the magazine. He also reviews audio-products (speakers, headphones, soundbars, etc.), smartwatches, projectors, and everything else that he can get his hands on. A media and communications graduate, Satvik is also an avid shutterbug, and when he's not working or gaming, he can be found fiddling with any camera he can get his hands on and helping produce videos – which means he spends an awful amount of time in our studio. His game of choice is Counter-Strike, and he's still attempting to turn pro. He can talk your ear off about the game, and we'd strongly advise you to steer clear of the topic unless you too are a CS junkie. View Full Profile
