The Boat Pint is not a good portable speaker, not based on its performance, nor on its price. The only thing that keeps it going is its battery but we won't recommend it just for its battery.
I like wireless accessories, and portable Bluetooth speakers are just the right thing to have around you when you want listen to something, without plugging in your headphones. Portable Bluetooth speakers are great companions if you want to play music on the beach during your holiday or if you just want a smaller speaker which can connect to your smart device. Enter the Boat Pint. It is yet another small Bluetooth speaker in this already packed segment. This small Bluetooth speaker might have a catchy name but is it up for the job?
Design
The Boat Pint is a small cup sized Bluetooth speaker which can be easily held in one hand. It has a simple design with the speaker facing the top protected by a plastic mesh. There is button ring integrated in the the speaker mesh comprising of the play / pause button, call recive button and volume keys on either sides of the ring. The whole body has a rubberised feel whichoffers a decent grip. At the lower bottom there is a microUSB charging port and a 3.5mm audio-in jack. The entire unit sits on rubberized feet at the bottom. The bottom also features the on/off button for the speaker. Overall, the speaker relies on a somewhat orthodox design that relies on its colourful shell to draw eyeballs. The top button ring is a little harder to press and the plastic quality is not upto my expectations.
Performance
The speaker supports playback through 3.5mm jack which works well and as intended. The Pint uses Bluetooth to pair with all compatible devices. Just turn on the device and it will show up on the host device. When it's connected, it works well but if you try to move around beyond 50ft, the connectivity breaks. The connectivity suffers even more when there are walls or obstacles in between. This meant I had to keep the speaker close. It also weighs 260 grams which is portable enough but compared to other competitors in this range, still on the heavier side.
I tested the device with different genres of music, I found the highs and bass of the speaker rather mediocre. On the other hand, the clarity as well as mids were average at best. Increase the volume above 70 percent and I could hear the sound cracking. To sum it up, while reasonably loud, the speaker's audio performance is just about average.
I also checked the built-in call receiving feature which worked as intended. However, I would have preferred better noise cancellation. The battery life of the Boat Pint is better than any other portable speakers we have tested till now. The small speaker gave me about 15 hours of playback before giving out the ‘battery low’ cry.
Bottomline
The Boat Pint loses on every count except for battery. Everything else is either average or below that, be it performance, build quality or range. And its price puts the final nail in its coffin as there are other small better performing speakers available at much lower prices. So, at Rs. 2,990, this is not a good buy at all. If you want an affordable Bluetooth speaker that performs as per its price and sounds better than the Pint on most occasions, get the JBL Go.
| Price: | |
| Release Date: | 16 Jun 2015 |
| Market Status: | Launched |
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