Belkin Soundform Elite

The Belkin Soundform Elite has Good overall sound quality. Bass has good impact and goes deep, but depending on the program material ranges from a bit prominent and somewhat boomy to thuddy and muffled. Midrange is a bit nasal, and somewhat hazy, grainy and dark. Treble is smeared, a bit subdued, the upper treble is muted, and depending on the program material may sound a bit to somewhat distorted. Decent recovery of room ambience, sounds somewhat congested, and lacks fine detail. The speaker is monophonic. There was no significant difference between Bluetooth and WiFi Sound quality. Provides a decent volume level in a medium sized room. When tested as a stereo pair we found that only the bass frequencies were reproduced in the left channel and only the upper midrange and treble frequencies were reproduced in the right channel.

Versatility is good. It's a monophonic speaker, with multi-room support and has stereo pairing support with another Belkin Soundform Elite. Wireless: WiFi supports dual-band and this unit has Bluetooth and can output to another speaker but lacks speakerphone functionality. Communications: Has support for calling but lacks texting and messaging. Digital Assistant Muting: Has a dedicated touch control to disable the digital assistant by muting its microphones. Audio Connections: Lacks analog audio input and outputs. Audio Tailoring: Lacks user adjustable treble and bass controls. OS Support: Android and iOS. Other connections and features: Lacks a USB device port. Streaming by voice command: Supports voice command of many common streaming services such as Google-Play Music, Pandora, Spotify, Tune-In and iHeart Radio. Voice ID: Supports voice identity - a feature which allows the account holder with their "voice print" to access personal information.

Overall ease of use of the Belkin Soundform Elite is Excellent. Wireless setup: Setup requires an app downloaded to a mobile device, easy and intuitive - need instructions (may be included in app), may or may not involve inputting WiFi network password and account setups. Console controls: The volume controls are labeled (+/-) on console device. Volume may also be controlled via a natural language command. Has non-persistent graphical position volume indications. Audio mute: Unlabeled - well placed - with indication when it is engaged. Microphone mute: Well marked, well placed, clear indication when it is engaged. Source selections: Requires app to be installed, app installation is straight forward. Once app is installed switching between inputs requires selecting the -cast- icon in a 3rd party supported app. Fairly intuitive but subject to 3rd Party implimentation of cast selection. App remote: Volume control not obvious due to poor placement (on screen one level down) - only available when content is playing; however, it is repeatable with clear graphic and index of setting. Mute: (Remote) Well marked, well placed, clear indication when it is engaged and mutes the line input. Voice transport controls: Natural language control of transport (Play/Pause/Skip/Mute), volume controls and source selection was easy and intuitive.