Review: Logitech Pure-Fi Mobile

Posted by: Ragart on Jul 24 2008

I was browsing the interwebs a few months ago when I stumbled upon news of new mobile speakers from Logitech. Before this review I was using an old set of Creative TravelSound speakers to blast my phat beats, but Logitech’s offering had a very different look about it. The Pure-Fi’s looked like a premium item without sparing on functionality. I was very, very eager to get my hands on a set. They looked like the kind of speakers you’d want to take home to meet Mom. It was love at first sight…

and, thankfully, at first sound, too. I’ve had a little over two weeks with these speakers and have been using them every single day. I’m quite happy to report that the experience thus far has been nothing short of incredible. Incroyable even.

Unboxing

There’s a fair amount of kit in a box of Pure-Fi Mobiles. Here, I’ll make you a handy dandy bullet point list:

• Pure-Fi Mobile speakers
• mini-USB to USB cable
• 3.5 mm audio cable
• Padded carrying case
• AC adapter (charges speakers via mini-USB)
• User Manual

One very cool thing I’d like to say about the carrying case is the side pocket it has for the USB and 3.5mm wires. You can stuff the speakers and the two sets of wires in there and zip the whole thing up. The padding on the case isn’t exactly armour, but it’ll protect the speakers from minor bumps while you’re carrying them to your party time destination.

Pure-Fi Mobile – Looking around

Let’s start this tour at the top of the speakers, which is where all the controls are found. You’ve got your call and end buttons (more on this in the Bluetooth section, power button, source button (explanation soon), stereo widening button, and your two volume buttons. All the keys activate with a satisfying click, although only time will tell how long they’ll last. They do feel just a bit wiggly, but after two weeks of constant clicking I have yet to notice any difference in durability.

The rear is coated in some sort of rubbery material (it feels solid though), so the device is very easy to grip. The only prominent features on the back are the two holes for a 3.5mm jack and a mini-USB prong. There are symbols embossed above each of the plugs so that you can tell which is which (although their differing shapes ID them better).

On the other side of the speakers are the four sound drivers themselves, each of which is sealed and protected behind a sturdy metal grill. The rest of the front is taken up by shiny fingerprint magnet-y plastic, and three holes: a circular light to indicate connectivity and two microphones. The front light glows green with a successful Bluetooth or USB connection, and blinks red if there is none present. It’s a good thing the front is black, so the fingerprints aren’t really noticeable (one easy way I’ve found to avoid marking the device is to pick it up via the grills and the rubberized back).

The sides of the device are devoid of any controls or features, but it’s a good thing they’re there or the Pure-Fi Mobile wouldn’t have any width to it. It’d just be a 2D drawing in my dreams. Thank god for the sides.

The bottom is home to two legs that prop the device up. You can fold them right into the device for storage, and fold them out about 100 degrees to stand the device up. They’re also padded with rubber at the bottom so the speakers don’t slip during use. I was concerned about the durability of the legs, as they’re a key component to the speakers’ usefulness in the long run. Listening to legless speakers that sing straight up into the air just isn’t as much fun. Fortunately(or unfortunately), my friend helped me test their durability by knocking the speakers and forcing them into a complete back flip. The speakers went right over the legs, and landed on them again. I wouldn’t really recommend you try this, but it’s good to know these can handle a bit of a jolt.

I know I already mentioned this in the intro paragraph, but what can I say? I like to repeat myself: these speakers are gorgeous. They sport a very sharp, refined look, that will fit in pretty much anywhere. The glow of the lights, especially the circular LED at the front, is gorgeous. I’m a real fan of the design here, but I’m not alone in my view. I’ve shown the speakers off to friends and family and all have been duly impressed by the Pure-Fi, and my own sweet mother has tried to steal them from me on more than one occasion (you think I’m kidding?).

Audio sources

Back to business — I mentioned a source button atop the speakers earlier, right? That button acts as a toggle between the three audio sources: Bluetooth, USB, and 3.5 mm. When the speakers are turned on you’ll see a red or green light atop the currently selected source. Green means music will play, red means you’re going to have to do something over :). You just click the source button once to toggle between the available sources. For example, Bluetooth is the default source upon turning the speakers on (with nothing connected). If I then connect my laptop via USB, I’ll then have to click the source button for the speakers to switch to USB. Only one source can be active at a time.

Bluetooth

So the coolest audio source of these speakers is the Bluetooth a2dp streaming (with a hands-free profile, too). This means you can pair your a2dp capable phone/music player to the Pure-Fi and they’ll play what you play with all that “Look, ma, no wires!” magic that Bluetooth has been promising all these years. The results? Pretty good!

Pairing is simple: hold down the source button to detect, then pair away. I tested the streaming with an HTC TyTN on WM6 (as shown above), a Blackberry Curve, and a Nokia 6300 and found it all to be quite stable. I believe I heard a decrease in audio quality over Bluetooth (no big surprise), but it’s not so noticeable so as to ruin the listening experience. And hey, don’t forget, you’re playing music on your speakers from across the room (but not necessarily from another room — you know how fickle Bluetooth is about range).

I also tested the hands-free profile with each of the phones, and it’s quite cool to just press a button on the speakers and answer a call (and press another button to end it — if there’s a jerk on the line :D). The sound is routed through the speakers and you can talk from about a foot away and still be heard clearly on the other end. One thing I loved was finishing a call and then hearing the music pipe right back through, right on cue. Now if only the iPhone could stream…

USB

Alright, time for the next source. Let’s face it: most laptop speakers suck. Listening to music off of my family’s laptops sometimes sounds worse than a garbled radio broadcast. You could easily attach the Pure-Fi to a laptop via 3.5, but I like to use USB because it has the effect of trickle charging the speakers as you use them.

The Pure-Fi are literally plug-n-play, with no driver installation needed on Vista or XP (don’t have a Mac to test with at the moment). You might have to reload the program you were using before the speakers are detected, but that’s standard USB crap I’ve had to deal with on other headsets and audio devices. Once the speakers are plugged in, you’ll have the option of switching to the USB source, although this usually happens automatically.

One extra surprise I had was the ability to make calls on the PC via VoIP programs like Skype. Just make sure to set the input device as the Pure-Fi Mobile, and then you’re all set. The mic range is around a foot for a clear broadcast, and this solution worked quite beautifully for me. The test notebooks I was using for this review have no microphones of their own, so Pure-Fi scores a few more points for reducing the amount of gear I need to get my Skype on.

3.5mm auxiliary audio

Ok, so not everyone might have Bluetooth capability or a laptop, but most folks with the cash to buy a Pure-Fi Mobile will have some sort of music player. So if you’re not interested in the other audio source capabilities, the Pure-Fi still make a fantastic set of speakers for any normal player. Just plug the included 3.5mm cable into the speakers and your player and you’re probably good to go. I say probably because there’s just a small bug (could just be in my sample) that turns off the speakers prematurely when you’re actually trying to use them. I believe this happens when you have the device plugged in, but without music before the speakers are turned on. I’m guessing the speakers listen for music when plugged via 3.5mm, they don’t hear any as you turn them on, so they decide to go back to sleep (of course it’s more technical than that, but I like to see my tech as having a personality — Pure Fi can be picky at times). This problem is solved by just turning the speakers on a second time, or pre-empting the whole thing by playing music on your player before plugging into and activating the speakers.

The complaint I’d have for this area of the device isn’t targeted at the device, but rather at the included cable. The 3.5mm cable just feels too short, especially when you compare it to the USB cable. You could wrap the speakers around a laptop with the length of USB cable you’re given, but I have very little room in which to move my iPhone when it’s tethered via 3.5mm. I’ve solved this by using an extra extension cable I had lying around, but I’d love it if Logitech would include one of their own in the box for us so that we could distance our players from our speakers a bit more. One thing I will say about the cable, though, is that it actually fits the iPhone. I was going to take my trusty $10 adapter out so that I could fit the darn thing into the phone when I realized: wait a minute — this thing actually fits! Oh, Logitech, you sly dog! In an age where phones actually need accessories to access the 3.5 mm port, this is a “feature” Logitech could actually advertise on the box.

Sound

This section won’t be all that big because I’m no mega expert of sound. I didn’t go to the University of Audiophiles Forever, but I do listen quite intently to a lot of music. I guess that’s got to count for something (I hope). That being said, I think these speakers sound fantastic, especially considering their size. With a lot of these smaller, mobile speakers cranking up the volume will warp your music, adding a tinny sound to the highs, and bloat the bass like somebody is talking too close to the microphone. This hasn’t happened to me with the Pure-Fi. I suppose if I cranked the speakers and my iPhone to max it would probably happen, but the point is I’ve never had to try that during my testing (I like how i can call listening to my favourite music on-the-go “testing” — reviewing is great!). All of my music had a very rich, deep sound to it. I compared the Pure-Fi to my older Creative TravelSound and really heard a difference in the quality. The Creative sounded like small travel speakers, and the Logitech’s offering was simply music to my ears.

The sound from the Pure-Fi is room-filling at even medium volume, so you don’t need to worry about your $150 mobile speakers being too quiet. If anything, they might be a bit too loud at times since they don’t have any visual indicator of the current volume level (there’s only a sound that plays upon reaching max). This surprised the heck out of me on several occasions as I was setting the speakers up and was promptly blasted by Jack Johnson screaming his head off at me. Jack Johnson isn’t so mellow when he’s point-blank and deafening. Moral of the story: there are LEDs for to indicate charging, audio source, and a lot of other statuses on the Pure-Fi, so I think a visual volume indicator would be a reasonable addition. Yeah, it’d suck more battery life, but maybe it’d only light up as you turn the speakers on, and after that only if you adjust the volume.

Battery Life

Speaking of battery life, there’s a whole lot of that in these speakers. I can speak very highly of the batt-life when wired to my iPhone — the Pure-Fi just won’t die! I’ve used it for around four hours a day over three days without charging, and the speakers still had some juice left in them. I then spent another two days trying to kil the battery off by wiring the speakers to my Nintendo Ds as I gamed for an hour or two. The speakers still haven’t died on me. They’re rated for 12 hours of playing on one charge, so their wired performance certainly surpasses that standard!

I haven’t tested the Bluetooth lifetime as extensively, simply because I prefer to use my iPhone as my primary music player when outdoors. I did stream music from my TyTN for about three hours and was still showing 3-LED’s by the time I stopped, which indicated batt life of over 66 percent. I’d gather that the Pure-Fi could probably out-last most phones streaming over stereo Bluetooth. I’m not sure about Logitech’s site details, but they might have meant that the 12-hour charge was for Bluetooth streaming. The Pure-Fi is, after all, marketed as a “wireless speaker and speakerphone”.

However, all good things must come to an end eventually, and you’ve got to charge the Pure-Fi at some point. The three LEDs atop the speakers will tell you how much power you’ve got left in intervals of 33. You’ve got the choice of either USB trickle charging or using the bundled AC adapter. If you’ve got to get going somewhere and don’t have a whole day to wait, I’d say your only option is the AC charger. The trickle charging is great, but it’s really only useful to me for parking the speakers as a semi-permanent sound system for a laptop. However, I’ve left the Pure-Fi at a laptop to charge for a good 3 hours and returned to find the battery meter still stating 33 percent. The AC charger is a lot better, and a good 8-10 hours should get the Pure-Fi back to 100% (I left it overnight to charge and awoke to three green LEDs).

Conclusion

I’ve had an absolute blast reviewing these speakers (just ask the neighbours). They’ve become one of my favourite everyday gadgets, and it’s always good fun showing people what this mobile boombox is capable of.

Loved:

• You’re bringing around great, room-filling sound that can connect to most any mobile device.
• Stellar battery life
• Design, especially front grills and rubberized back

Would Like:

• A visual volume indicator

As you can see, there really isn’t much more to ask for here. The price of $149.99 isn’t cheap, but you’d be hard-pressed to find anything close to the Pure-Fi Mobile’s versatility in terms of connectivity and sound quality.

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Critical Info

Company: Logitech

Price: $149.99 (let’s call it $150)

Availability: Logitech

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