Logitech Squeezebox Boom Review

Logitech Squeezebox Boom

Introduction

Quick Review: Logitech recently announced the Squeezebox Boom, similar to the Squeezebox Classic, but with a built-in speaker system. The Squeezebox is the first of several products in the Slim Devices buyout.

Unlike the Classic, the Boom is designed for smaller rooms such as bedrooms where a full stereo system isn’t always practical. Being only about a foot-wide and 5 inches high, you should have no problem finding room the Boom. The 3-inch woofers maybe small but pack more the enough punch to fill a small-medium sized room with crystal-clear sound.

Upon unpacking, I was immediately impressed with the design of the Squeezebox. The design, like many of Logitech’s, is simple, functional and a fingerprint magnet. The included 10-button remote was clumsy and sometimes did not respond from far distances.

The Boom includes both 802.11g and a 100Mbps Ethernet interface. In most cases wireless is more practical, but it’s good to have for wired houses. The wireless interface supports both WPA Personal, WPA2-AES and WEP encryption.

The Squeezebox can play music from a variety of sources such as Rhapsody, Pandora, Slacker, Shoutcast and your computer. I am still disappointed there is no iTunes Sharing support. To play the music library on your computer you need to install the Squeezebox media software. The software is controlled by a webpage and can be used to control many aspects (volume, track, stream etc.) of the Squeezebox remotely. This could be useful if you have a laptop in the same room, you can use the webpage to control the device instead of the pudgy remote.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out the Boom has an alarm clock and lets you wake up to any much source the device can play. A built-in ambient light sensor dims adjusts the display brightness based on the room lighting.

A convenient setup wizard guides you through connecting to your wireless and setting up your music. Many of the features, such as online streaming, require the creation of a Squeeze Network account.


Overall


Overall the Squeezebox Boom is a great all-in-one network boom box for rooms without a full stereo. If you can get over the price tag this product is for you.

Overall Rating: 8.5 out of 10 Loops

Pros

  • Easy to use.

  • Controllable from computer.

  • Good sound quality.

  • Many sources.

Cons

  • Requires account (free).

  • No direct iTunes Sharing.

  • Pricey

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