Fall into the sound of music – A Dual I-Venstar Bluetooth Speaker Review

With summer coming to an end and fall (autumn) approaching, our outdoor activities begin to dwindle, but that doesn’t mean the fun can’t continue. Music has brought people together for centuries and it’s what you’ll always find at any gathering whether it be a picnic, wedding, birthday, or just a nice summer day at the beach.

As September begins, major news publishers have begun showing off their top recommendations for college kids and their dorm rooms. Since music draws the attention of people, why not offer a gift that brings joy and excitement to your college dorm room and life.

Among the thousands of Amazon retailers, an in-depth search reveals an electronics company that has been in the music business since 2006. I-Venstar offers Bluetooth speakers from their rugged model that resembles a football, all the way up to their standard unit. Sent to me for review this time around are two Bluetooth speakers that are made for two different applications, but follow the same principle.

Welcome to my review of two different I-Venstar Bluetooth Speakers. Throughout this review, I will be discussing the following subjects: the design, functionality, and my overall thoughts. Thank you to I-Venstar for providing me with these products.

Note: These two products lack unique names and are known online as a “Bluetooth speaker”. To help distinguish one from the other, Model S407 will be known as the everyday speaker (shown in photo 1), while model S203 is the rugged speaker (shown in photo 2). Model S407 will always be discussed first.

Design

Beginning with I-Venstar’s everyday speaker, the design offers a pleasant looking black, glossy finish that is offset by its front facing metal grill. Black not your color? I-Venstar offers this unit in three additional colors: red, white, and teal, also in a glossy finish.

As an everyday speaker, it seeks to be the highlight of a small room and be ready to be turned on at any moment to set the mood. If the title wasn’t clear enough, the S407 is primarily a Bluetooth speaker that connects to any Bluetooth emitting device, whether it be a smartphone, tablet, or PC. As well as streaming music through Bluetooth, the S407 doubles as a hands-free speaker phone, projecting your phone call to fill the whole room.

If Bluetooth wasn’t your intention, then perhaps the built in FM antenna can give you a random playlist or help you win a radio giveaway. One thing to note, is that when testing the speaker, I found the FM antenna was weak as moving the speaker would cause the signal to be distorted or moving away from a window could cause the unit to drop the signal completely.

The S407 continues with its input choices to include USB, a TF Card slot, and AUX In giving you basically every single type of input to play music with so that you’ll never be left in utter silence.

While your inputs of music may change, the top facing I/O remains the same with button controls for volume, song selection, mode, and a power button that doubles as play/pause and calling answering/ending.

Behind the metal grill face are two speakers and a center subwoofer to give your songs that well needed bass. Also behind the grill, rests a red 8888 dot matrix display that reads out FM channels, battery percentage, song number, and mode selection.

Finally, all of this is held together by a strong metal frame that contains six bottom mounted rubber pads to prevent sliding and accidental bumps.

If you find yourself constantly outdoors camping, rock climbing, or just enjoying the nature sights, I-Venstar’s rugged Bluetooth speaker may suit your lifestyle in a better fashion than the everyday one.

Starting with the body, the S203 is colored in a matte finish that comes in black, red, teal or green and is much more preferable than the glossy finish. The construction of the crush-resistant frame is made from an internal metal body and rubber exterior to prevent harm to the unit.

When placed onto a glass table, the rubber body is so strong that even with significant force, the speaker refuses to slide about. Likewise, when attempting to flex or twist the device, its metal housing fights back and brushes off the excessive force.

The S203 comes with an IPX54 rating that represents a dust and water resistant body; enough to withstand a pleasant day at the beach, but be careful of the unit getting soaked.

Around the rest of the body, you will find a metal carabiner that rests underneath the sealed I/O containing a TF card slot and AUX In. Then, lastly, located on top are your control buttons for play/pause, power, Bluetooth, and song control.

Unlike the S407, the S203 lacks the full sized USB port and FM radio for music playback. Another lacking feature is its own volume control, meaning the host device controls the volume; liked by some, disliked by myself.

Functionality

As I said earlier, the S407 is an everyday speaker that is designed to be indoors on a shelf or outdoors by the pool under an umbrella, but dislikes the thought of being brought to the beach.

When placed on a sturdy surface like glass or wood, the speaker’s 52mm speakers output a strong and clear sound that brings the party to life. When connected to Bluetooth and streaming music with a smartphone, it’s as easy as one-two-three for setup.

Everything from 80s rock to today’s top hits the S407 had excellent playback for Bluetooth and for other music inputs. The only mode that provided trouble was the FM setting I mentioned above, but your results may vary.

I spent an entire day with the S407 blasting music out near the pool and the unit maintained a strong battery life above the 40% mark and recharged within a few hours.

When turned up to eleven, the speaker maintained its cool and didn’t become tinny or unbearable, in fact it was still pleasing and you could hear every single word and instrument. Everything from lows, mids, and highs were spot on to my ears. The S407 shows the amount of time I-Venstar took in creating the product.

Things slightly change when taking a look at the S203. I matched the unit up against a Logitech UE Mini Boom and quickly noticed differences. The S203’s IPX54 rating provides a tinny sound when used at a higher volume and bass is heavily lacking. When playing music on low volume, the bass is practically gone.

The smaller 40mm speakers do well on lows and mids, but struggle on the highs which introduces the tinny sound effect.

That said, the S203 is not a performance portable speaker, but the smaller size means longer battery life followed by a much easier way to carry the unit. It fits well into your hand and it doesn’t matter if it’s placed on a flat surface or hanging from a backpack.

My Final Thoughts

With both speakers priced at $35, I-Venstar’s S407 is the Bluetooth speaker to choose for both college dorm rooms and for those looking to lighten up the party with some music. Its loud and clear sound is rich and with the multiple inputs it makes it always functional especially when matched with that all day lasting battery. The S203 on the other hand is a great solution for those who are outdoors having fun and need music to keep them going. Its strong body will work as hard as you will and will do so without breaking a sweat.

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