My biggest complaint
When comparing and evaluating the bottomless number of Bluetooth wireless self powered speaker systems that we’ve listened to and compared over the last several years in our lab, homes, or at CES in Las Vegas; my point of view has never changed: Music is recorded in Stereo imaging. Mono audio signal reproduction might have all the parts, but they aren’t in the right places. Even a portable box with Left and Right speaker needs at least 6 ft of distance between the speakers to properly image the recording–whichmost just don’t. My first “Smartphone speaker” was hard wired, hada Li-ion battery, and folded just like the phone. It was technically “stereo” but the speakers were about 3 inches apart at best. Good points: it didn’t sound like an absolute turd, and since they were “promotional items” which Verizon never gave away, I was getting them for under ten dollars and I could take them anywhere. I still have a few around the house in boxes.
After 25 years working with various live sound companies and other levels of production; I realize it’s not that I expect to hear that separation in the mix. I just expect to hear the song as it was mastered by the studio engineer. Clear. Clean. Open. Even highly compressed and mixed straight up the middle, because that’s part of the artistry of mixing. You can dance listening to a single point mono loudspeaker. But should you? Do you have to? ZENBRE says “No” with their recent offering: the ZENBRE Z4 Wireless Stereo Waterproof IPX4 Speaker
In the Box
ZENBRE has the solution at a truly affordable entry level for high fidelity sound, in True Wireless Stereo (TWS). Included with your purchase is one ZENBRE SoundBank Z4 speaker, the USB charging cable, and a 3.5 mm Stereo audio cable. If you plan to experience True Wireless Stereo you are going to need two units at $39.99 each and prime shipping. They also put a thick lanyard in the box which works great for hanging the unit(s). I found that to be the best way to enjoy the speakers in my kitchen. They are of a size to fit in a backpack side pocket or hang on the utility straps which are ubiquitous these days.
The slightly important multi language instruction manual comes in English, Japanese, German, Spanish, French and Italian languages. I am a button pusher, so I didn’t use the manual until I had to pair two speakers together then connect to an audio source. There is also a card which suggests you review your purchase at Amazon, or join the ZENBRE Exlusive User Club. More about that later.
It’s History!
I’d like to think I have some idea what is needed for portable sound systems. I have played with speakers and sound systems since I was a young teen. I got my first Stereo system in 1974 and my first album played on it, was KISS COMES ALIVE. I spent much of my youth and young adulthood going between esoteric home systems, and whatever was “state of the art” portable sound at the time. Crystal radios; transistor Radio Shack radios;
Boom Boxes; Cassette Walkman; CD Walkman; headphones; solar powered radios, have all been in my hands and ears for years at a time. When cell phones became affordable and transitioned intomultimedia devices: I have listened to and owned speaker systems from pocket sized folding speakers with my folding phones, to small live PA size solutions. Hard wired, and bluetooth when it arrived on the scene. I’ve had my hands and ears on most of these devices for the last 40 years because I was always chasing the elusive “great sounding portable stereo system” which didn’t break the bank, no matter which decade I was living. When single point speaker systems became the rage in the last ten years, I lost a lot of interest and looked at wireless, powered speakers as a necessary evil more than “good sound in a small system”. The ZENBRE Z4 has changed my attitude. Let’s talk about why.
Why History Matters
This was my rig in 1979-80. Having portable, reliable, great sounding speakers is as important today as it ever was in the 1970s or 80s. The ZENBRE SoundBank Z4 system does that with style. Don’t let the small size fool you: there’s a powerful system inside of each of those stand alone boxes: 2-2 inch speakers with 2-5 watt amplifiers. There is also a passive sub-woofer chamber which actually reproduces low end sound without destroying your ears. The handsome cloth grill is actually an IPX4 waterproof shield which means they can take rain, or a bit of water without being destroyed or even harmed. That rating means the speakers are not meant to be immersed, and no, I didn’t try it. The speaker uses Bluetooth 4.1 protocol and as tested, has an 18 hour play time. I actually never played them longer than 6 hours at a time but re-charging1800mAh Li Battery wasn’t necessary for 3 days. They can also connect to any audio source with the included 3.5 mm stereo patch cable. I tested both: there were audio discrepancies between the two sources (BT versus direct cable) but that can always be attributed to the Companding algorithms in Bluetooth systems. That aside, plugged in, or Bluetooth, the speaker sounded great. It’s got a water resistant cover which protects the USB charge port and the 3.5 mm Aux input. The cover is the style component. Like many units we’ve looked at lately, the simple control panel has multi purpose buttons. Power. Play/Pause. +(plus) and -(minus). That’s it. Let’s talk about functions.
Button Button
Let’s look at the back of the unit: From top down you have a lanyard attachment point, the Microphone, the LED, Power Button, Play/Pause, + and -. Then you see a water resistant cover over the 3.5mm Aux output jack and USB Charging Port. The LED indicates ready to pair with Blinking blue LED< charging with Green LED(turns off when fully charged) or Red when Aux output cable is inserted. When Master/Slave is used, the red LED lights on both speakers when Aux input cable is used. Like many BT speakers, the ZENBRE Z4 has multi use buttons. Play/Pause is also the button to push to answer or end a phone call. A short press answers the call, a long press rejects it. Plus is volume(hold to change volume) or Tap to skip songs. Minus works the same way in the other direction. Volume Down, and Skip back a track. Or video, or whatever source type to which you are connected. That’s it. After 5 minutes of no signal from a source or even the connected source the Units turn themselves off. Every. Single. Time.The ZENBRE Z4 comes in either basic Black or stylish Passion Red.
One + One = Stereo
The LED is used to indicate readiness to pair, blinks blue when turned on, or it connects automatically with the last paired device if possible. To connect the TWS system follow the simple instructions but quickly: Turn on A speaker. Turn on B Speaker. Push Play/Pause on the second speaker. At this point I almost feel one should label one of the speakers R or L so you know which one is the Master, andwhich is the Slave speaker, however, ZENBRE sorted that out: the B speaker is the MASTER and it blinks slowly when connected. The SLAVE Speaker A will have a steady Blue LED. The speakers will remember this and connect if both are turned on. They will Beep/beep when turned on with this connection.
The MASTER speaker is your BT connection. I have tried it the other way, and it won’t work. You cannot link the speaker then connect the Slave Speaker as Bluetooth source for TWS. The engineers at ZENBRE designed the system so the connecting Bluetooth to the slave will just disconnect thespeakers leaving you playing on a single mono speaker. I actually had to turn off both units and start over with Bluetooth because I didn’t keep track and connected them in the wrong order. Once you do get it connected properly to each other and to the source: Turn the speakers up to full volume. The Z4 Master unit controls the volume and other controls for the system. Put the two ZENBRE TWS Speakers about 6 ft apart for True Wireless Stereo. I liked hanging them on the doors of my kitchen cupboards or in the lab’s common area. Enjoy the ZENBRE Z4 2.0 “almost” full range response which I found to be surprisingly full, with subtle nuances and clear stereo imaging. The only lack is “actual sub woofers” which one day, someone’s going to make a 2.1 system but until then: these things ROCK. They can get too loud so be careful about the environment. I played with output levels of the sources and volume levels of the speaker enough to know that there is potential for distortion of the sound at full Bluetooth(Source) volume. And at 6ft distance from the center, that’s very loud for the two small cylinders. With Rock music or RnB at full volume on the speaker and halfway with the source I saw a consistent 86-90 dB at the C rating. The speakers will go back to less than half volume when turned off, so realize that before you connect your Source if you truly want the best reproduction these devices offer. The ZENBRE Z4 system has the very real ability to be loud, so you’ve got a lot of headroom for the source. Take advantage of that relationship for best results.
Connections
I had no problems quickly hooking the ZENBRE Z4 to various Android and IOs devices including phones or Tablets; my Kindle Fire HD, or any BT source I had in the house. Turn on the unit, or paired units, and if it’s not already connected to something else, the LED Is blinking blue. Look for ZENBRE Z4 in your BT Scan list on the device you wish to pair. I also used the included cable to connect to my Samsung TV which isn’t a BT source. It sounded great however there was a very noticeable delay between the video signal and the audio. I noticed the delay whether I was watching streamed programming from the system apps, live broadcast TV, or through my ROKU or ChromeCast units in the Samsung. This has shown up in other BT wireless speaker systems and can be attributed to processing speed by the system (this is always disappointing). I listened mostly to music through the TWS system. I did spend a lot of time watching streamed video on the Kindle Fire HD and a couple different Apple Ipads of different generations on various platforms including but not limited to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Crunchyroll. On the Apple Ipad, or the Kindle fire when using the TWS on the ZENBRE Z4 there was no jarring delay of signal and there may be none. The phone utility is useful, but I wish I could just turn it off when listening to the music through my phone. That’s an old school complaint about “phones as audio sources” and I don’t see my attitude ever changing.
Sounds Good 2 Me
At the end of the day, from a guy to whom sound reproduction has always been a major focus of my professional and home life: $39.99 each/$79.98 for a pair of actually portable, actually stereo, actually good sounding speaker system which can bring the party: The ZENBRE Z4 SoundBank Speakers can be utilized effectively as Near Field Monitors for a laptop or PC/IOs. They are effective as television 2.0 sound reproduction as long as you don’t mind the delay. Even if you only buy one, they have great utility and there is no video/audio delay problem that I could notice. But for me, theZENBRE Z4 Wireless Stereo Waterproof IPX4 Speakertruly shines as a portable, great sounding, reasonably priced (that boom box in the photo cost well over $100 in 1979) JAMZ. With 18 hours of play time you can practically carry your music everywhere you go. My suggestion which no one will ever care is to make items like this which are only intended for music reproduction, because that’s where the ZENBRE SoundBank Z4 really shines. 8.5 out of 10. Looking forward to reviewing more exciting products from ZENBRE in the near future.
| Buy from Amazon | |
Our Rating 8.5 / 10 | Average Price* $39.99 |
*Average price is based on the time this article was published
Join the Club
ZENBRE has a unique offer for its customers: You can join the ZENBRE Exclusive User Club and potentially receive new and exciting free merchandise as a member of their customer based focus group. All it requires is an active Amazon account. Seems like a great opportunity for the motivated electronics consumer to stay on the cutting edge and save money.
Specification
*Bluetooth Standard: 4.1
*Speaker Unit: 40mm 4 Ohm 5W
*SNR >80dB
*Charging time :3-5 hours
*Battery Capacity: Built-in Li battery
*Play time 12-15 hours
*Splashproof: IPX4 certified waterproof
*Weight: 12.9oz
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