Jabra Solemate Portable Bluetooth Speaker: A Poolside Review

When the Jabra Solemate first arrived, I was intrigued at how such a small, if ultra-cool, device could produce the sort of sounds I had been promised. So, like any hard-working writer, I forced myself to take it outside to the pool to test it out. And, so as to fully immerse myself in the portable summer party mood, I felt obliged to accompany the test with a delightful glass of red wine.

The pool was sparkling, the wine inviting and my Solemate was ready for action. I selected my tracks on the iPad, followed the ‘oh so simple’ pairing procedure which was almost instantaneous, and lay back on my pool-side chaise to enjoy what I thought would be an ‘okay’ experience.

Crikey was I wrong!

The sound was incredibly rich – deep bass notes, a great midrange level and a treble that was, quite frankly, unbelievable in terms of its size. This is a portable music ‘experience’ with a soul – or maybe that should be ‘sole,‘ as the bottom of its trainer-like looks is interchangeable with a number of multi-colored soles, depending upon your particular mood (or outfit). The clever thing is that these soles also act as a vibration dampener to improve sound performance making them not only on-trend in terms of looks but extremely well thought out in terms of functionality.

And the cleverness continues with the Solemate’s shoelace, which is actually a mini stereo jack cable, enabling you to connect those devices which lack Bluetooth connectivity. There’s also an all-weather (water and sand-proof) travel pouch that freely allows the music to flow through. And, back to the hardware, there are three drivers that can provide up to 8 hours of play using the inbuilt batteries. Add on the omni-directional microphone, which turns the Solemate into a portable speaker-phone (in between partying) and a USB for PC connection and charging and you have a device that packs a punch in all respects.

In essence, the Solemate runs away from the competition (excuse the pun) in terms of both looks and performance. If one aspect doesn’t entice you to buy then another surely will. It is truly the best Bluetooth product I’ve encountered to date – well done Jabra!