This is an absolutely amazing speaker that just blows me away. I am completely enthralled with the capabilities that the speaker has. It is a wireless (or wired, your choice) speaker system with built-in, lithium-ion battery. It has a very pleasing sound quality coupled with a surprising amount of volume given the small size of the enclosure not to mention the light weight of the entire unit.
I absolutely love this speaker and will explain why.
I have been involved with music as a professional DJ since 1985. I listen to music incessantly. I'm always looking for less clutter in my life and with my equipment. To be able to have a speaker that is wireless is a big deal since it removes all the hassles that having wired connections involves. What's brilliant about the design of this Altec Lansing inMotion speaker system is that it offers two types of wireless connectivity. Bluetooth and a USB transmitter dongle. Bluetooth wireless enables iPod, iPad, iPhone connectivity (or other compatible bluetooth devices to connect.) The other option, a USB transmitter dongle that can be plugged into any computer, laptop or desktop enables connectivity for non-bluetooth devices, or where you need greater range. But what good is a speaker if it doesn't also sound great. This does sound great. It has a brightness and clarity this is very pleasing to my ears. Admittedly it is lacking in the bass area, but I found the sound to be balanced and the lack of "more" bass was not a negative for me.
Suddenly, I am able to have my iPhone play my music wirelessly using bluetooth to the Altec Lansing speaker. And since the speaker also has a built-in battery, I can take it anywhere. It's not that big, only about 13 inches long, 4 inches high and 5 inches deep. It could easily fit in a small backpack. This means you could take it with you on a camping trip or into your office, upstairs, downstairs, into the backyard... wherever you want to take it. Once you begin to realize that you are no longer tethered by wires, it opens up an entirely huge number of options. As I'm writing this review, I have the speaker hooked up to my tiny, Sandisk Sansa mp3 player by a short mini-plug cable that runs from the headphone jack on the mp3 player to the Line In jack of the speaker. I could just as easily have my iPhone be the music source using bluetooth. The speaker has a very comfortable, built-in handle that lets you easily "grab-and-go."
I was able to quickly and easily pair my PC laptop to the inMotion speaker using the USB Transmitter. It was also easy to connect my iMac using either bluetooth or the USB dongle to the inMotion speaker. And my iPhone via bluetooth was also flawlessly connected. I was easily able to switch between the different devices too, all it required was a re-pairing of each device since the speaker does not retain pairing information once you switch to anther device. This is not a big deal in my eyes since pairing is so easy to accomplish and takes but a button push and a few seconds.
Here is something else that makes this speaker so useful... there is a remote control that slips perfectly and securely into a slot on the back of the radio. The remote lets you not only launch the default music player on your PC laptop or desktop computer, it also lets you change tracks, pause, and adjust the volume. For instance I use iTunes for my music and to listen to Internet radio. When I'm listening to Internet Radio in iTunes, I can change stations by using the "|<<" and ">>|" buttons of the remote. These same buttons let you skip through music tracks. There is also a mute button, a power on/off function and an ESS (expanded sound stage) button that adds a spatial quality to the sound if you choose. Unfortunately, and one of the very few cons for the device, there is no indicator showing whether ESS is engaged either on the remote or the main speaker unit. But you can "hear" whether it is, so not a big deal.
For Mac users, the "Launch" function of the remote is not useable. You have to manually launch your music app. You will also need to modify your Sound > Output preferences to specify the "inMotion Air" when you are using bluetooth or the USB Dongle. But otherwise the remote works on a Mac in all other regards. I do not have a UNIX or Linux computer to test how it works on that operating system.
The sound quality is quite remarkable for such a compact speaker. There is a clarity and openness to the sound that is quite nice. Whereas some systems sound muffled, this was not muffled in any way whatsoever. There is a lack of deep bass, as is to be expected in something of this size and purpose, but overall the sound was balanced and had enough bass to satisfy my critical ears. There is no adjustment for Bass or Treble on the speaker, but you are usually able to adjust that on the source if need be. I must also say that given the small size of this speaker, the loudness it can achieve is more than adequate and can easily fill a good sized room with plenty of sound.
I've not noticed any interference or static with the wireless function of this speaker. I've also found the range to be as advertised. I can walk around my house using bluetooth wireless and not experience any dropouts or loss of signal. The effective range of bluetooth in this radio is "up to 33 feet" and I believe that to be accurate. The USB wireless is advertised as "up to 333 feet" and I've gotten pretty close to that, but towards the extreme end of that range there begins to be some breakup of the signal. Of course, line of sight is huge when dealing with wireless and if you have lots of walls or obstructions your distance will be reduced.
It is also possible to have multiple speakers all playing the same audio from one wireless music source. You simply pair each device to the source.
Thoughtfully, there is an auto-shutdown feature that will automatically turn off the speaker after a period of inactivity: 4 minutes when using the battery or 10 minutes when using AC adapter power.
Is there anything I don't like about this speaker? Well not much. These are just terribly small quibbles, but I do wish there were an LED indicator showing that battery charging is taking place. As it is, when it is plugged in but off, there is no indication that charging is taking place. Another minor issue is that the ESS button does not have an indicator light either on the remote or the main unit that indicating that it is active. Again, this is minor and in no way affects the amazing capabilities of the speaker.
My only other thought is that I wish the battery were of a higher capacity to enable this to run longer without AC power. That's about the only thing that could make this any better than it is.
Very impressive speaker that offers great flexibility in how and where it can be used.
UPDATE: 8/24/2011 - I am pleasantly surprised to learn that somehow this speaker remembers multiple Bluetooth connections of devices it has previously been paired with. In other words, If I have at one time paired my iPhone as well as my laptop computer with the speaker, I do not have to repair the speaker each time I switch between devices. It apparently remembers devices it has been paired with and will connect with each device when that device is active and bluetooth of the device is on.
I've also got a wish that there was a place to store the USB bluetooth dongle in the speaker itself, when not in use. I've also got to mention that the dongle is a bit wide so depending on how much clearance you have between multiple USB ports on your computer, you may have a tough time having plugging in another USB plug at the same time you are using the dongle.. .they may be too close together. Other than that I am loving this speaker and it sounds fantastic to me.
UPDATE: 10/28/2011 - I have recently acquired a
Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Speaker - Nylon and have also done a video review of it on the Bose Soundlink page. Just want to quickly say that I actually prefer the sound of the Altec-Lansing iMW725. It has vastly superior midrange and highs. It has a clarity and brightness that is lacking in the Bose. Although the Bose can boast that it has more bass, I found it to be a boomy bass, not well-defined and lacking in mid and high range presence. For $100 less, the Altec-Lansing is the better choice for accurate sound reproduction. I did like the Bose form factor though and it did exude a certain quality. But for my money, the Altec-Lansing produces better sound quality and that's more important to me.
UPDATE: 12/8/2011 - I get quite a few people telling me that they are undecided between the Inmotion speaker and the Bose Soundlink. You really do have to listen to both before making your decision. I can definitely make a couple claims though and that is that the USB dongle that the Altec Lansing can use if you choose, provides a much great distance of useability for the speaker. Normal bluetooth has a range of around 30 feet, but the dongle gives you much great range. And the other thing I can say is that if loundness is your only criteria for being good, then the Bose is definitely capable of playing louder than the Altec Lansing Inmotion.
Again, I like them both but for different reasons. Your mileage may vary.