Customer Reviews

Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 Compact Docking Speakers for iPod and iPhone (Black)

5 star:		(125)
4 star:		(72)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(44)

 

 

I'm used to buying Bose or Altec Lansing but I wanted a small footprint with internal battery so it can moved around the house and also I could use it when going on longer trips outside. This was a perfect choice since it came with everything in a small package. I was skeptical in buying this and had pretty low expectations but once I plugged in and played, I was pleasantly surprised to see the output from a small speaker.

Pro's

Works with iPhone 3G***
Great sound for the small package. Very good on vocal.
10hr rechargeable battery with indicator
Excellent remote with very good range (Tried it from 15ft and it works great)
Nice carrying pouch
Good price considering the price on JBL on stage etc.
The one touch repeat or shuffle function is very sensible with this.I use to play songs for my baby and often I keep doing repeats and this has been useful or skipping the same songs in line


Cons

Good on vocal and couple of instrumental but lacks BASS. If you are used to higher and bigger speakers Bose & Altec Lansing, You might find it not very good (but considering the size I would say it's great)
Small remote could easily misplaced. Suggest a velcro on the speaker and remote so you can be sticking it when not in use

Overall 4+ stars cosidering the output and size and the winner is the built-in battery. Will do some more test and post after couple of months usage.

As an owner of an iPhone, I was sad to find that the GSM interference produced by the phone produced insane noises when using my nearly 4 year-old JBL onstage (which has been a solid performer for years). As I went on the search for a replacement I did a ton of research and decided on this unit.

I was initially hesitant to get a sound product from Logitech - but I am glad to report that my hesitation was unwarranted. I am very pleased with the sound and build quality of this unit.

I am also geeked because I can leave my iPhone in its case (switcheasy colors) when I place it on the dock connector. I was less than thrilled by the idea of removing my case just to listen to some music.

Here is a list of pros and cons:
Pros:
1. Sound quality. I've put this system through some hip-hop, rock, alternative, classical, acoustic, vocal and other types of music and it has come out great.
2. Build quality. The form factor is excellent. The included case and iPod adapters are cool as well.
3. Price/Performanc ratio. There are a number of options available for the iPhone 3g now. And I feel this is the best when considering price. Other offerings from JBL are decent units - but the logitech is available for far less money.
4. Portability. The integrated battery is great. I used to relocate my onstage on our porch and had to always have it near a plug. The logitech's battery makes it far more portable and flexible.
5. Bass response. This is technically part of number 1, but I am very surprised at the depth of the sound. Drums don't sound anemic and the overall lows are top notch.

Cons.
Not too much to report. Overall, this is exactly what you'd want in a purchase. It delivers on all counts: sound quality, price, features and build quality.

I think Logitech has a real winner here.

One final note. The pics on Amazon's site don't really do this unit justice. It is a good looking piece of kit. The pics use an ipod classic that make the unit look dated. I was initially hesitant to order due to this, but I am very glad that I got over those reservations.

Overall, if you are in the market for an iPhone speaker set there is nothing really negative to consider with this unit. You get what you pay for and that is thankfully a good thing.

I am also used to high quality sound systems, but I was looking for a portable ipod speaker system that could run on batteries. After a considerable amount of testing of the Logitech system versus other brands (at local stores), I determined that for the money, this was the best choice. I tested multiple Sony docks and a few other brands. The Bose version naturally sounds better, but not $300 better.

The Logitech unit comes with a set of so many ipod adapters to fit each model that I could probably build a garage out of the extras. My ipod never leaves the acrylic case I bought for it, so one nice bonus was that the Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 will actually fit the acrylic case if you don't use an adapter. Therefore, my ipod screen will never run the risk of being scratched while it's in the dock.

Overall, the sound is pretty good for it's size. I would not hesitate to purchase another in the future. I also will test the battery life, although I am told from the Apple Store that it will likely only last for about 5 hours instead of 10. I give it 5 stars because it's so inexpensive for the quality.

OK, I didn't see this particular comparison or any reviews that could convince me one way or the other. I tested both of these extensively at Best Buy with both volumes cranked so I could get a clear picture of the differences. The first things I did notice was a bit more bass coming from the logitech, but it didnt seem to turn up as loud as the Altec. After switching to different music styles, from classic rock, to metal, to rap I started to notice some things. At first the lack of top end volume I thought was going to be the end for the logitech for me. I started to feel like the Lansing was the one I wanted purely because the volume turned up louder. I was at such an impasse I decided I needed both of them at home to test them in the environment I plan to use them in rather than a 50,000 sq ft warehouse with 20 ft high ceilings (BestBuy)

After giving both a full charge I dove in at home. At home I cranked up some rap initially just to get a clear picture on the range of bass for each. The bass was quite a bit more noticeable on the logitech, with the altec being slightly better for the mids and highs. It still seemed the altec could get a bit louder, but now that I was in my house, the logitech seemed plenty loud at its max. I did notice the mids and highs were less noticeble on the Logitech, but not so much that I really cared. After switching back and forth several times with all kinds of music the logitech was starting to be my clear favorite. I really liked the depth, the bass coming out of such a small box is pretty crazy, if you have a bass heavy song, it literally shakes the whole player. Keep in mind I'm speaking in relative terms here, this is not a 12 inch subwoofer. I started to feel like the Altec was so loud mainly because it had more emphasis on Treble. Ultimately I picked the Logitech because overall, I liked the design a bit better, I liked the case it comes with, I like the plug in that lets you wrap the cord around it and it sits nicely in the cradle when stowed in the case, the battery claims twice the length of time in the logitech over the altec 10 hours to 5 respectivly. I have yet to confirm the 10 hours, but will update this review when I do. Then for sound, I just decided that the volume issue became less of an issue when in a smaller environment, and the extra bass coming out of it made the music sound a bit more full to me.

This is in no way a knock on the Altec, because I did determine in my mind that these were a close match to be the best "portable" players on the market, made by the two companies with the most experience making these devices. Truthfully, the Altec in my mind had the nod for a while in the beginning because it really did sound good all the way through the volume range. On build quality I would say if you are rough on your stuff the logitech probably will be the tougher of the two players. The speaker grills are a tough metal, the outside a hard plastic, its like a long brick basically, the only weakness I saw was the buttons are pretty cheapo. The altec has a nice design and cool handle to hold it up, and buttons are excellent, nice and big and easy to push, but the metal grill covering the entire front of the player seemed flimsier than the logitech and I could see that if it took a good jab by something it could be dented, I dont see that happening on the logitech. The Altec does had a nice LCD screen that displays the mode its in, the song thats playing which I wish the logitech had, AND it has an FM radio which I thought would be nice for game day, I read many reviews saying that the FM radio's reception was excellent. SO, I almost kept both of them, but the fact that there was so many more pluses to the lgogitech, in my mind, and for my purposes, I decided to go with it, because my ultimate goal was to have a comletely portable player for on the go, logitech with the longer battery life fit that bill better and was a bit smaller in size, then I would purchase a separate stationary player that rarely moves from the bathroom, Im thinking the Logitech pure-fi elite or bose sound dock for my stationary player. I hope this helps anyone that is laboring over the decision between these two. Feel free to leave comments if you have questions I will answer them.

Initially this worked great. Within a couple of months, it started shutting down whenever there was a lull in the music. Then the remote stopped working. So I bought new remote control from them. It wasn't the remote. The thing inside the docking that reads it had stopped working. So now I'm stuck with this thing that I can't use half the time. Even adjusting the sound level is a problem because without the remote, you can only raise/lower the sound by pressing a button and the adjustments are rather less incremental than one would like, going from too loud to too quiet with no in-between. I really, really hate this thing.

BUYER BEWARE!!! There has been alot of complaints about these speakers randomly shutting off... I am one of these "complainers".

I mainly bought these speakers to use with my laptop via aux-in jack. I wanted something with an iPhone dock for when I travel. I was excited when I got these in the mail, I rushed to get it setup on my laptop. I played a song on my laptop and was amazed by the sound... much better than the Altec Lansing InMotion I previously owned!!! Then it happened after a couple of minutes... it shut off! "Oh crap!" I thought. Were those few people that complained about this on the Amazon reviews right for once? I gave it another shot, powered it back on, and played another song. I was ecstatic when it went longer than previously, but sure enough, it shut off a minute later. I retried this test several times, and I get the same result every time. I'm not even using the battery, it's plugged in!

I went on Logitech's support website... sure enough, you'll see alot of people posting about the same issues! Go check it out for yourself before you pull the trigger on these speakers. Do you want to gamble on being one of the lucky ones to receive a non-defective unit?

The common response from Logitech is that it may be due to their "Auto-Shutoff Battery Saver" feature. They built in a great feature to save battery life... if the speakers detect no music for 2 minutes, speakers will automatically shut off. Sounds smart, right? Well, it would be smart if it was built right. First of all, why enable the auto-shutoff feature when the battery isn't even being used??? Which is what's happening in my case. Second, they claim the source of the music must not be loud enough. They instruct to turn up the volume to above 75% on the player, then use the speaker controls to adjust the volume. WHAT!? Are you serious... this is an obvious workaround to an issue they discovered later and not actually built in.

It's unfortunate, this would have easily been a 5-star product if it simply would just stay ON!

I bought the Purefi Anywhere 2 in January '09. I was pretty impressed with it. The sound is fine for the price and it's nicelooking. I loved the fact that I could take it anywhere. Unfortunately, 6 months after I bought it the power button broke off. A month later I could see that the volume buttons had started to crack. Today one of them finally broke off. The buttons don't seem to be durable enough. Also, the power tends to shut off every now and then which is annoying. I called Logitech and the customer service was great. It's under warranty so I'll be sending it in today to to get a replacement within the next few weeks. I say shop around.

This is one of the few speaker systems that works perfectly with the new 3G iPhone. It charges the phone when plugged in and the speaker system has a 12 hour battery so it is super portable. My family used the speakers with my iPhone while making our holiday cookies this year and my sister liked it so much she wants to get one herself so she can get rid of the big bulky stereo system in her living room. Great sound for such a little system. And for people like me who listen to your iPods when you go to sleep there is the extra benefit of no glaring red lights blinking at you (lights are very subtle.)

UPDATE (1 Year Later): I just wanted to update this review to say that 1 year later and my speakers are as great as ever... AND my sister's speakers are as great as ever! iPHONE USERS: for some reason my iphone will occasionally tell me they do not work with these speakers but I ignore the warning and it goes away... Not sure why every couple of weeks or so I get this error message because the speakers work great with the iphone (it charges them and you can receive calls in the middle of a song.) I am now buying a pair for my brother for Christmas.

Using my IPod 5 in the dock,(not through the Aux port), my Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere keeps turning itself off mid song, loud or soft, for no reason at all! It's like a big hand came out of the blue to slap you to say, "Wake Up Stupid, I'm OFF and you have to turn ME back ON if you want my pleasures!" Try that about 5 times in ten minutes, knocking you out of your reverie,
making you jam the remote a few gazillion times before it turns on again, and find yourself subconsciously paying attention
more to when the next BREAK comes, than to the music. This is beyond annoying, it is gulag-water-torture-brain-freaking-worthy! I read the other posts, tried the reset, tried playing loud, and it still happens. This is my second unit, which does the same as the first I bought, shutting down with no rhyme or reason, just when IT feels like Quitting. Is there a demon in this product, or a golem, or other mischievous imp, bent on torturing otherwise sane people? Logitech customer support seems to be in total and ultimate denial (or in sympathy with the demons). I have never heard of such a dysfunctional Silicon Valley company which denies for apparently years that its product has major flaws. It's use to me now is solely as an IPod charger. I paid over $110 for the privilege of finding where my tolerance ends and corporate indifference begins.

This item is often compared with the Altec600 in both professional and user reviews. The Altec usually wins out on sound, and unlike the Logitech Anywhere 2 it has an FM radio and a computer link. I just tried both, and agree that Altec is marginally better on sound. However--and it is a big however--the Altec does not seem to like thin iPods. My Classic 120 would not play after less than two days unless I tried to force it into strange positions, and even then it was sketchy. Others with thin iPods report this problem. So much for the Altec; it is going back to the store. If your iPod is thin and you are deciding between these two, go with the Logitech, which (even though it does not have the specific adapter for the Classic 120) has a much more robust connection. The sound is more than acceptable, very crisp and clear--if you love a deep bass it's not for you, but then again only really big speakers can really provide that. The overall design is nice--everything can fit into a snug size that slips into a carrying case (Altec does not provide that). The Logitech's remote accesses iPod menus (Altec's does not). The Logitech, unlike the Altec, does not have a radio or a computer link--personally, I don't need either. There are reports that the Logitech battery fails after too short a time--I can not comment on this yet. All in all, seems to be a good deal.