Customer Reviews

TENQA Bluetooth Stereo Speaker

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was looking for an affordable wireless speaker that allowed me to stream wireless music directly from my cell phone (Samsung Instinct) and found the Tenqa SP-109 Bluetooth Speaker. I could not be more pleased with this product! This product is exactly what I have been searching for in terms of mobility. It's easy to use, practical, and has a good sound. The device is simple and straightforward to setup & pair with devices each use. The speaker is about the size of a radio alarm clock and includes a DC-adapter power cord. Pairing the device with my cell phone was a cinch. After powering on the device it immediately registered on my phone, I clicked connect and was done. The best feature of this product, for me is the mobility I can have. I can connect and control the music from anywhere in my apartment, allowing me to move from room to room without the hassle of leaving my phone plugged into a stationary device. I was skeptical about finding an inexpensive bluetooth speaker that could provide quality sound but after using the Tenqa SP-109 for a few weeks my doubts are gone. The sound is great for its size and for the price. I recommend this product to anyone who is looking for an affordable, quality wireless speaker system. I plan to purchase one as a Xmas gift for my sister who likes to listen to music on her iPhone but hates the hassle of having to leave it connected to a docking station. This is a five-star product without a doubt!

If you have heard of Tenqa, raise your hands. That's what I thought. After some Google searches, I found that they are most likely based in Arizona and sell their 3 Bluetooth products almost exclusively through Amazon.com. Not a bad retailer to partner with. When I got the chance to try the SP-109 Bluetooth Stereo Speaker, I thought it would be fun to see how my first Bluetooth speaker would do. And how'd they do?

PROS:
- It works
- Sounds much better than expected
- Attractive and compact design
- Auxiliary line-in

CONS:
- Distortion at high volume
- No battery-operated option
- Port locations less than ideal
- No instructions on connecting to a Windows or Mac machine

The unboxing was rather uneventful as there was only the speaker, a 3.5mm audio cable, AC adapter, and brief paper manual. It took me longer to unbox it than to pair it with my Motorola Droid smart phone. After turning the SP-109 on, you notice the blue light in the lower right corner blinking, which means it is waiting to be paired. I set my Droid to search for devices and it was quickly found and paired.

SOUND QUALITY & PERFORMANCE
I had very low expectations but was rather impressed with the sound. The highs were quite good and mids ok. Bass was poor, but acceptable for light duty and small rooms. There was noticeable distortion at high volumes. The Bluetooth connection was quite solid and I was able to walk quite a distance away from the speaker and maintain a static-free connection. The stubby antenna probably helped quite a bit.

DESIGN
I found the aesthetics be quite pleasing but Tenqa's decision to place all the control ports on the right side of the speaker is puzzling. The power switch, volume dial, AC power and auxiliary in ports are all on the right side. This made an otherwise attractive wireless speaker look messy with exposed cables. If you look at the 5th photo with the woman on her laptop with the SP-109 beside her, it is cropped to hide the AC power cable. Why couldn't they have put the AC power and line-in connections in the rear, like most other portable speakers? I also found the power switch and volume dial to be unergonomic and flimsy. I would have preferred the volume dial to be located on top of the speaker for easier access and the power switch to be an actual button.

COMPUTER PAIRING
I spent a total of about an hour trying to get it to work with my laptop and Windows 7 64-bit. I even updated my driver to a non-approved Bluetooth driver just to try and get it to pair with the SP-109. I finally got it to connect after rebooting my computer and trying over. I selected Add New Device then paired it with the code, "0000". I then had to select the SP-109, which shows up as a headset and "Control it" which brought up an option for me to connect to it. You know you're connected when the blue light stops flashing. Still, I got no sound when I played an MP3. What I had to do was go into Windows Sound Options and change the default speaker to be the SP-109. Cue angels singing; I got sound! The bummer is that when you disconnect, you have to reconnect again manually. No autopairing.

MISC
Tenqa also sells a portable Bluetooth speaker that can be battery-powered. The SP-109 is not that big and could have benefited immensely from being powered by batteries too. This would have allowed me to place it on ANY bookshelf or location but as is, my wireless speaker is tethered to an electrical outlet.

SUMMARY
For the listed MSRP, the Tenqa SP-109 speaker is a rather expensive option. However, since the actual selling price is significantly lower than MSRP, the Tenqa SP-109 is a reasonably good choice for those who don't mind plugging it into a wall in order to get better sound than the really small Bluetooth speakers. If not for the odd port placements and lack of battery operation, I would have given the SP-109 at least 4 stars.

There is very little to say about the Tenqa SP-109: it's a very ordinary bluetooth speaker featuring the least amount of controls you would expect on such a device: an on/off switch, a volume control, a line in jack (to input audio from non-Bluetooth devices) and a power socket.
Unlike other speaker sets which either contain a rechargeable battery or allow the use of regular batteries, the SP-109 requires the use of a power adapter.
There is not even a "pair" or "connect" button: as soon as the SP-109 finds itself unpaired, it enters pairing mode.
I had no trouble pairing it with my iPhone 3Gs, and it played stereo music without problems.

The SP-109 is shaped like a smaller version of the Bose iPod dock; the face is curved and covered with a silvery metallic grille. Picking it up one immediately notices a feel of cheap plastic and low-end manufacturing.
The sound is on par with the build quality: lightweight and tinny.

The Tenqa SP-109 is extremely inexpensive. Its bluetooth implementation works fine, but the speakers do not measure up with similarly priced regular docking stations. I would normally have rated such a device only three stars, but the very low price earns it an extra star.

Don't get the SP-109 if you like music or if you need good bass response: there isn't much bass at all on it, and whatever else is left is not that great either. However, if you need or appreciate the bluetooth connection, don't mind the complete absence of bass and the lack of battery operation, it's worth giving it a try.

I spent a lot of time searching for a wireless speaker to use with my ipad and iphone. I wanted a speaker that I could control easily while I sat in bed listening to audible books via my ipad while I simultaneously surfed the web on my ipad. I considered the following: Jawbone JAMBOX $199, Philips Fidelio DS8550 Speaker System for iPod/iPhone/iPa'd $295, and iHome Rechargeable Portable Stereo Bluetooth Speakers with Speakerphone $89. The first two were really expensive. I'm not an "audiophile;" so, i didn't care if the sound was PERFECT. I liked that the Philips had a charging dock, but for like $270 more, it's NOT that big of a plus. I think I would have went with the ihome speakers, just b/c the namebrand is better known, but they won't be released for something like another month or two. The other three were all portable, but since I plan to keep the speaker on my dresser and only want to use it in my bedroom, portability wasn't a big deal either. I'm also REALLY bad about keeping batteries charged; so, the fact that the Tenqa plugs-in was a big selling poing.

I'm BEYOND happy with Tenqa sp-109. I plugged it in, set my ipad bluetooth to "on" and then input the code that I easily found in the Tenqa booklet. Perfect! The sound was clear and filled my whole room. I could even hear it clearly when I walked into my ajoining bathroom. The voices were clear and didn't sound "compressed" at all. The only con so far has been that the blue light on the front of the speaker is bright and flashes all night if the unit is left on. I think i will cover it with a piece of black electrical tape or just turn the unit off at night. Overall, for $29, WOWIE ZOWIE!!

Very good unit...for its design. Well built and sounds a lot better than I was expecting. I prefer my sony over this simply because it is bigger and the bass is better. However, it still works as good as most others in its class. I agree mostly with 'TechDad' review:

PROS:
- Sounds much better than expected .... lacks at high volume
- Attractive and compact design .... unique to the game
- Auxiliary line-in .... works great for those items that don't have bluetooth capabilities.

CONS:
- Distortion at high volume
- No battery-operated option .... this one really limits the units overall rating.
- Port locations less than ideal .... I'd prefer it in the back rather than the side of the unit.

The TENQA SP-109 stereo speaker system works well enough if you need a bluetooth option for your phone/mp3 player.

The sound quality coming from this device is acceptable, but there are plenty of other speaker docks out there in the $79.99-$100 range that sound much fuller. I could hear all nuances coming out of the TENQA, but it didn't have any warmth to it and there was always this ghostly, barely audible, occasional hiss to it when I was playing a tune via bluetooth. There is a line-in jack on the unit so you can plug anything in directly and I never head that occasional faint hiss then, but it sort of defeats the main feature of buying this system. I guess the most accurate assessment I can provide is that this speaker system sounds a little better than stock computer speakers. There are no elaborate buttons or features with this guy. Therefore, if you don't have high expectations for the speaker system then you'll be happy with your purchase.

If you don't want to get a specific iPhone/iPod or Zune speaker dock because you have a different phone or mp3 player, then I'd probably first recommend getting a solid $80-100 speaker system with a line-in jack that you can use with a 2.5" or 3.5" stereo cable, depending on your phone. The only reason to get the TENQA is if you plan on exclusively using your bluetooth phone or bluetooth enabled mp3 player (there aren't many of them, I used my old Insignia mp3 player) to pump music through these speakers wirelessly. The most ideal situation where you'd want to buy the TENQA is if you have multiple bluetooth, mp3 playing phones in your house and you want any of them to connect to this speaker unit. So if you have this very specific need, then the TENQA won't fail you. If you can spend a little more and buy a good dock instead, though, I'd probably recommend sticking to that idea.

I was able to get the Tenqa SP109 working with my Palm Web OS phone right away via bluetooth. Convenient to stream web radio such as Pandora. But, I have to say the Tenqa sound quality is not that great IMO...the main problem is no bass so it sounded very flat to me. I have another speaker set (starts with B, ends with S) that provides a much richer sound experience.

I also was not able to easily get the Tenqa working with my home pc bluetooth...I fiddled around for awhile then gave up and I'm usually fairly techie.

So, I give it three stars for being a convenient small speaker box you can stream wirelessly from your cellphone. But no extra stars for the sound quality.

I tried this speaker out with my HTC Hero. The sound isn't as good as I might have thought. They had an OK sound but the bass is not good and you cannot adjust anything on it besides volume. This little gadget is pretty light, however, that it can be moved around with ease. I listened to my music for a while without any interruption.

The major downside for me is that you need to keep your bluetooth that you are using close to the speakers. My place is not extremely big and I took it only to the stairs before the connection just died completely. I do not think the distance between the bluetooth device and speakers are as advertised as I did not really go far before it decided to die on me.

Overall, the pros of this is that it's a light speaker and the sound is all right. It connects well and it is easy to set up.

Cons is that you cannot really adjust the sound levels on the speaker and that the speaker needs to be kept fairly close to the device.

Given my experience with TENQA products (I recently gave a pair of their bluetooth headphones one star) I wasn't expecting very much of this speaker set, and I was right. While they're definitely better than the abysmal headphones, I really think it's worth spending a bit more to buy something that utilizes Bluetooth 2.0 EDR technology for better sound quality.

Setup was actually impressively easy. You simply turn on the unit, my computer had no trouble finding it, pairing with it and then finding drivers for it. Once I switched my default sound device to the bluetooth speakers, they immediately began to output sound. I was tipped off to the poor sound quality when the unit identified itself as a bluetooth headset in Windows. Indeed, the sound quality is on par with an amplified Motorola headset, complete with background hiss and disturbance. I'm no audiophile, and use a pair of JBL Radial 2.1 speakers in my normal setup, but these will sound awful to even the untrained ear. They might be doable as a kitchen set to which you can beam some Internet radio or something. But if you're looking for anything beyond the most casual use, I'd invest a bit more for something better. More perplexing is the fact that these can't operate by battery, meaning you'll always be tethered to the wall by them. Given that, you're better off buying a normal 2.0 or 2.1 speaker set and using an audio cable to play your music.

This is one of the easiest devices I ever had to set up, it takes less two minutes, from opening the box to playing a song from my phone on the TENQA speaker, it really is that fast!

I have to be honest and say that I never heard of the TENQA brand prior to receiving this speaker, I didn't know what to expect. Would it give me great or mediocre sound? Well, now I can tell you that it's neither one, it's not even close to being the best sound I've ever heard coming out of a speaker, but it's definitely not the worst. the sound is better than what you would get on a laptop or netbook, very similar to what you would get on some stock speakers for your desktop, not much bass, plus you can't really bump it up to the highest volume setting without it sounding like it's about to pop! But then again, you don't have to bump it to the highest setting, because it sounds loud at a lower setting.

I tried the speaker on a Motorola Droid and the Touch Pro 2 and it worked good on both, sound streams at the speed of touch! meaning, as soon as I would skip a song on the cell phone, the speaker would imediately react without even having to wait one second. I did however, had to restart the Touch Pro 2 in order to make sync in, but I think that was the Cell phone, not the speaker that was not responding properly.

Besides having bluetooth acces to the speaker, you can also connect your cell phone or MP3 player directly into the speaker by using the 3.5mm Audio Cable. nice plus for those MP3 players lacking a bluetooth signal.

I would have liked the speaker to be able to take batteries, it would have been nice to be able to use it on a picnic and it would have made the $50 price a bit more reasonable. Also, I noticed that you can't adjust the volume from your phone, sound stays the same at any volume setting on your phone, not very convenient I would say.

Overall, this is a nice speaker to have in any room in your house, looks great, sounds decent and it's easy to use!