With features like retro styling, radio tuner, multiple connectivity options and solar charging, the iGear Evoke offers a lot for just Rs 3000. Is this the best budget portable speaker currently? Find out in this review.
Solar charging and micro-USB on the iGear Evoke speaker
The iGear Evoke is very similar to the Saregama Carvaan series of portable music players. It looks like an old radio set. Apart from the style, another element that attracts attention is the shape of its color options. I have your yellow unit. Its blue and white color options are also present.
It has a folding handle at the top for easy transport. The speaker is given at the front. Controls and ports are on the front and right sides of the device. The front houses a dial for setting the AM/FM/SW radio frequency, along with four buttons for controlling playback and connectivity mode (when using Bluetooth or digital storage media).
On the side of the speaker are switches for selecting the source (radio or digital media), a USB port, a microSD card slot, an auxiliary jack for 3.5mm connectivity, and a micro-USB port for wired charging. There is also a dial that controls power and volume. When you turn the dial initially it turns the speaker on and is then used to increase or decrease the volume. The speaker is large and all the controls on the device fit quite comfortably and work well.
There’s a solar panel on top of the iGear Evoke, which keeps the speaker charged as long as it’s exposed to sunlight. There is also a telescopic antenna to improve the quality of the radio signal.
Solar charging means the user doesn’t need to keep the speaker plugged in all the time. It also depends a lot on the use. The company has not given details about the charging time of iGear Evoke. Solar charging is quite slow compared to wired charging and it can take several hours or even days for the speaker’s battery to fully charge. Sometimes you may need to rely on USB charging. Still, it’s a useful feature nonetheless. If you take it on a camping trip, it’s also useful when there’s no access to electricity.
iGear Evoke houses a 1200 mAh battery. With this you can also charge other devices. This means that you can use the device as a solar charging power bank in an emergency, although it will charge at a much slower rate. Apart from this, the speaker has a nominal sound output of 5W. Bluetooth 5, FM/AM/SW radio, USB port, microSD card slot and 3.5mm auxiliary input can be used to play audio. You also get a wall adapter and charging cable with the speaker.
Speaker battery life depends on usage and media source. Because it continues to charge in sunlight even when in use. Using the speakerphone drains the battery faster than it charges. It was playing audio via bluetooth which was at medium volume. In this, the speaker was able to provide 10 hours of battery life.
Lots of connectivity options, but subpar sound quality on the iGear Evoke
Although the speaker itself is quite different, but in terms of sound quality, it does not live up to expectations. The sound can also be called decent or below average. It also depends on the music source. Even after the best source, the sound quality seems to be low. It didn’t sound bad to listen to every day at home. The device had a high pitched sound that was not clear. The sound experience matched its retro style.
The sound from the FM radio was also not that clear compared to playing via Bluetooth or MP3 from local storage. Outdoors I kept the antenna fully open, even then the sound was not clear. Music played from Bluetooth and USB drives sounded much clearer by comparison. Still, the sound was pretty mediocre and the details weren’t great.
It has a dial to tune to the radio frequency, but it still auto-locks the radio station tuning without any problem. The four physical buttons on the front are used to control music while using digital connectivity. A small screen could also be placed on which the music track or battery level, etc. could be displayed. But the absence of a display at this price also seems justified.
I listened to Tiesto’s song Boom, and while listening, I connected my smartphone to the speaker via Bluetooth. The strong rhythm of the track was heard with a low bass and a popping sound. The track didn’t sound fun to listen to. Other than this, the bass-heavy tracks seemed rather awkward. When I played With the Jetlag and Axwell house classic So Right, it felt like I had put a heavy blanket over the speakers. This dynamic track also sounded pretty subdued.
When playing music from a USB drive at medium levels, the high points of the sound were quite choppy. The voices felt muffled. A person who listens to music can get bored very quickly. Similar was the case with the rest of the tracks too, when I couldn’t find any detail on any of the tracks. Despite having so many connectivity options and features, the iGear Evoke doesn’t offer good sound quality.
Verdict
There are plenty of affordable wireless speakers available on the market, but iGear Evoke stands out with its retro design, solar charging, and more. Its feature of charging other devices also seems to be very useful. There are also many connectivity options. The only drawback that we see is its poor sound quality.
The iGear Evoke lags behind the market in terms of sound quality, but if you just want a simple device to listen to music from time to time, you might want to check it out. If you are more into music, you can check out Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker (16W), which is available for Rs.2,499. It gives a very loud sound and is better in terms of performance.