TDK Life On Record A33 Weatherproof Wireless Bluetooth Speaker (White) (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

I purchased this product (White TDK A33) for myself before Christmas for 79.99 (+ tax).Accuracy of Description: The description was overall quite accurate. The only inaccuracy I found was the product size. I believe the dimensions listed are for the product's packaging--not the actual speaker itself. The speak is not 5x5x11. It is 2x4x9.5 (inches).Product Quality: I have enjoyed the sound quality of this speaker. My best friend owns a Big Jambox, and I cannot tell any difference between the two product's sound quality. For most people, I believe this will be the case. If there is a difference, I certainly cannot describe it. This product also looks nice and durable.Ease of Use: I have been using this speaker for a week now on two different devices (iPhone 5 and Macbook Pro), and I have had not problems. I have honestly never read the instructions, either. It is very easy to use.Order: My order was filled very quickly, and I received the product less than 24 hours after placing my order (via Amazon prime with 2-day shipping). My only grievance with this order from Amazon was that the package had clearly been opened before. Despite ordering a "New" product, the packaging stickers had been cut and I could recognize signs of handling on the speaker, particularly on the USB port and on the upper right corner of the speaker (photo of USB port included). This is not significant to me, but I expect a "New" product to be new--not just in "new condition" and in the original box. In this case, it was cost the product 1 star.

I bought this unit to extend my home stereo system out to the patio and elsewhere in my condo without the need for running wires. I use it with a Miccus Home RTX Bluetooth device attached to the analog output of the receiver.The A33 was easy to setup and pair and things worked first time. It is extremely compact and attractive. The Bluetooth range is impressive. I get all the transmission coverage I want in the condo without dropouts through walls and even outside for about 20 feet all round. I also tried pairing it with my old iPod touch and it worked flawlessly too. I haven't tried it with my cell phone and other BT devices yet but I can't imagine any problems. It remembers it's previous pairings so when you turn it on it picks up you device without any fuss.As for sound quality, it is simply the best. Waste your money on Bose if you love brand names but if you want the best sound from a portable speaker get the A33. I am an audiophile and very fussy. I've heard many portable speakers and this one stands out. It is also very modestly priced. You get the best sound quality without compromise.

We bought this speaker to be used in the kitchen to listen to streaming music while cooking, the sound is clear and gets pretty loud. The speaker looks pretty good too. The only issue we have is my wife has a hard time getting the speaker to connect with her phone, and when she is done she has a hard time getting it to dis-connect. There have been several times when she has used the speaker while working in the kitchen and we are now sitting in the living room and all of a sudden we hear music coming from the kitchen. The speaker is streaming music from her phone again. the cool thing about this is we are probably almost fifty feet away from the speaker at this time, so the range is really good! The bad thing is I have to get up and go into the kitchen to turn the speaker off.As an technically capable person with hardware and such I think the issue is she holds the power button down too long, turning the device off and back on with one push of the button. But the engineers should have taken care of this with a little debouncing routine for the power button when designing the device.Pros:Great sound, good volumeExcellent range for Bluetooth streamingLooks very niceCons:Difficult to connect and disconnectPower button functionality is wonky

First, let me say that as most reviewers have said, the sound is very good for a speaker this size. Also I should mention that I do not use Bluetooth and do not run on batteries. I stream from a computer to the Aux with a cable. So portability is not an issue.What I do not like is the setup of the controls. A plastic strip covers the various switches; you have to press on top of it to operate the controls. This is a ridiculous arrangement. Frequently I have found the controls do not respond when I press. When I do manage to turn the speaker on, I then cannot turn it off. Another non-ergonomic feature is the switch on the right side. You keep it "off" when you want to turn "on" the AC. Then if you press the power button on top, the speaker apparently defaults to DC and does not turn off. So I finally connected the speaker to a switch with which I can actually turn the speaker on and off. I have it set to Aux so when I turn it on, that is what it does. Now that I have it set up the way I want, it works very well. I wish that the volume control were a knob rather than four button sets, but you cannot have everything.