Some reviews come and go, without too much by way of attachment but others make an impact personally. I listen to a lot of music, often streaming 6 hours or more daily while working. So for me, investing in a good speaker is essential and since the review of the BlueAnt X3 in 2020, it’s been a regular travelling companion for me. BlueAnt has released a follow-up, the BlueAnt X3i.

The speaker has a similar look to its predecessor, with the promise of refined audio and serious delivery of bass.

BlueAnt CEO Taisen Maddern spoke about the speaker and the thought process that the team went through:

We’ve made a number of engineering and design tweaks under the hood that simply deliver the best audio experience for a speaker in this form factor and at this price point. What our customers are getting is a speaker which can be the feature speaker in any room or party, one that can be taken anywhere and everywhere, or one that can exist at home without standing out yet deliver the right level of audio for any setting or mood.

One of the things I’ve really liked about the BlueAnt range of speakers has been the consistent delivery of IP67 rating. As a portable speaker, this is something I frankly expect; these things go everywhere, including outdoor events (sometimes at a pool) and the beach.

If you like to take over a space with your music, the pairing has always been excellent. There is no lag in the playback, and with two speakers running, it really fills a big space. In this instance, you’ll be filling the space (with a single unit) with 30 Watts of output for up to 15 hours. The battery can also act as a power bank for your mobile devices and connect via either Bluetooth or 3.5mm aux cable.

With the positive experiences we’ve had with previous BlueAnt devices, there’s no reason to expect they would compromise on the quality of product or delivery of sound.

The BlueAnt X3i is priced at a pretty reasonable $249.00 and we do have one on the way for review. So keep your eyes out for that because I’ll be putting — sorry to my neighbours — some of the audio claims to the test, and comparing side by side with the original X3.