BlueAnt Soundblade Review — Stylish, modern and capable

This one is something a little bit different… A soundbar that’s aimed at desktop computers, but with a bit of extra flexibility. When we took our first look at the SoundBlade, it looks like it hits many of the marks needed for daily PC use and gaming, so when they offered a review unit to test drive; it would have been rude to say no, right?

So what is it?

The BlueAnt SoundBlade is an under-monitor soundbar intended to support your desktop PC and laptop use. It comes in a number of different colours: Charcoal, White, Blue, Green and Pink and, as highlighted by one of our readers in the comment of the launch post; these align closely to the Apple iMac colours, but don’t cover the full range.

When it comes to connectivity, this is pretty simple: It offers you a standard auxiliary input, a USB-C input, and a Bluetooth connection. For me, I’ve got my PC connected via aux, my laptop dock via USB-C (so whatever I’ve connected has sound), and my personal laptop via Bluetooth, so if I’m streaming and don’t want to dock, I can still have better-quality sound.

Design and Function

The speaker itself looks very similar to the monitor stand I’ve been using for years, and it has essentially replaced it during testing, and I like the colour; it fits well with the other general aesthetic of my desk. One facet of the design I quite like, but feel as though it wasn’t necessarily executed as well as it could have been is the feet on the speaker. They’re really easy to change over to a higher foot stand which leaves plenty of space under it for a keyboard to slide about a third of the way under; but it also leaves the feet a little vulnerable to being knocked out until everything is set in place. Changing the rubberised slip in feet, with a screw in fitting would have left users with a better fitting foot, and less likely to be knocked out, or knocked over.

The remote is small, light and simple: Offering mode switch between the three connectivity options, volume, pre-mixed EQ and playback controls. It’s that simple, and it’s very easy to know what you’ve selected as you get spoken feedback immediately.

The audio: It’s great for desktop use, but it’s not for audiophiles

Even after all these laps around the sun I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy plenty of concerts and great audio, thankfully I’ve only incurred minor hearing damage as a result. So I’m still able to appreciate really good quality sound and — not a surprise for the price — the SoundBlade isn’t an audiophile speaker; but that’s far from the point.

This is a remarkably versatile device that can be used across multiple areas of your daily life. For me, that’s included via Bluetooth to my personal laptop for media playback during the day, via 3.5mm to my PC when I’m playing games and USB-C to either my dock, or other (tablet or phone) devices for music when I’m in the office.

The audio quality is really pleasing in close quarters at low to mid-range volume, a familiar story with other BlueAnt devices we’ve reviewed in the past. The two issues some users will have with the audio here are that the bass isn’t great, and at high volume you’re probably going to notice a bit of distortion. In my mind, however, if you’re sitting within arms reach of speakers, you’re unlikely to have them up at high volume.

What I’ve found the SoundBlade excels at is the mid-range audio which is fantastic for media playback (particularly YouTube videos) with a lot of vocals, and gameplay because of the directional audio. Provided you keep the volume at a reasonable level, I had the best success with the pre-set “movies” equaliser setting; here, the high end was crisp and mid-range quite dynamic.

So would I buy one?

Absolutely I would, it’s remarkably versatile and it’s so much better than the sound you’ll get on a laptop or tablet that it’s worth the investment. While you could get better sound quality from desktop speakers, you’ll use a lot more space and aren’t likely to get the broad connectivity options.

The sound quality is more than enough for the average punters needs, and the price — AU$299.00 — is well worth the investment. Check it out at soundblade.com, or at Telstra and Harvey Norman stores.