Creative MUVO 2C Review

👤by Tony Le Bourne Comments 📅02-09-17
Performance Testing
Setup, Design & Observations
To charge the MUVO 2C, connect to a powered microUSB supply, or via a USB port on a laptop/desktop system. There are 4 modes that the MUVO 2C can be used in, and each has a corresponding colour on the LED indicator; Blue for Bluetooth, yellow for SD card, Green for aux-in, and magenta for USB. Connecting to the MUVO 2C via Bluetooth is fairly straight forward, press the Bluetooth pairing button, and connect via the detected device lists on your mobile or compatible system. In the SD card mode, the Bluetooth button doubles as Play/pause, while holding the M + volume up/down act as skip back/forwards. Finally, while in USB mode, you can use the MUVO 2C as a speaker for your laptop or desktop system; for further convenience, if you leave it connected via USB but turn the power off, it will act as a storage device (if you have a SD card installed) allowing you to manage the files from your system.

The most striking aspect of the MUVO 2C is its size/weight, along with its fantastic build quality and finish. The buttons feel nice, and have a tactile feedback without being too easy or difficult to press. Though, the silicone covering the I/O area can be a pain to open for when you need access, though considering its IP66 rating, it is a necessary evil.

As stated on the previous page, we were disappointed with the software issues we encountered, and we hope that our situation is a one off, or that it is promptly fixed. Though not necessarily an important aspect to its day-to-day use as a wireless speaker, the software does make life a lot easier, especially in regards to controlling the playback vis the SD card.

Testing out the battery, we had it running for several hours, and found that by the 5th hour that the audio volume started to dip a little bit before it died. Up to 6 hours lifespan is fairly optimistic, but you will likely get 4-5 hours of strong playback before having any issues with the battery.



Multimedia
Considering its size, we weren't expecting miracles in regards to audio quality or volume, however we were positively surprised by the MUVO 2C. Unlike many others this size, it doesn't suffer from a tinny, mid-high orientated audio signature that gives a distinct location to the speaker, the kind of that literally sounds... small. In fact, we found the opposite to be true! Sure, it isn't very loud in comparison to say the Roar series of speakers, but it is loud enough for casual listening outside, or as a portable boost to your laptop audio. The way it expertly handles complex audio, presenting smooth bass and the clear highs that are so well defined, it was hard to believe that this big sound came from this tiny speaker. If we were to be ultra critical, the mid-tones were slightly outshone by the treble, but we didn't really perceive this to be a real downside. The only thing we did notice, was that low quality compressed MP3s showed significant deterioration in audio quality, so always use high quality audio sources if you want to avoid awful sounding music.

Microphone
When paired to your phone, the MUVO 2C can act as a speaker phone, and while the microphone quality isn't specifically anything special, it is a welcome feature that functions well without any problems.


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