I’m sure that you’ve seen the massive amount of choices we have for Bluetooth speakers. All shapes, sizes, prices and most importantly, sound quality. If you’re looking to for a decent Bluetooth speaker, you might be looking in the upper price range.
In case you weren’t aware, we’re big fans of Sol Republic headphones here at Tech We Like. After reviewing some of their products, we’ve come to expect nice designs, reasonable pricing, and quality sound. So what about Sol Republic’s first attempt at a Bluetooth wireless speaker? They sent over one of their units for me to review.
You can buy the Sol Republic x Motorola Deck Wireless Bluetooth Speaker HERE
Design
The packaging of the Sol Republic Deck is small. Once you open the cover flap you see the speaker in one of four colors (black, blue, red, or yellow). Once you take out the Sol Republic Deck, you realize how lightweight it is. It has the shape of a handheld gaming device. It fits nicely in your palm.
As you can see I got the red Deck speaker. The yellow is a bit bright for me. The top of the speaker has the speaker grill. Along the middle of it you see the “SOL” logo. The speaker has 3 buttons on the surface. By the “S” it has a volume down button and by the “L” it has the volume up button. Below the “O” it has the control / toggle button which has Motorola’s logo on it.
The top border of the speaker has “in” and “out” 3.5 mm ports (you can daisy-chain the speakers), power button, microphone and a 3-point switch button. The 3-point sliding button, puts the Deck in Bluetooth pairing mode, Heist mode, and single user mode. The back (or bottom) of the speaker has a rubberized grip padding to keep the speaker from moving.
Everything is pretty much self-explanatory, except the “M” control / toggle button. The “M” button controls music playback and answering calls. Also, if you hold it down it will put the Deck into indoor mode and outdoor mode.
Sound
When taking a look at the speaker, I didn’t think the sound would be too loud. The size of the speaker is just so small. The Sol Republic Deck has R2 sound engines. I’m not completely sure what that means, but when you hear it you know. The sound is rich and crisp at the same time. The speaker definitely puts in that bass power for extra oomph when jamming. I didn’t hear distortion at the loudest level, but on certain tracks the beat sounded a bit flat when the volume was at its the highest.
With the Sol Republic Deck, you will hear the beat a bit more than the vocals. But all of it is well defined. It’s definitely a speaker you can use when doing things around the house (usually when I pump my music).
Experience
In 2014 and we have no less than a million Bluetooth speakers out there. So how do you differentiate your wireless speaker from all the other ones? You give it a unique option. That unique option is Heist Mode. I also love that the speaker can be paired through NFC. Just tap and boom. But I believe my favorite thing is the notifications you get from the speaker. When you turn it on you know how much time you have left. I need to know that But now back to that Heist Mode.
Heist Mode on the Sol Republic Deck
Sol Republic had the great idea of adding the “Heist Mode” to the Deck speaker. When you slide the toggle button to the icon with 3 figures that is Heist Mode. What it allows you to do is have up to 5 devices paired up to the Deck at the same time (you have to pair the devices before going into Heist Mode).
Once one person starts playing a track, the track can be changed to another by someone else clicking “play” on their device (given the term Heist). Every time a different device is playing music the “SOL” logo in the front of the speaker grille changes color. It lets you know which device is playing based on the color. You can press the “M” button to let a song play during Heist Mode without interruption.
Bluetooth Range – Super Power Wireless?
Just like the Sol Republic x Motorola Tracks Air Wireless Headphones, the Sol Republic Deck promises a crazy Bluetooth range AKA Super Power Wireless. The company says you can roam up to 300 feet and control the Deck. I got a little farther than I did with the Tracks Air headphones, but I didn’t make it 300 feet. Still, the best wireless range ever!
Battery Life
It’s a bit difficult for me to do very thorough battery tests on my own. I did however leave the Deck speaker playing until it died out. The battery life was great at 9.5 hours.
Check the Sol Republic Deck?
You can buy the Sol Republic x Motorola Deck Wireless Bluetooth Speaker HERE
In comparison to other wireless Bluetooth speakers in the price range of the Sol Republic Deck, sounds a bit louder to me. It also has a different look entirely. It’s not a solid and subtle color (unless you get the black color). But it still lights up brightly anyway. You will be paying a bit more for the design and quality on this speaker as it will run you $149 and up. It actually went down from the original price of $199. But when paying that price you can be sure of the long-lasting quality. You will get great overall performance with a good focus on mid-range and decent bass play. This is a great speaker for those who are always around their friends, or in a small group jamming out. Everyone pair up and Heist the speaker to play the better track!
