Sep 18, 2014 12:28 PM
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(Updated Sep 18, 2014 12:33 PM)
The speakers in most computer Laptops has historically been very poor. Even those which are branded as ‘Multimedia’ machines cannot produce sufficiently good sound to fill a 10 x 15 room. A laptop might reach high volumes, but it is at the expense of clarity. Hence a lot of people resort to using headphone for enjoying music or movies on their machines.
You might say that getting computer speakers will solve the problem. Yes and No.
While computer speakers will definitely improve the quality of sound, they need to be plugged into a plug point to generate their power. This is inconvenient and defeats the purpose of portability. After all, having one plug point for your laptop and another for your speaker is difficult to find.
So what is the solution?
Portable USB Speakers are your best bet. They are normal speakers but they draw their power from your computer’s USB port. Just one problem. Most of these portable laptop speakers still do not loud or clear enough to provide an enjoyable experience. If there are any good ones, they are expensive, normally Rs. 2, 000 and above for a known brand like Logitech or Philips.
But what if you were not brand conscious? Would you go in for an unknown Chinese speaker for your laptop?
Introducing the Chinese F&D V620
F&D? Yes. F&D. What does it stand for? I don’t know. When a friend recommended these spearks I was very sceptical. After all, a Chinese brand speaker I had never heard of? It cannot be any good.
But further research on the Chinese audio forums(google translate is a lifesaver) proved that these little machines are an awesome pair of speakers for very less cash. They cost less than Rs. 900 at my local IT hub, so I decided to get myself a pair.
The Speakers – Build Quality and Cable
The V620 are a set of 2.0 USB powered speakers. Opening the rather plain box, you find two small speaks which look sleek. Lifting them up, they proved to quite heavy, belying their tiny size. By tiny, I mean a length of 3.5 inches by a depth of 2 inch and a height of 2.5 inches. The speakers are on a solid metal base and are black in colour. A silver share is also available. It fits in the pam of your hand and feels quite hefty and well built.
The speaker cable is the only thing I could find fault with. It feels rather flimsy and is only around 2 feet in length. But hey, these are for laptops, so a long cable is proably not essential. The 2.5mm jack and USB connector are nestled next to each other.2 speaks, There is also a volume control know, which is a nice touch.
How does it sound?
Plug the speakers into the headphone jack and USB port and they light up at the base with a cool blue almost halo effect. They are ready to use, no drivers or installation required on Windows. Both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports provide sufficient power to operate, but using a USB hub does not.
The sound quality can be summed up in two words: Clear and Loud.
These speakers are rated at a total of 4W RMS while most laptops can muster a max of 2W RMS. But to be honest, they sound much louder than their rated power output. The speakers provide clear vocals in music tracks couple with a deep hitting bass. The bass is so powerful at louder volumes you can feel the speaker vibrate through the table you are using it on. At full loudness there is some distortion but not much. To be honest though, most of the time I ended up using a volume of 50 percent which was more than sufficient. Its sound easily fills up a 10 x 15 foot room or bigger room, which makes it excellent for crowd movie watching as well.
The V620 are an excellent pair of Laptop USB speakers. But there a couple of niggles.
The blue lighting at the base is too bright at night and cannot be turned off. This is a bit irritating when you are trying to sleep, especially in dark room.
I wish the cables felt a bit stronger. You have to handle them with a bit of care to makes them last long.
Verdict
At Rs. 900, the F&D are excellent speaks. Sure, you can get some budget laptop speakers for Rs. 600-700, but I would recommend spending Rs. 200 more and getting this pair. They are the perfect multimedia companion for your laptop; an excellent pair of speakers which deliver sound, do not require external power and are built well.
