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Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott and I've had a few recent requests to do another fireside chat type review
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and so the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Here we are today. I'm here actually today to review
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something a little bit different and that is a set of stereo Bluetooth speakers that are sold
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under the brand name August. These are the MS-515s. I'm going to highlight kind of a different
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approach with these speakers today. And depending on your needs, they might actually work a little
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bit better for you than something like this Sony XRS-X5 speaker that I've been using for a while
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that I quite like in a lot of ways. But let's highlight some of the differences between this
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kind of traditional one speaker approach compared to the smaller stereo Bluetooth speakers approach
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And so the August MS-515, obviously this is a different kind of approach
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And so instead of just having a single speaker, you instead have a speaker or two speakers that will provide some stereo separation
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Now, that comes with perhaps some pros and some cons. Overall, the dimensions of these, as you can see, are nicely compact
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They're under six inches long and right around three inches in there
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Of course, they're a triangle shape, so about three inches on each side of the triangle itself
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They actually have a nice soft touch kind of finish. And so in person, they're actually more pleasing to look at, a little more stylish than perhaps what the pictures suggest
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And they have that nice tactile feel. One downside, however, of this soft touch finish is that I feel, I see that they pick up oils quite easily
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This finish does. So when you're handling them, if you're someone like me who's bothered by those things, you'll be wiping them off quite frequently as a result of that
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The left speaker is kind of the primary speaker. And just to answer a few questions as to how these operate, how they work, that this is the primary syncing speaker
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And so when you power that on, you will hear first its beginning tone, startup tone, and then that is followed by a double tone
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in which the speaker has synced with the audio source. And usually that syncing happens quite quickly
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In fact, the overall Bluetooth operation of the speaker is quite good
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I find that the range is very good, perhaps even better than my Sony
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and certainly better than some of the other Bluetooth devices I have, such as Bluetooth headphones or earbuds
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And so the range I find is better with these in terms of what it picks up
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On the back of the actual speaker itself on the left one you find across the back you going to see a total of five different things So from left to right far left there is a charge port And let me just say on that note that nicely the charge port is a very very standard these
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days, micro USB, which works for a wide host of devices. So there's a good chance that you'll probably have a cord or two around
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And so that makes charging a little bit easier. While there is a charge cord included, and we'll get to that in just a second, there isn't
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any kind of actual AC adapter included. And so you can use any kind of AC adapter you have
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or if you have USB type ports on a power device, a power bar or a power outlet, or of course
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if you have none of those things, you're going to be stuck using something like a laptop or
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purchasing a very, very cheap AC adapter for that. Now, both of these speakers charge independently
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That is one of the nature of having two speakers. And so they both have internal batteries. And so
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one nice thing about that is that the included charge cord, it has a standard size USB on one
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end, but it then splits into two of the micro USB dongles beyond that. And so it means that you can
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actually charge these simultaneously. So that's a nice touch. And the battery life is actually
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excellent, better than any other Bluetooth speaker that I've used in the past. It actually has a
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battery life of 15 hours and beyond. And so you'll find you don't have to charge them all that often
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under normal use. My Sony, for example, lasts for about 10 hours and sometimes a little bit less
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than this. These often will exceed their rated battery life. And so a battery life is good. Now
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the second thing you're going to find is a red port here. And it's shown red to differentiate
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from the other similar size port that is next to it, which is a, you know, kind of a standard
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headphone jack type size dimensions. But the difference being is that both of these
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unfortunately, only one of them actually receives the Bluetooth signal. And that is the left or the
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primary command unit. But the right unit has to be connected through the use of the included
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cords that will actually send an audio signal to the other side. And so unfortunately, while these
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are wireless speakers. They're not exclusively wireless. And so that was kind of one disappointment
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for me. Now, one thing that is positive is that there are two cords that are included in the box
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one of which is right around three feet-ish, around a meter overall. And then if you need
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a wider distance, we have a three meter or around a 10 feet cord that is also included. And obviously
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my arms aren't long enough to stretch that fully out, but fortunately you do have an
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included cable that will work for most of your circumstances or situations with that
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And so then the third port on there is an actual and I glad it has this is the standard audio input if you going to use a just kind of a patch in from a non enabled device
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And so you can connect any kind of audio source to this, and so you have just kind of a standard patch cord that's included that will allow you to have a direct signal
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and then you can plug that right into like a headphone output jack of a non-Bluetooth device
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And so I'm always glad to see that because it just means it's compatible with more of your devices
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Next to that is a wheel that will rotate back and forth, kind of a toggle
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And that will allow you to, if you press it in, will allow you to pause or to play your audio source
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And then if you kind of dangle it back or forth, it will advance or reverse in tracks
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And that could be handy if you're actually closer to the speaker than what you are to your audio device
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chances are in most settings you won't be using that necessarily all that often
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Then the final thing to the far right is the power on and off. The second speaker has only the charging port, the audio input port that comes from this other speaker
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and then of course its own on and off switch. Now one advantage to having this kind of dual speaker device is that if you want to really travel light
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and you want to pack along some extra audio power, but you don't want to take the full setup
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you can always just travel with the left primary speaker and it will give you good sound
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but in a very compact size, obviously. But it's when these speakers are really at their fullest advantage
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is when they are used in stereo. When it comes to matching the absolute volume or the bass response
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they can't match this Sony unit that I have, which is similar to like a Bose SoundDoc in terms of its overall sound
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And so this can put out more volume. It's 30 watts worth of power
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It's got a little subwoofer in there, while these are smaller and they're each rated at 5 watts
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And so in terms of the absolute power or absolute sound, this can't match it, nor can they even with both of them
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But it's amazing how much more that stereo separation, If you're using some kind of source to where you can set it up, to where you're getting feedback from both
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it's amazing how much that music comes alive and becomes more immersive. Or if you're watching some kind of video content, how much more immersive that is
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And so it's quite incredible the difference that is made when using this. And of course, these are going to blow away the standard audio source in something like your tablet or your laptop or your phone
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And downright massive in every facet compared to this. But when it comes to the actual performance of this lens, this is a shockingly good performance at those wide apertures
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And so today we're going to jump in and just take a look at a number of things about that
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So number one of course this is made for wireless bodies And so it comes in a Canon EF mount which I am reviewing here on a Canon M3 body
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I don't find that the bass response can match the larger Sony overall
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But I do find that these are able to go to the very limits of their volume level without any kind of visible distortion
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And the highs and the mids are clear and crisp. They sound good
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and the low end is okay if not exceptional. But for most kinds of situations
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even for a movie type soundtrack, it's amazing how immersive that these are
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And so there are of course pros and cons to each one of these approaches. And so I just wanted to detail both of those things
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Now, the one other thing that I kind of want to lay out for you
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is what I feel these speakers are for. Now, obviously both of these kind of devices
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are coming at quite an extreme different price point. the Sony unit here is cost typically around $200 at full pop and you know more like $150
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one on sale. These on Amazon are $54.99 at their regular price and so obviously they're at the
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least they're about a third of the price of the larger Sony so I consider them to be a pretty
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strong value in that way. But let me put it this way if you just want a portable speaker that you
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can throw into the corner of a room for a party or a get-together or even if you're traveling
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this was going to put out more of an absolute sound. And if you're moving around, of course
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the stereo advantage of these speakers is somewhat lost because the stereo separation is more if
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you're in a fixed position. And so if you're looking for something to just throw in a corner, you can use these in that way, of course, but you're not going to be maximizing their
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effectiveness. But if your typical use is more, you're spending time listening to music, perhaps
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while you're studying, or if you're watching a movie or YouTube, some kind of video content
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and you're looking for improved sound and stereo separation, these smaller, less expensive speakers
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can actually provide a much more immersive experience than what this larger unit can
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And so if you're set up with a tablet or device and you have these set up like this, it's amazing
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how immersive that that setting becomes. And so you'll find these to be, I think, a fairly good
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bang for the buck. And if that happens to suit your purposes, your typical usage, then I think
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you should take a look at these August MS515s because they are certainly very interesting
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speakers. I'll throw a link down below to Amazon so you can take a look a little bit further
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I'm Dustin Abbott. Thanks for watching today. And if you haven't already, please subscribe
