Hands-on: Altec Lansing Orbit

The Altec Lansing Orbit is a fine device that may not offer the sound quality you're typically looking for at a special event, but can certainly do the job at any other time.

Design

The Altec Lansing Orbit is small and immensely sleek. It sports a speaker on top and with an auxiliary cable that can fit into both an iPod or an iPhone (or any other MP3 player), its design can't be beaten.

Due to its design, the Orbit can be brought with you everywhere you go. If you're looking to play a couple of songs for friends and you don't have a computer handy, simply plug your MP3 player into the device and let it rip. And with its sliding head to turn the device on and off, it's simply one of the cleanest looking devices of its kind.

Performance

Overall, I was quite pleased by the Orbit's performance. I used both an iPod and iPhone with the device and found that it pumped out high-quality sound.

Unfortunately, the device doesn't offer any volume controls, and while it would have been nice if it did, you can still control volume with your player and I found that this was sufficient.

The only issue I found with the Orbit was its inability to get the highest quality sound when the volume is turned up. When I would try to play the music as loud as possible, the speaker could not reproduce much (if any) bass and most of that quality was thrown out the window. That said, turning up the volume on your iPod to the highest level would probably not be best for your hearing, anyway.

Bottom Line

For just $39.99, the Altec Lansing Orbit is a fine product that will allow you to enjoy your music anywhere you go. And while I had some issues with its sound when turned up, it's still a great device that I would recommend to anyone. Simply put, it's a must-have if you want a nice speaker without the need to carry a boombox around on your shoulder.