Why You Can Trust CNET Auluxe Dew review: Auluxe Dew
The Auluxe Dew is stunning to look at, but its audio quality doesn't quite match up to its design or price tag, and it's missing some key standard features.
Designer speaker specialist Auluxe subscribes to the belief that speakers should be seen as well as heard. Its Dew system is a stylish 2.1 speaker setup that, it says, has a design as delicate as the rustling of leaves, yet delivers sound as commanding as the raging splendour of the storm. It's available to buy now from Amazon for £199. Let's have a listen, shall we?
Auluxe Dew
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Cuboid concept
The Dew kit consists of a cuboid subwoofer, two satellite speakers and a volume remote, all of which look sensational. A range of different colour finishes is available including maple and cherry woods, as well as glossy black and white.
We were especially fond of the maple wood effect on our review sample, which Auluxe says is crafted from real wood in order to create a more natural sound. It has a beautiful, smooth finish that looks brilliant against the aluminium legs of the subwoofer and on the retro design of the satellite speakers.
Easily peasily
The Auluxe Dew is simple to put together and use. The satellite speakers connect to the subwoofer via two RCA cables, the volume remote hooks up via its own dedicated multi-pin plug and power is supplied via an external brick, which sadly isn't as pretty to look at as the rest of the speakers. The audio input comes by way of a standard 3.5mm jack.
Unfortunately, these cables can spoil the Dew's aesthetic slightly. You'll often see the Dew pictured with no wires whatsoever, but the reality is that you'll have to be pretty canny about where and how you position it, as the whole thing can easily become a tangle of messy wires, which ruins the look.
Deluxe Awe?
Auluxe claims the Dew's looks are matched by its sound quality, but we'd beg to differ. We threw a variety of audio at it and it sounded only slightly above average as computer speakers go. The subwoofer delivered sufficient, if hardly earth-shattering bass -- a consequence of its small size -- and the satellite speakers, while crisp-sounding at low to medium volume, distort noticeably when cranked up.
To their credit, the speakers do manage to fill a small room, and they're a damn sight better than any integrated speakers you'll find on a laptop -- though you would expect that (and, frankly, a little more) given the £200 price tag.
Loose connections sink expectations
The Dew's rather average sound quality isn't the only thing that lets it down. We found that the right speaker occasionally cut out as if due to a loose connection. Ordinarily, we'd put this down to a fault with our particular test unit, but we've heard reports from other users who've experienced similar problems, which is somewhat concerning.
We're also concerned by the fact that the Dew doesn't have many additional features. It's designed to be a computer speaker, but lacks some of the bells and whistles you'd expect, such as a headphone port for when you want to listen to audio discretely at night.
It also lacks additional inputs, so if you ever want to connect anything other than a computer (a games console or MP3 player, for example), you'll need to fiddle around at the back of your PC, manually remove the Dew's audio cable from your sound card and connect it to to another audio source.
Conclusion
The Auluxe Dew is a stunning-looking set of speakers, though its sound quality doesn't quite live up to its design or indeed its lofty price tag. If looks aren't an issue, the Harman/Kardon Soundsticks III offer a similar listening experience for considerably less money.
Edited by Nick Hide