Why You Can Trust CNET Sony SRS-BTV5 portable Bluetooth speaker review: Wireless ball speaker just misses the plate
The Sony SRS-BTV5 wireless Bluetooth speaker has a lot of positives, including a sturdy design and good features like speakerphone and NFC capabilities, but it doesn't beat the competition for the price.
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Tiny wireless Bluetooth speakers -- particularly the ball-shaped variety -- continue to proliferate, and Sony has gotten in on the action with its SRS-BTV5, a $69.99 model that comes in black, white, and pink. (If the model number sounds uninviting, that's because the name hasn't been designated yet; it will be christened once Sony announces the winner of a contest.)
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
What separates this model from the competition? Well, it sports a fairly polished design and the build quality seems good. Furthermore, the SRS-BTV5 also includes a couple of extra features that some speakers of this type are missing: built-in speakerphone capabilities and -- much more cutting-edge -- one-touch tap-to-pair NFC technology (near-field communication) that's designed to work with smartphones and other devices that support it.
Unfortunately, there are two big problems: the SRS-BTV5's sound doesn't beat the competition, and I couldn't get the NFC to work properly.
Design and features
The speaker weighs 0.28 pound, or 4.5 ounces, so it's fairly light but has just enough heft to it to make it feel substantial. In other words, your first impression isn't that this thing is a totally cheap hunk of plastic. That said, I'm sure plenty of people won't think it's worth $70, either.
The single driver fires upward (it's a 1.2-watt speaker) and a curved shield on top protects the driver should something fall on the speaker or should you drop it (which is more likely than you'd think -- consider that this is shaped like a ball and has a tendency to roll when you knock into it). I did appreciate that the speaker comes with a small carrying pouch. It's nothing fancy, but it'll keep the speaker from getting scratched up if you stick in a bag with objects such as keys.
There's a slider switch on the bottom of the speaker for powering it on and putting it into pairing and NFC modes. The speaker also has volume controls on it, plus a Micro-USB port for charging the speaker's internal battery. That rechargeable battery is rated at up to 4 hours of battery life.
Right next to that USB port you'll find an audio input in case you want to connect a non-Bluetooth audio device using an optional cable.
As noted, the SRS-BTV has speakerphone capabilities (there's a call end/answer button on the speaker) and NFC one-touch tap-to-pair technology. NFC enables you to tap your device against the top of the speaker, causing the device and speaker to automatically connect or disconnect. (To be clear: Bluetooth still handles the streaming-audio duties, but NFC handles the "handshake," so you shouldn't need to pair it onscreen.) Once they are joined, you can stream audio from your device -- most likely a smartphone -- to the speaker from a distance of up to about 10 meters (in some cases, you may do better at that range).
Performance
I can't say I was wowed by the sound from the SRS-BTV5. Not that it sounded any worse than many of these compact ball speakers, but I was disappointed it didn't sound any better. Yeah, you get more sound than you'd get from your smartphone or tablet speakers, but it was still fairly restrained and thin. I'm sure that someone who hasn't heard a lot of these tiny speakers will be impressed with just how much sound it's capable of producing for its size. But it just doesn't distinguish itself from the pack.
In my tests, I put it up against the
As for the speakerphone on the SRS-BTV5, it sounded fine, and this would make for a good little speakerphone to have on your desk. It does offer significantly louder and clearer sound than the internal speakerphone on smartphones.
As I said in the intro, I had some trouble with the NFC, even after closely following the instructions, which tell you to download the free NFC Easy Connect app from the Google Play store. I tried it with a Samsung Galaxy S3 as well as a Sony Xperia T phone (I tried the Sony phone with and without the app installed).
On several occasions, the phone seemed to pair using NFC, but the sound kept coming out of the phone's speaker, not the SRS-BTV5. I tried NFC with both a black SRS-BTV5 and a white SRS-BTV5 and failed. What was frustrating was that it seemed to come close to working, but then it didn't. Finally, after about 30 minutes of trial and error, I gave up.
I was able to manually pair the speaker with a Samsung Galaxy S3 and a Sony Xperia phone. I also paired it with an iPhone 4S and an iPad Mini without a hitch (no iPhone offers NFC at this time).
At the end of the day, I didn't care that much whether I could pair with NFC or not -- it might save you a few seconds -- but it should work. Of course, you can blame the user (me) for screwing something up -- and that may well very be the case -- but I'm just reporting my experiences with the product. Others may have better luck with NFC.
Conclusion
The SRS-BTV5's strengths are its design and feature set. It's an attractive little wireless speaker that takes up little room in a bag and is an improvement over the speakers in your smartphone, tablet, and even many laptops. It seems well built and offers speakerphone and NFC capabilities.
Alas, while it sounded fine for what it is, it didn't sound better than all the other little ball speakers out there, some of which cost less. For example, the Philips Sound Shooter Wireless sounds superior and costs $50. Despite my problems with the NFC, I liked the Sony SRS-BTV5. I just think you can do a little better for your money.