Creative Labs iRoar Bluetooth Speaker Review

For most of us purchasing a Bluetooth speaker can be a bit of a chore.  They all seem to trade sound quality for portability with no real regard for sound quality.  Creative is about to change all that with their new iRoar speaker.  The iRoar is the successor to the popular Sound Blaster Roar series of speakers but improves on the Roar series in almost every way.

Creative’s team calls the iRoar “The Most Intelligent Speaker on The Planet”.  That’s a pretty bold statement to make about a Bluetooth speaker.  Let’s see just how well the Creative iRoar lives up to the challenge.

The Creative iRoar has a smart new look as well featuring an attractive all black design accented by a metallic orange frame.  The same accent can be found in the branding up front and the power button on top.  Visually the iRoar is a solid evolutionary step up from the Roar2’s silver and black styling.  Measuring in at 225mm x 120mm x 57mm (about 8.8 x 4.7 x 2.2 inches) makes this a little larger than my typical portable speaker but much smaller than the larger units I have that rarely move.

Specifications don’t paint a complete picture of a speaker but they do make a good foundation!

• System Configuration: One-piece
• Dimensions (H x W x D): 225.0 x 120.0 x 57.0 mm (8.8 x 4.7 x 2.2 inches)
• Weight: Speaker: 1.10kg (2.5lbs), USB Cable: 43g (1.5oz)
• Bluetooth® Version: Bluetooth 3.0
• Bluetooth Profile: A2DP (Wireless Stereo Bluetooth), AVRCP (Bluetooth Remote Control), HFP (Hands-free Profile)
• Supported Codecs: AAC, aptX, SBC, aptX-LL

For Windows® OS Microsoft® Windows 7 and above:

• 100 MB of free hard disk space
• Free USB Port

For Mac® OS Mac OS X® 10.6.8 or higher:

• 100 MB of free hard disk space
• Free USB Port

For playback or recording via microSD slot:

•  microSD or microSDHC cards up to 32GB formatted in FAT/FAT32.
• Common audio formats such as MP3, AAC and WAV.
• (MP3 format up to 320kbps,AAC format up to 320kbps and VBR).

For iOS device iPhone® / iPad® running iOS 7.0 or higher
For Android device Phone / tablet running Android 4.0 or higher

Creative is the worldwide leader in digital entertainment products. Founded in Singapore in 1981, Creative started with the vision that multimedia would revolutionize the way people interact with their PCs.

Famous for its Sound Blaster sound cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment with cutting-edge audio solutions, premium wireless speakers, high performance earphone products and portable media devices. The company's innovative hardware, proprietary technology, applications and services enable consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment - anytime, anywhere.

Since launching the phenomenally successful Sound Blaster sound cards and setting the de-facto standard for PC audio in 1989, Creative has been able to leverage on its leading-edge audio technology, a huge user base of 400 million, and strong brand name to expand into the exciting lifestyle Personal Digital Entertainment (PDE) market.