2 stars
Price: $199
www..com
There are hundreds of iPod docks, but
Philips Fidelio AS851 is the first specialized dock for Android devices that we
have ever seen. There are inherent practical problems in an Android dock. No
standard for transmitting digital audio to USB is the most obvious.
To solve it, AS851 connects to your phone
via Bluetooth. It is processed smoothly through free Fidelio application that
you have to install on your phone first. As soon as you connect your mobile
phone with dock, the application and dock will realize each other and remind
you to combine them. Once it’s done, every sound from the phone will be sent to
the speakers.
Most mobile phones are only capable of
transmitting A2DP Bluetooth audio, a compressed standard creating audio quality
which is not very ideal. We are surprised because Philips didn’t include
standard support for new Apt-X Bluetooth audio, higher quality, because it is
supported by some Android mobile phone and music player. However, the
difference in sound quality is not considerable on such a dock speaker though
we find that music transmitted by A2DP is sometimes cut in high notes, may be
due to the interference from those nearby devices using 2.4GHz waveband.
Luckily, there is a 3.5mm stereo input which you can use to connect to the
mobile phone – or any audio devices – if you don’t want to use Bluetooth.
There are volume controls and power on the
dock, but most applications are integrated into Fidelio application and the
remote control coming with the dock. Unfortunately, none of them is easy to
use. To use the remote control, you need to install Songbird music player on
the mobile phone. Nevertheless, we met trouble navigating it by using the
remote control, which didn’t have enough button for work.
You must apply all the navigation with left
and right buttons, which do different tasks depending on the menu you are
staying. It will not be matter if it’s easy to use the touch screen of the
phone while it is attached to the dock, but Micro USB frame is designed to
rotate. It means you can connect to any Micro USB devices without the dedicated
support or adaptor, but it will shake your mobile phone if you try to use it.
AS851 sounds good to satisfy most of the
people. It has amazing bass for a 2.0 stereo dock by two rear bass port, but it
doesn’t overwhelm the higher frequencies. Some details are lost in complicated
tracks but we don’t have any major complaints about sound quality.
The biggest problem with the dock is its
price. With more than £180, we expect that sound quality and functions are
better. It’s a good idea in principle and does not sound bad but it’s frustrating
to use. With this price, you can buy excellent InMotion Air of Altec Lansing
which supports A2DP and Apt-X, and just plug the phone into a power outlet for
charging.
Summary
Verdict.
We love the idea about an Android dock device but it’s too expensive and hard
to use.
Android dock speakers. 2.0, 30W RMS output, 3.5mm stereo, dock Micro USB, one year RTB
warranty.
Energy consumption: 2W standby, 7W operation.
