Also see: Best Black Friday Speaker Deals If you do want something of a higher quality, read our best high-end Bluetooth speakers chart.
Dknight Big MagicBox portable Bluetooth speaker review: Build quality and design
The build quality of the Dknight Big MagicBox is fairly standard for its £44.99 price tag, although we must admit we were fairly impressed by the weight of the speaker. It’s fairly compact and lightweight at 425g and 171 x 70 x 70mm, making it an ideal speaker to leave in your bag until it’s required and its tube-like design means that it can be held comfortably in one hand. The speaker is flat on one side, allowing it to be placed on a surface without watching it roll around, although it’s made from standard plastic and not grippy rubber, so it’s easily knocked/moved. The Dknight Big MagicBox features a myriad of physical controls on top of the Bluetooth speaker, allowing users to control the music via both the source and the speaker itself. It features play/pause, skip, previous, volume up and down and even a button that’ll answer calls on the speaker thanks to the built-in microphone. The innocent looking power button located at the end of the tube-like speaker hides a secret too. While its main function is to act as a power button, users can lift the plastic cover to reveal both the charging port and 3.5mm input. We like the idea of keeping the ports out of the way until necessary, as it gives the speaker a slightly more premium look.
Dknight Big MagicBox portable Bluetooth speaker review: Connectivity and battery life
So, let’s talk connectivity – first off, as the name suggests, the Dknight Big MagicBox is Bluetooth powered, and features Bluetooth 4.0. However, while the speaker features Bluetooth, it doesn’t feature NFC technology for faster pairing with devices – although you may have to pay slightly more for a speaker with that feature. Along with Bluetooth connectivity, users can opt to use the 3.5mm port on the side of the speaker. This enables the speaker to be used with any audio device, not just one that features Bluetooth connectivity. In terms of battery power, it features a whopping 4000mAh battery that’ll get you around 12 hours of play time on a single charge, although this may vary somewhat depending on the volume of the speaker, amongst other factors. Unlike with other Bluetooth speakers, there is no way to check the current level of charge – there’s no iOS battery icon, or way to get audio feedback from the speaker itself. Better to charge it and be safe than be sorry!
Dknight Big MagicBox portable Bluetooth speaker review: Sound quality
The Dknight Big MagicBox Bluetooth speaker boasts two 52mm 20W acoustic drivers that the manufacturer claims produce a “wide audio spectrum” along with a dedicated bass port that “provides strong bass” – although we aren’t too impressed by the quality. Yes – it is loud, and is a great option when heading out to the beach or to the park for a day out, but the quality isn’t the greatest we’ve heard in its price range. The speaker is described as having “stunning stereo sound” but we found that there was no real stereo field as the speaker is quite small and the drivers are extremely close together – yes, it might offer stereo output, but chances are you wouldn’t be able to tell. We also have an issue with the manufacturers claim that the speaker features “advanced bass enhancement” as, for a start, the bass comes from one side of the speaker which makes the audio sound unbalanced. Even when the bass port is ‘doing its thing’ we found that it’s of a poor quality, it’s restricted and distorted. With this being said, we feel that the speaker was designed more for relaxing, acoustic music instead of Dubstep/Dance/anything with a heavy bassline. We feel that the speaker has been tuned for the mid-range, with no real top end – the drivers handle the mids, the bass port handles the bass but what handles the top end? Nothing, apparently, and it’s obvious during audio playback. Despite connecting via Bluetooth or wired audio cables, the mids are harsh and grainy, almost like listening to an FM radio. Lewis Painter is a Senior Staff Writer at Tech Advisor. Our resident Apple expert, Lewis covers everything from iPhone to AirPods, plus a range of smartphones, tablets, laptops and gaming hardware. You’ll also find him on the Tech Advisor YouTube channel.
