Ambrane BT-8000 Bluetooth Speaker Review

The dual 5W drivers in the BT-8000 do a good job of reproducing frequencies as accurately as possible. The sound is clear and there is not much colouration to it. The speaker is quite loud and you will have a great time listening to music or watching movies on a laptop with some of your friends. I did not have any major problems with the highs and mids apart from the highs which sounded like they were rolled off a bit. The bass output is decent and has a certain punch but it is not the best in the segment. What I found in my testing was that the speaker felt controlled in its output. What I mean by that is, I felt like the speaker was deliberately keeping its volume and bass output in check to ensure a distortion free playback and it managed to do so successfully. Only when I had set the speaker and the source volume to maximum and used a crazy preset did I notice the cracking sounds. The panel on top of the BT-8000 includes touch sensitive controls for play/pause, volume increase/next track, volume decrease/previous track, mode and call accept. All these are white in colour and are backlit by a pleasant dark blue light and they respond very well to even the most casual touches.

The ambient light is a nice touch which adds to the elegant an sophisticated looks.  Although I was still sad to see no options for changing the light colour or the behaviour. But then again this device is more like the 'blend in the environment' type so it makes sense. The BT-8000 can play media via a 3.5mm audio jack, Bluetooth and a TF card. A neat functionality here is that the BT-8000 will try and connect to the last device it was connected to once you turn on the Bluetooth and this can be time saving and adds a level of automation. There is no option of tuning into the FM but that is hardly a drawback in today's time. Apart from using this device for listening to audio you can also receive calls if your mobile is connected to it in the Bluetooth mode. You can use the call pick up button  and converse using the built-in microphone of the speaker. We tested it at a few different ranges and the speaker does a good job of picking up your voice, however, you would ideally want to be within a 10 feet radius.

There is a 3600mAh battery inside the Ambrane BT-8000 which promises a maximum playback time of 8 hours. The maximum I got was a continuous playback of just a little over 7 hours which is very good against the roughly 5 hour charging time. The large battery and solid build subsequently adds to the weight making the BT-8000 weigh a hefty 800gms.

The Ambrane BT-8000 comes off as a solid proposition given its elegant looks, loud and clear audio quality and a build quality that feels like it is meant to last. The only thing that might put off some people is that fact that it does not get any type of modes for the white and blue lights, which its younger sibling the Ambrane BT-6000 has. To further sweeten the deal, the BT-8000 has price of Rs 3,199 but you can buy it online for about Rs 2,000.