Arctic Sound S111 – Review

By
On August 21, 2010

Arctic Sound S111Every so often, we do a few hardware reviews.  This is one of a series of reviews for the Arctic brand of products.  For more information about the company or its products, go to Arctic-Cooling.com.

Ever have one of those days where you want to go to the beach and just listen to music while sunning?  Well, now you can leave your boombox at home.  With the Arctic Sound S111 speakers, all you need is your iPhone (plus one other Arctic product).

For a set of speakers of such a small size, the sound is unsurpassed by any other.  It comes through with a clarity and crispness that I would expect from a speaker set that is much larger and for a bigger stereo system.

Arctic Sound S111When the speakers arrived, they were in an attractive box.  They unpacked easily and all the necessary wires for use of the speakers are attached to them.

It should be noted that the speakers do not have an adjustment for bass and treble if you prefer one over the other.  The sound comes through very well balanced, so it depends how picky you are.  If you need to adjust either of those, it is best to do it directly on the iPhone or iPod touch.  These speakers are intended for portability and as such the features on them are scarce.

Arctic Sound S111The speakers themselves are quite attractive.  They are sleek squares with rounded corners and only the arctic logo on the side and a cycloptic single circular speaker in the center.  The color scheme still fits in with the "tundra" theme that Arctic products tend to have.

To have such a great sound in such a small space, the speakers require a power source which is why they come with a USB dongle attached.  One would argue that this would make it problematic for beach travel since USB ports are in short supply at that location, but used in conjunction with the Arctic C1 Mobile solar charger, the issue becomes moot.

Arctic Sound S111The speakers could also be used with other Apple products such as the Mac Mini (which has its own set of USB ports for power) as a set of external stereo speakers.  It’s nice to own some technology with multiple functionality.

For portable sound, you’d be hard-pressed to find a set of speakers that offered such excellent sound quality.  Did I mention that the speakers only cost $15.45?  For such a fantastic sound at such a fantastic price, I would recommend picking up a pair as soon as they become publicly available.