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iHome Playglow Plus & Playglow Plus Mini -- Light-Up Bluetooth Speakers -- DEMO & REVIEW
Jun 22, 2024
Bluetooth speakers that light up and are so waterproof they can float in the pool or lake? That's just what iHome Audio has introduced with the newly redesigned Playglow Plus speakers. Tech expert Dave Taylor checks out both the iHome Audio Playglow+ iBT820B and the iHome Audio Playglow+ Mini iBT800B and finds that they both offer a smart design, mesmerizing light shows, great Bluetooth connectivity, and perfect sound for your beach towel or chaise lounge at the pool (not to mention late-night audio books or sleep sounds in your cabin). There is one big reason why the larger speaker is better than the Mini, however, as he explains...
Check it out at: https://www.ihomeaudio.com/iBT820B/
and the Mini at: https://www.ihomeaudio.com/iBT800B/
Then visit Dave's Q&A Web site at https://www.AskDaveTaylor.com/
#ihome #speaker #playglow #playglowplus #ibt800b #ibt820b #playglowmini #bluetooth #askdavetaylor
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0:00
Light up Bluetooth speakers that are totally waterproof
0:03
Let's check these out. Dave Taylor here and I'm checking out these
0:14
These are the I-home PlayGlow Plus. This is the mini and this is the full-size unit
0:21
They're rechargeable Bluetooth speakers that light up and are fully waterproof. We'll demonstrate that in a minute
0:29
But for now, Let me tell you that the Mini is the IBT 800B
0:36
and the larger unit is the IBT 820B. It's important to check that because IHome also has the PlayGlow not plus
0:47
and that's the previous generation. This is the next generation of these speakers
0:51
and they've done a great job. One of the things I really like about it is that it lights up all the way around
0:57
A lot of these actually have like bars on the back or supports or something
1:03
And so if from certain angles you don't get that full light up
1:07
but as you can see, these are clearly designed for that. Now, they are waterproof, they are IP 67, so they're also sandproof
1:15
So if you take it to the beach and your crazy kid buries the darn thing in the sand
1:21
once you find it and take it back out, you might have to take a like clean toothbrush to get the sand off the grill
1:27
but nothing's going to be hurt. In fact, you could actually drop it into the waves and it will float and then it'll come back in and you can grab it, dry it off and it's going to be good to go
1:37
That's pretty cool. Now, also has, like I said, that 360 degree color, but there's a bunch of different color modes
1:46
So what I want to do is I want to get some music going. Let's see
1:50
Oh, that's on the bigger one. So first off, you can hear the sound. This is just some techno that I happen to have
1:58
and it actually sounds pretty darn good. There's actually some bass here
2:04
I can move forward in the song. Here we go. And I realize I'm picking it up on my mic and then you're hearing it through your speakers
2:12
but it sounds pretty nice. Let me go ahead and pause it
2:16
And so on the front, in fact, let me give you a close-up of the front of both of them
2:21
You can see they have different button designs. So on the front of the larger one, you have volume down and then pause
2:28
Pause play and then volume up. On the back of this one you have the different light modes that you could access including turning off the light If you really don like it why you would do that I don know And then there Bluetooth if you need to pair it with a second device or something you can do that
2:46
In the middle is a charging plug. I'll get back to that in a second
2:50
And then on the smaller unit in the front is pause play, but not volume controls
2:56
This one doesn't actually have volume controls, which is a little curious. And then instead of having any buttons on the back, all of the other buttons
3:04
to the bottom of the smaller unit. So there is light modes, power, and then Bluetooth button
3:11
So that's how these stack up. Now, I want to give it some music
3:15
and then we're going to go through the different modes. So let's turn it back on
3:19
I'm going to turn a volume down a little bit, so I don't feel like I have to shout over it
3:23
And then the light modes, let's see, it's this button on the back
3:27
So you have slow fade, and then this is color change, Then you can pick a color and it'll just stay at that color
3:38
If you have a favorite color, that's going to be something you like. And then it can pulse
3:47
And this is pulsing to the music. And then it can also just do its sort of own thing
3:53
And then of course the final of the modes is turn off the light
3:57
But again, I don't know why you do that. So pause it again
4:03
And let's see. So I've shown you the top. They look identical. The bottom. You can see the button design is different. On the front, the larger one has volume up and down in addition to that multifunction. The smaller one just has multifunction. On the back, the larger one has light modes and Bluetooth. The smaller one's got nothing. But I want to also show you the charge plugs because that's also really important. The larger one, they both have big rubber
4:33
seals to protect the charging port because they're waterproof, right? So you open it up and this one's
4:38
USBC and no surprise it comes with a USBC to USBA charging cable. That makes sense. But where everything
4:48
else is so similar on the little guy on the mini, they made a really weird decision. So when you open
4:56
that one up, you find out that it's micro USB. Now I say and I will say again, I'm a
5:03
not a fan of microоки I'm not a fan of a cable where you have to orient it
5:07
correctly they should just work right it does come with a micro USB to USB a
5:13
charging cord but you know what I don like micro USB it the only complaint I have for these speakers Now in terms of the sound
5:24
Oh, I think this one turned on. Yep. Okay, in terms of the sound, here's the little guy
5:30
And this one has a lot of highs, some mid-range, really not much base at all
5:36
It is a tiny little speaker, right? And by the way, oh, let's move this box out of the way
5:42
It works. It floats in the water. I can let it just sort of chug along
5:49
It's going to obviously do better once I drain the water off. But notice the light mode and everything works just fine. So it's doing fine. Now
5:58
let's switch to the larger speaker. I can do that right here from my phone
6:05
And we'll turn the volume back up. It actually remembered it was at the lower volume
6:09
So this one gives you better sound. Now again, I want to say
6:12
there's a lot of highs, there's some mid-range, and then there's bass, but there's like sort of the lower mid-range is just missing in action
6:21
There's not a lot of richness or depth to this sound, but I'm not sure that's their goal. So does it float
6:28
It floats and it still lights up and it still works even while it's doing that and in fact if I just do this
6:35
Then I don't know if you can see, but there's like the little dancing bubbles. It's like a little fountain
6:40
and make it a bit of a mess, but we can do this and it'll be right back where it was
6:49
And there you go. So really nice little speakers. Pause it again
6:54
And so they are Bluetooth, so they have a hundred foot range
6:58
so you can leave your device safely under the eaves or even in the house
7:02
And then you can have this out by the hammock. And if you forget and you leave it out overnight and it rains or the sprinklers come on, whatever
7:09
it's totally fine. It's not going to hurt it. Now, battery-wise, this has a 15-hour battery, which is pretty nice, actually, but this one's the real winner
7:18
This one, with the better sound, also has a 32-hour playback battery
7:23
So you charge this, and it's going to play back for way longer than you're going to be able to be outside
7:29
So, dimensions-wise, 2.8 inches across, 4 inches tall. It's just a little guy
7:35
and this one is 3.2 inches across and 5.5 inches tall. By comparison, my iPhone 13 Pro, for size, you can see it's taller than either of these speakers
7:48
Now, these are not state-of-the-art audio file speakers. They are not intended to fill up your auditorium with music so you can warm up before your volleyball match That not what they doing They are fun highly portable little speakers that are perfect for you to have on the corner of the towel while you at the beach
8:07
You could have one of these out by the pool. You can have one of these in your basket while you're out bike riding
8:13
They're really fun. If you really wanted to, you could have it in your room
8:17
And then you can imagine if you had it like reacting to sound and then you had sleep sounds
8:23
That would be kind of trippy and probably a really nice way to go to sleep. Turns out I Home has some built-in sleep sound speakers, but these do not have that
8:31
But hey, we have our phones, so we get access to all of that anyway
8:35
So lots of fun you can have with these. I really like them. I think the sound is surprisingly good for the size and the price point
8:43
And of course, the whole light-up thing is just super fun. I mean, why wouldn't you want these
8:48
These are really fun. In fact, let's get a little close-up of just the light effects
8:53
Isn't that pretty sweet? So really nothing else for me to tell you other than the price
9:01
But before we get to the price, I'm going to ask if you could subscribe to my channel
9:05
Click or tap on that subscribe button, just do it. Thank you so much
9:09
And then don't forget to turn on notifications so you know when I post new videos
9:14
I review tons of things. I get tons of gear. I even have a really swanky rice cooker that I'll be reviewing
9:20
And I don't know, maybe a week or two. So I got a lot of stuff in the queue
9:24
But these really cool. So let's talk price. First off, let's go with the little guy
9:30
This is the I Home PlayGlow Plus Mini, and it is 4999
9:38
You can check it out at I Home or Amazon. They actually have really good distribution
9:43
So really pretty much anywhere you want to look for audio gear, you're going to be able to find these
9:48
And if you want the larger one, this is the I Home PlayGue
9:52
Glow Plus, not mini, and it's 799. So remember, light up 32 hours battery, floats in water, decent sound, very cool
10:06
They're really worth checking out. It's perfect summer fun speakers. That's all I got
10:12
I'm going to go back to my music, so I'll catch you in my next video
#Music Equipment & Technology
#Audio Equipment
#Mini