Libratone Loop Review

The Libratone Loop doesn’t want to be the shameful secret in the corner of the room, kept there because its right angles and finish are as aesthetic opposites to the sound they produce. Libratone wants you to display your speaker in the way you would present an expensive sound system or a new feature in the lounge, out there in the centre of the room so anyone that sees it can ooh and aah. Libratone wants you to take it that one step further; given that the Loop has a woollen cover, its almost begging you to touch it. Also, with a range of available colours, you can make sure it fits in with the rest of your decor.

It has an opening on the back of it so you can hang it easily on your wall and a stand to put it near the TV like one of those awkward ornaments that an Auntie gave you from her trip in Panama that you have to display because she is always coming round. The main thing though, is this is a speaker first and foremost, so while style is the thing that is being pushed, it is substance that will have you making your final decision. It seems a strange decision from Libratone that what will effect your decision isn’t the speaker itself, but the tech in your pocket and the applications you are currently using.

Libratone likes Apples. In fact, the Loop seems to love Airplay at the expense of any other kind of available audio streaming system. I have an Android phone, a Sony Xperia Z3, a relatively new entry into the market. I was expecting an easy setup after downloading the app from the Google Play Store, setting the speaker to its WiFi mode, and waiting for everything to connect up and be raring to go. Firstly, connection with the app was touch and go, and on several occasions the app crashed or froze on me. Once connection was established, and the speaker was registered on the app, it was then a case of connecting up the music source to the speaker.

My phone did not work as a streaming source using the Wifi. After switching to my laptop, while the Loop was recognised, it was a real struggle to connect the Loop to the laptop, to the point where I cut my losses and gave up connecting using the Wifi option. I’m possibly missing something extremely obvious here, but spending over half an hour just trying to connect is too long in my opinion. Spotify is also available for premium users, but again, being a paid-up member of the Google music club, that was a route that was also closed to me. Thank goodness that the Bluetooth option was there, as the pain of connection was taken away completely, and within a couple of simple button presses I was good to go.

The connection issues slightly sour the sound experience you get from the Libratone Loop itself, as its sound quality is something rather warm and rich. I expected to be disappointed with tinny sounds and poor bass, but I’m pleased to report that if you are able to set the speaker to the “full room” option, then its size is no hurdle to being able to experience what the song-writer expected you to hear. The bass has a deep enough power to it, while the same can be said for the middle range as well. It’s only when you push the speakers up to the higher volume levels that you can hear the slightest wobble in the treble, but then I only noticed this when I was pushing it to its limits. Connection settings are remembered, so jumping in again when the mood takes you is relatively effortless. After a decent period of use, the Loop almost becomes part of the furniture, and it becomes easy to forget it’s there. So with that in mind, you could say the Libratone has succeeded in bringing the cold angles of the traditional speaker from the corner out to centre stage. and it does perform well as a streaming speaker. It will probably receive some admiring glances from visitors and possibly an occasional stroke as well.

If you are an Apple Airplay enthusiast and want something that not only looks different, but has the quality of sound to back up its unusual aesthetics, then the Libratone Loop is certainly worthwhile purchasing. For everyone else, if you have a bit of patience for the fiddly setup, it shouldn’t go on the “No” pile straightaway, although the creators need to take a serious look at the potential user base if it’s hoping to take a slice of the growing speaker market, especially at its current price point.