Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Bowers & Wilkins ’s $ 400Z2is the apparent successor to the company’sZeppelin Mini , but instead of a 30 - tholepin dockage connexion , the Z2 features aLightning - connectordockandAirPlay wireless streaming . Supporting the late iPhone , iPod touch , and iPod nano models , the Z2 is uncommitted in disgraceful or white glass - filledABS . ( The shameful model is available now ; the whitened model wo n’t embark until June . )
Like the earlier Zeppelin mini , the Z2 measures 7.1 inch tall , 12.6 column inch wide , and 3.9 column inch deep ; it weighs 5.7 pounds . The speaker lookscool , with a distinctively angled rotund top , and a pleasantly curved recessed country circumvent the Lightning bob itself . On the bottom right hand of the speaker sit a single LED , which shine red when the unit is asleep , glow pinkish when it ’s connected to Wi - Fi , and suggest other statuses during setup and troubleshooting .
In front of the Lightning dock sit two tiny , slightly rear , capacitative buttons for master the system ’s loudness . These buttons are some of the first speck - sore speaker buttons I have n’t hated : Because you’re able to seeandfeel them , there ’s never any dubiousness that you ’re crusade in the right touch , and the button themselves are responsive .
On the back of the Z2 , you ’ll find an ethernet port wine , a reset button , a 1/8 - inch ( 3.5 mm ) auxiliary - stimulation Jack-tar ( for connect a pumped up audio source ) , and a connexion for the Z2 ’s power adapter .
My iPhone 5 connect to the Z2 ’s Lightning - connector dock well , and the earpiece felt secure while sit around there : While the phone does wiggle a bit , there ’s much less dramatic play , and the dock connector feels much less fragile , than with 30 - tholepin connector of old .
Getting the Z2 on my meshwork was n’t too sore using the freeBowers & Wilkins Controlapp for iOS . The process is n’t as graceful as with some other speaker unit — the unspoiled can import your iOS machine ’s Wi - Fi configuration when you connect the speaker to the machine via USB . alternatively , the Z2 relies on the onetime approach of connecting your gimmick to an ad - hoc wireless web produce by the talker , and then using either the B&W app or your Web web web browser to configure the speaker ’s networking configurations ..
The speaker transport with a belittled , black , plastic remote control . That remote sports button for powerfulness , volume control , gambol / pause , premature , next , and input pick . You ’ll postulate that last button to interchange the Z2 between AirPlay , the Lightning dock , and the adjuvant input , so you do n’t want to lose the remote control — there ’s no way to exchange the input on the loudspeaker itself .
Inside the Z2 are double ( left and good ) 3.5 - in full - range drivers , along with a brace of 20 - Watt amplifiers . I listened to my docked iPhone 5 and to various sources rain cats and dogs via AirPlay , and , like B&W’sA7 AirPlay speaker , the Z2 vocalize smashing . no matter of what kind of music I played , the speaker offered exceptional lucidity — for both midrange and treble frequencies — and hunky-dory sea bass presence . Bass performance , though , is the Z2 ’s feeble spot thanks to the organization ’s compact size and small driver . There ’s a bass port on the back of the speaker , but there ’s no sea bass driver or subwoofer — the upshot is that freshwater bass is merely present , not herculean . That said , the Z2 generates large , loud , impressive phone .
Bottom line
Bowers & Wilkins ’s $ 800 A7 remains the pricy AirPlay speaker I ’ve tested , and it sounds olympian . The companionship ’s Z2 cost half as much , but it still sounds very , very good . While the Z2 ca n’t rival the A7 ’s strait , it ’s far more low-cost , it ’s considerably smaller , and it offers a Lightning pier for wired playback and gimmick charging . I have n’t test a better AirPlay speaker for this price .
