Samsung DA-F61 Portable NFC Bluetooth Speaker Review

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First a confession - I expected more out of these speakers given the $250 price and the fact that I have been listening to the awesome Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker this past month.  Not only are the Samsungs physically bigger, they claim 20 watts of power, and APT-X capability (which I did not test) - but they didn't super impress me.

Here's an audio sample:

It sure does look cool and slick though right?  

Pros:

  • Looks really nice
  • Fantastic battery life
  • NFC makes it really easy to pair with NFC capable phones
  • Good sound quality, fairly well balanced (with bass boost off)
  • Vocals sound good
  • Strong bluetooth connection with no dropouts during testing
  • USB charging port for your music player or phone

Cons:

  • The black cover is only for speaker transport - leave it on and you have one cheap sounding speaker
  • No USB charging option, in a portable speaker
  • Manual says you should should not keep it plugged into the charger, it will shorten battery life
  • Sounds somewhat muddy compared to Big Jambox; missing some detail playing rock music
  • Lacks lower level bass that Bose Soundlink Mini seems to boom out of nowhere
  • Should be priced around $179.99 retail

Overall I give this speaker a 7 out of 10.

So here are my rankings given portable bluetooth speakers of this class/size:

  1. Jawbone BIG JAMBOX (Better sound, speakerphone, louder)
  2. Sony SRS-BTX500 (40 watts of power)
  3. Samsung DA-F60 
  4. Sony SRS-BTX300 (less clarity)

If you want portability, get the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker.