Creative D80 is a simple portable bluetooth speaker solution. The speaker is designed with Bluetooth connectivity that allows easy pairing with any device. Creative D80 is a stylish speaker that comes with a composite design of two wireless speaker embedded inside single body. It does not require any additional stand to get maximum range on usage. Due to common Bluetooth connectivity it allows you to sync popular portable devices for continuous media streaming. We will check out the pros and cons of this speaker in detail later on. First let’s check out, on portable platform, whether this speaker gains some good points or not. Creative has provided some of the best audio solutions. If we talk about a portable speaker then first thing that comes in mind is its size. Creative D80 goes out a bit off track when we say portable. Not very small and not very large but a medium design reminds me of an old radio. It is designed with a point to connect instantly. No Wi-Fi support is available. A plain portable Bluetooth speaker with stylish look is quiet enough to catch anyone’s attention. But also D80 comes with number of limitations. Like no internal battery. Under the portable category a number of Bluetooth speakers give you some hours of battery life. So that you do not need to search for a power outlet while listening to music on the go.
I will count this as one of the biggest flaw in Creative D80. As per the design which you can see in the images, it looks like there is some space available to fit a small battery that can allow us to get atleast 4 to 6 hours of music. Creative D80 is just an upgraded version of desktop speakers, where the limitation of connecting line in jack with PC is removed. Creative wants to simplify the audio solution here by providing this model. There are four colours available that adds more to the visual presentation. They are pink, blue, green and black. Creative D80 simply works on an old Bluetooth interface. As per the specification it supports Bluetooth 2.1 specification and today we can easily get a Bluetooth 4.0 device. So, on that basis, Creative D80 lacks a little. But it is an optimum choice for Smartphones and Tablets.
Features:
- Bluetooth Compatible with many portable devices.
- 3 inch speaker for reasonable sound quality
- Dedicated Bluetooth Paring button. Easy connectivity.
- Portable Size with different colours.
- Supports BT-D1 Bluetooth dongle for pc and BT-D5 Bluetooth transmitter for iPod.
Specification:
- Product Weight: 1.06kg / 2.35lbs
- Dimensions (HxWxD): 32.5 x 10 x 10 cm / 12.7″ x 3.93″ x 3.93″
- Bluetooth Version: Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
- Supported Bluetooth profiles: A2DP (Wireless Stereo Bluetooth) / AVRCP (Bluetooth Remote Control)
- Supported Codecs: SBC
- Operating Range: Up to 10 meters (Measured in open space. Walls and structures may affect range of device.)
Design & Features:
Creative D80 has nothing much to say about its design. It is simply a portable speaker that can easily connect with your mobile phone. If we talk about the design then it offers you a simple dome shape design tilted towards the back side. You can see in the images below that shows you a bit of the actual design. Creative D80 has a very beautiful front face. The entire effect is provided on the front side only while the back consists of a power button and a connector. If we talk about connectivity solution then D80 is one of the simplest speakers we had seen yet. Compared to different portable model, this one has a bit louder voice. The entire body is in black colour which is not at all durable. It looks there is lot of empty space inside. Creative just deigned the above part to convert the internal 3 inch speakers. There are buttons on the top side that can help you to have additional benefit of changing a song or to mute the audio. The images below show the speaker design.
At the front panel there are 3 controls. The first one is Line-in jack that connects directly to the PC or to other devices. Featuring 3.5mm connectivity you can connect different devices on it instantly. There is a volume button in centre. It directly manages to reduce and increase volume from the front side. Next to that there is a Bluetooth button. Now this is done smartly. You just need to hold the button for some seconds and you can directly pair it with any Smartphone with bluetooth. Creative has kept this as simple as it can be, so that it can be used by anyone. The default password embedded for paring is 0000. Creative D80 features 3 inch speaker on the front side that are capable of giving you optimum audio quality. I will not term them as best but good enough to listen them in a closed room. D80 is just a better version of the desktop speaker. Creative has not added any battery in that so it is not possible to use it without power outlet. When I first saw the speaker I was expecting some kind of support in it. Feature wise point of view, the speaker comes in mid range. The speaker output is acceptable and it does not have any audio enhancement properties. Whatever change you have to do, you can do through the default media player and available EQ preset. While internally it has nothing to give.
Performance and Setup:
It is convenient to use Creative D80. As I had mentioned above that this speaker features a 3.5mm audio connector with Bluetooth support, so this is the two most common platforms available and you can use it easily. Bluetooth is widely available on many tablets and mobile phone. Just turn your mobile Bluetooth on and then press the button for 3 seconds on D80. It will start blinking in green light. The speaker will be detected in the mobile phone as Creative D80. You just have to select that and you are done. For confirmation that paring is over, the Bluetooth light on the speaker blinks for a while. That indicates it is connected. So there is no complication with the connectivity. It is one of the best examples for plug and play speakers. Also you can use the speaker as a default mobile speaker for taking calls. The speaker does not come with any internal power support. There is no battery provided in it. This is something that I will put in negative point, because based on the design, the speaker must accompany an internal power source. Leaving that side it works on regular power outlet and the maximum sound output is reasonable.
The sound quality is good enough to listen in closed room. The thing that this speaker lacks is good audio enhancement. Even if you are using best audio software, the speaker is not capable of receiving a good audio enhancement. The reason lies with the internal speaker driver. They are designed to give you optimum quality at mid range only. I had tried to configure a powerful bass option through media player software, but the effects were none on the speaker. It takes all the settings at minimal level. About the performance, the speaker can be used for hours. The Bluetooth is capable of streaming music at a radius of 10m which is by default configured on many wifi devices. So somehow Creative D80 lands on the list of good desktop speakers.
Audio Sharing:
Now this can be done through Bluetooth only. Creative D80 is not a new model. Creative releases the product with a motive of offering an affordable wireless solution for all. And also they added some visual effect that does not looks to be working much. But somehow the speaker is a nice platform to share an audio device among your friends. At a time Creative D80 only allows to sync single device. Just press the Bluetooth button and pair as much device as you want. It works on single settings with a common password for all devices. Once the speaker is configured you can simply enable it and share your song with your friends. This makes the speaker very convenient in usage and offers a hassle free connectivity. Creative D80 operates on optimum power. The dedicated power button, situated at the back side, allows you to turn it off when not used.
Conclusion
Creative D80 is a nice solution for smartphones, but to some extent the speaker is costly and not well compared to speaker coming in same price range. The speaker is sold around Rs.2200 online which is charged for the design only. It is a smart device. If you go for desktop speaker at that price range by adding few more bucks you can buy a 2.1 Surround sound speaker easily. At the point you can imagine to spend around Rs. 2000 for buying a stylish design. Leaving the design stuff behind if we check for a speaker in that range I had seen some models coming with amplifier and remote support. There are three different models featuring 2.1 & 5.1 audio output by Creative under a price range of Rs. 2000 to Rs. 3000. At that point it depends on you what kind of speakers you need. If you need a portable design which is easy to move from one place to another and offer you simple Bluetooth pairing option then Creative D80 lies on top of the list. And if we go with sound output wise, then there are something that pushes it at the lower end.
Leaving the Bluetooth pairing ability Creative D80 can be a costly choice for many. Creative should have added an internal power source that can give atleast 4 hours of battery power with full audio support making this device more value for money product. A higher edition of Creative D100 is also available that is Rs. 1000 more costlier. The reason is because it has internal battery. It has a 25hrs battery life internally. It features a 25hrs of battery life compared to D80.
Pros:
- Stylish Design
- Easy Connectivity
- 4 different colours
- Compatible with various portable devices.
- Optimum sound quality.
Cons:
- No battery
- Low on sound enhancement.
- High price
