Back in CES 2016, LG released a set of portable Bluetooth speakers on the market including the latest Music Flow P5 with a Special Edition (in this review) and the LG Sound 360.
Both the design and features didn’t disappoint audiophiles and mobile urban warriors alike. But will these hold on to the actual quality and speaker test? Let’s find out in our in-depth review of the LG Sound 360 and the LG P5 Special MusicFlow.
Table of Contents
Unboxing the Music Flow P5 Special and Sound 360
The less traditional looking of the two, the LG Sound 360 came in a cylindrical container that slides out from the bottom. Without much fanfare, the peculiar looking speaker sits atop its charging cable without an adapter.
The more familiarly designed P5 was neatly wrapped in faux water resistant canvas that doubles as a carrying case that also sat atop its charging cable without an adapter present.
Design and build
While easily mistaken for a glass vase, folding umbrella container or a stylish desk ornament, the Sound 360 sits vertically with vents showing at the bottom and nothing much else until you reach the control disc on top that pops up to reveal its speakers after a light press.
The less conspicuous P5, on the other hand, functions much like any Bluetooth enabled speaker clad in wood with a metallic disc in the center as a control halo. The sides are covered in aluminum grills.
LG Sound 360 audio quality and features
Though it doesn’t look like a performer, you can only imagine our shock and awe after pairing our device to the uniquely designed omni-directional speaker.
After popping the top up to reveal the speakers, the halo lights up to indicate it is ready to pair. After pairing either via NFC or manually selecting the device, the Sound 360 was ready to go.
The concept of the single channel top speaker and bass at the bottom pumps audio in 360 degrees enabling the user to place it in any point of a room and still produce the same sound. Placed it anywhere and everywhere we did and it failed to let us down. It had loud and crisp reproduction of anything we threw at it and even made Jason Mraz or Coldplay sound like they were playing live.
The controls are simple enough to understand without any fuss, aside from the standard play/pause, next, repeat and volume controls, it has an equalizer that scrolls through 3 preset modes, namely: bass boost, treble boost and power boost.
The Sound 360 has enough juice to last 20 hours of playback.
Music Flow P5 audio quality and features
The more elegant of the two, the P5 Special edition, is beautifully crafted from wood meets metal design that wanted all the attention in the world resting on our desk.
It’s hard not to appreciate craftsmanship from the smooth matte wood finish that surrounds the P5 to the metal grill that protects bi-directional speakers.
It’s even harder for us to dissuade you from getting one for yourself as the speakers reproduce music as good as your clunky and behemoth of a Hi-Fi system of old.
The sounds are clear and crisp without cracking or distortion even at full blast. The MusicFlow P5 can even last up to 15 hours per full charge.
Surround sound thru multi-point connection
The reason these two were launched together is because you can pair up to 3 of these devices to make up true surround sound by mixing and matching any variation of MusicFlow enabled Bluetooth speakers through an LG proprietary app to recognize each other.
We were provided only one of each for our review units and while one sounds good on its own, you should really hear a system of MusicFlows soundtrack your time at home while you block-off city noise.
The Sound 360 will be retailing at P8000 and the P5 Special for P5000 which means, if you’re aiming for a system, might set you back for P21,000 in total if you opt for two Sound 360s and one P5.
If you ask us, it’s worth investing in these LG portable speakers and will be far cheaper compared to getting a system of Sonos at more than double the price.
LG Sound 360 specs, release, price in the Philippines
- 360 surround sound, 1.1 channel with built-in woofer, dual passive radiator
- Tumbler-inspired design, metal body
- Multipoint connection
- Dual Play: Bluetooth 4.0 and 3.5mm audio jack
- Battery: 5200mAh, up to 20 hours playback
- Charging: 5 hours
- Colors: Black, White, Blue, Pink
- Price: P7990 ($170 USD)
LG Music Flow P5, P7 specs, release, price in the Philippines
- Dual channel / stereo
- 10 Watts (P5), 20W (P7)
- Dual Play: Bluetooth 4.0 and 3.5mm audio jack
- Multipoint: connect up to two speakers (P5), three speakers (P7)
- Battery: 2100mAh (P5), 2600mA (P7)
- Charging: 3 hours – 4 hours
- Playback: 15 hours (P5), 9 hours (P7)
- Colors: Wood finish, Leather Brown, Orange, Red, Apple Green, Black, Grey
- Price: P4,990 ($100 USD) for the Music Flow P5 and varies for the special edition, P6890 ($140 USD) for the Music Flow P7
