Works as advertised, looks cool, well made, not for audiophiles
Written: Aug 09 '09 (Updated Aug 11 '09)
Product Rating:
Pros: Increases volume up to 12dB with no electricity, also works as a dock. Well constructed.
Cons: Sound quality is tinny, synch/charge docking can be a hassle, better separate products out there.
The Bottom Line: Few products claim to amplify your iPhone without power, and serve as a docking station - and in style. If that's all you want, you can't beat the price.
magnusmx's Full Review: AirCurve Acoustic Amplifier
Main advertising claim on the box: The AirCurve by Griffin technology claims to amplify the sound of your iPhone without speakers and do so without power.
Test result: (all tests with the iPhone 3G v.3.01 firmware) It clearly does amplify the sound of your iphone and without any power! In fact I measured the sound coming out with a decibel meter and the increase ranged from 10 dB to 12 dB using my iPhone 3G. Better than the advertised 10 dB!
The Bad: It amplifies the sound of your iPhone, which sounds tinny to begin with and as a result sounds even worse at higher volume. At high volume the sound tends to exaggerate the higher frequencies, and introduce some distortion - this has nothing to do with the dock, but is the result of what really comes out of the little speaker on the iPhone.
Other bonus claim: Insert dock cable to use as a charger/synch dock. Test result: Yes, you can insert your original newer version cable to charge it and also use as a synch dock.
The Bad: What they don't tell you is that it takes some fidgeting to do so regularly. I need to use two hands, one to hold the iphone and the other to pull the cable out a bit to plug it into the iphone before placing it on the dock. To remove it usually requires two hands as well because you have to unlock your cable plug.
Furthermore, if you are using a third-party or larger head iPod/iPhone cable you cannot fit the head through without unscrewing the hex screws and putting it back together after. You must use your slim/smaller head iPhone usb cable.
Still, chances are if you have access to power (to dock and charge, etc), you might as well have bought a powered dock to begin with. Style: It just looks cool. Its constructed of what appears to be high quality acrylic/plastic held together by 4 metal screws complete with rubber feet pads. Its mostly clear, looks and feels very well made. I'm very confident that if I were to step on this dock with all 160 lbs of my weight, there'd be no problems whatsoever. Great for: Conserving battery power, while maintaining comfortable listening volume from your iPhone for podcasts. If you don't mind AM radio like quality (but with higher frequencies) for your music, you might also try it out too.
Using your iPhone as an alarm clock. The amplification of the mono speaker, and the dock interface ensure that you will have a somewhat directional sound which you can point right to your ears from your bed-stand.
Workspace cubicles where there are no power sockets conveniently available to plug in a set of speakers (or they are not allowed), and you just want to be able to listen to low volume music, talk radio, or podcasts but want to conserve your battery life. Not for: People who are looking for hifi sound quality.
People who want easily pocketable sound amplification. Its too big to fit in my jeans. I will fit in a purse just fine though. Comparison:
To cheap portable unpowered speakers: I compared this dock to a generic plug in passive speaker designed for portable players which sold at a local electronics store for half the retail price of this dock. The sound quality was similar to this dock at low levels, with slightly higher sound quality at the mid to upper volume levels. But sound was distorted at highest volume setting. This is much more compact and can be used with other mp3 players. To any set of actively powered speakers: Any set of speakers that I found starting at $4.99 and above are capable of more amplification, and overall better sound quality at some point in the volume range.
Enjoy clear audio from your Apple iPhone with this speaker designed to acoustically amplify iPhone audio with no need for additional cables or power.More at Best Buy ®
Acoustically amplifies your iPhone Custom-engineered waveguide requires no power Allows syncing/charging using your dock cable Great for nightstand or...More at Amazon
AirCurve looks like a simple, elegantly minimal stand for your iPhone. But inside is a coiled waveguide horn that collects the sound from the built-in...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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