Tibo Sphere 4 portable networked speaker review
Tibo Sphere 4 multiroom speaker
£199Pros
- Clean, stylish design
- Handy presets
- Option to go totally wireless
- Decent sound quality
- Multiroom skills
Cons
- Bit heavy
We recently took the Tibo Kameleon Touch for a spin. Now we take a closer look at one of Tibo’s portable offerings, the Sphere 4.
Tibo has quite a range of speakers that can be hooked up via your home network in order to give you multiroom possibilities.
We did like the compact Kameleon Touch that also offers Alexa integration. Now, the Sphere 4 is slightly different as it can be powered from its own internal battery.
As signified by its rather stylish carrying handle, the Sphere 4 is built to move. Did it move us though?
Tibo Sphere 4 design
Let’s start off with the obvious, the Sphere 4 isn’t spherical. It is a 3.2kg rectangular box. It measures 150mm x 275mm x 180mm, so is small enough to be portable and taken out to the garden.
The front features a centrally positioned 114mm rear-ported driver and offset 19mm tweeters. Together, these kick out 50watts RMS.
Around the left tweeter are 5 buttons for your presets. These can be internet radio stations, streaming services or playlists.
On the other side are your playback controls, as well as pairing and multiroom buttons.
Around the rear of the Sphere 4 is an Ethernet port, a USB port to charge a device, 3.5mm line-in, WPS button and your power in.
Finally, up top, is a carry handle and the speaker sits at a slightly raked angle thanks to a pair of wedge-shaped non-slip feet.
All-in-all, a rather neat looking device, in my opinion.
Tibo Sphere 4 performance
Playback through the Sphere 4 is full and entertaining. Mids and highs are really clear and defined and there is plenty enough bass.
As this is mainly coming through the centre speaker, you’re not going to get an amazing soundstage. However, add another Tibo multiroom speaker, then you can use the app to nominate left and right sides.
I went through the app in the other review but here’s a recap – or reapp, if you will.
Tibo app
The Tibo app walks you through from connecting your speaker to your 2.4G WiFi band, to playing music from your favourite streaming services. Additionally, it allows you to control the multiroom speaker selections.
If you happen to own more than one Tibo speaker, things get really interesting. Firstly, you can control the music being played from one speaker and send it through to be played on another speaker in another room. So, like Sonos, more-or-less. Secondly, bring two speakers in to one room and, with a little tap on the app, you can make them in to a stereo pair. This then gives you that wider soundstage you generally only get with a Hi-Fi set-up. Neat, huh?
Finally, you can add up to 16 speakers to one network. That is pretty awesome, you have to agree.
Sound quality
As well as the aforementioned audio characteristics, you also get plenty of power. This single speaker will fill an average sized room without any bother. It is also loud enough to annoy neighbours should you take it out in to the garden; which you can.
The bass does give plenty of punch but, on some occasions, the Sphere 4 did seem to lack a little warmth and richness. However, I am willing to overlook that as it does a sterling job for a speaker this size.
Additional points
Not only do you get a powerful-room filling sound from this speaker, you also get up to eight hours of listening time if you use it on the go. Granted, it’s not the smallest nor lightest speaker, but it is portable.
It is compact enough to move from room to room or, when the weather actually gets the memo that it is Spring, take in to the garden. This is where the speaker becomes totally wireless.
Untethering it from the power cable, unplugging the Ethernet cable and switching it to either WiFi or Bluetooth, now it’s truly mobile.
Tibo Sphere 4 review conclusion
There is much to like about the Sphere 4. Firstly, I like the clean contemporary design. I also like the 5 preset buttons. I like the clear Tibo app and how easy it is to add speakers in to groups or set them as stereo pairs. Additionally, there’s the 8 hours of wireless playback.
It is also handy that up to 16 different Tibo smart speakers can be connected together to create one huge multi-room system.
Having the choice to connect the speaker either via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth is great. The added bonus of an auxiliary port is also neat – as is having an Ethernet port.
Finally, when the speaker is being used on the go, it can charge your smartphone or other devices from the USB port on the back. What’s not to like about that?
However, it’s not perfect. It is a little on the weighty side, although this does make it feel like a quality product. There is also that lack of richness and warmth. But, on balance, the Tibo Sphere 4 does so many things well, it is hard to knock.
If you are looking to build a multiroom speaker network, Tibo definitely has lots going for it.
Price and availability
You can buy a Tibo Sphere 4 right now direct from their website for £249 or Amazon for £199. Although, you can grab the black version for £161.
They are available in black, red, white, green and orange.
