Solememo Myvision N16 Review

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Take a look around online, and you’ll find tons of low-cost Bluetooth speakers, but almost nothing when it comes to concrete details. While there are certainly details to be had, it’s also fairly easy to get burned, especially with brands you haven’t heard of before. Even so, it’s difficult to resist the temptation when prices fall below a certain point.

With this in mind, you might be a bit suspicious the first time you see the Solememo Myvision N16 speaker. It seems to offer a lot of functionality, but the price is under $20. That can’t be right. Or can it?

What’s In The Box?

The box that holds this speaker is only slightly larger than the speaker itself. As you open the box, the very first thing you’ll see is the Solememo Myvision N16 speaker, wrapped in a plastic bag. Everything else is tucked away in a cardboard compartment on the side. This includes the USB cable, a 3.5 mm audio cable, and a very small manual.

Build & Design

The Solememo Myvision N16 Bluetooth speaker comes in a variety of different colors. The model we looked at for the review came in red, though it is also available in black, blue, pink and white. No matter which color you pick, the design is of the two-tone variety, with the color you choose providing the highlights while the rest of the speaker is finished in black.

The grille has an interesting design, consisting of several raised triangular areas. It isn’t clear whether this is intended to affect the sound at all or if it is solely meant for aesthetics, but it is certainly nice looking. The speaker is built out of plastic, but it does feel fairly tough, and it has rubber feet on the bottom to help keep it in place on whatever surface you place it on.

Portability is a big plus with the Myvision N16. It weighs less than a pound and is only seven inches wide, so tossing this in a backpack or even purse to carry around with you will be no problem.

Connectivity

Bluetooth pairing was fairly easy with the Myvision N16. Though the speaker doesn’t have NFC pairing, it automatically starts enters pairing mode the first time you turn it on, so it’s a simple matter of pairing with the device of your choice. Bluetooth range is advertised as 10 meters, and I found that at this range, stuttering wasn’t constant but did occur. Moving a little closer to the speaker eliminated this problem.

If you don’t want to or can’t use Bluetooth, there are a few other methods of playing music with this speaker. The first and easiest way is simply to plug in the device you’re using via the 3.5 mm audio jack and included cable, but if you don’t want to use a separate device at all, you can also use the included TF (microSD) card slot. This isn’t as full-featured when used in this mode as other speakers we’ve tried, though it does get the job done.

The Myvision N16 has a novel touch panel on top instead of the standard buttons. While this certainly looks nice, especially when it lights up blue, the lack of tactile feedback means that it’s fairly easy to accidentally press the buttons without being aware of it. The buttons themselves can be a little weird. Though the buttons on the left and right are labeled as volume buttons, when playing back audio through my Moto X, these instead worked as skip forward / backward buttons. I also accidentally placed a call when I unknowingly tapped the call button.

Battery

This speaker has a 1,500 mAh battery, and Solememo advertises battery life for the Myvision N16 as five to six hours, but during testing, I found I got closer to four. Granted, I was testing the speaker which is more battery-intensive than most use cases, and the stated figure could be based on listening at lower volume.

Depending on what type of charger you’re using, charge time can be anywhere from two to three hours. We’ve heard reports of the speaker taking up to six hours to charge, but it’s possible that this was charging the speaker via a computer USB port instead of a dedicated AC charger.

Sound Quality

In testing the sound quality of the Myvision N16, I briefly tried both the 3.5 mm audio jack and the microSD slot to make sure they worked, but the main use case for these speakers is Bluetooth, so that’s how I did the majority of my testing. I played a wide variety of music as well as an audiobook and various podcasts while testing.

Lows

With speakers of this size, we don’t expect much when it comes to bass, so we weren’t disappointed, but we weren’t surprised. Unlike some speakers which try to make up for a lack of low end by boosting lower mids, with this speaker, bass frequencies just disappear below a certain point.

Mids

Midrange often provides the bulk of the volume in these speakers and that’s definitely the case here. The mids aren’t bad, but they’re a little boxy and tend towards harshness in the upper mids.

Highs

Highs are somewhat rolled off beyond a certain point, leading to cymbals and hi-hats occasionally disappearing, but once you’re below the roll-off threshold, things get a little better.

While the Myvision N16 boasts dual trumpets for stereo sound, this essentially disappears once you’re more than a few feet away from the speaker. Overall, the sound quality here isn’t spectacular, but at this price, we weren’t expecting to be blown away.

Conclusion

All things considered, the Solememo Myvision N16 is far from perfect, but you know what? At a price of $19.99, we’re willing to forgive a lot of its faults. If you want to spend more money, there are definitely better speakers out there, but if you’re looking for a super low-cost speaker to throw in your backpack to take to the park, this is a fine option, just don’t forget to charge it up the night before.

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