Reviews for JBL OnBeat Loudspeaker Docking Station

Seldom would I be so negative towards any product, however as this product didn't satisfy the main reason why I purchased it, I must give it a poor rating.

My carefully designed plan was to put my iPad 2 running some great clock application on my nightstand. I would be able to read the time without glasses, it's sort of a night light, and with the right application, even receive real-time weather information. During the day, I could listen to my favorite music and at night, have the clock application wake me up. Sounds like a great plan and a simple plan.... but noooooooooo. Some Product Manager trying to be overly Politically Correct thought engaging a Stand By Mode in the event your iPad doesn't generate any audio for some 10 minutes and thereby turning off the speakers would be a good idea... thinking it would save power... And to make matters worse, they decided not to go out of Stand By Mode in the event the iPad begins to speak... That means, unless you set your alarm for less than 10 minutes after you go to bed, the next morning you get to sleep in late... even if you had an important meeting to wake up for!

My comments:

1) It would have been so easy for the JBL On Beat to detect the audio and automatically take itself out of Stand By Mode. My guess is that was the original plan but the final design ended up with a flaw. The good folks at JBL surly would not have intentionally designed something with such a glaring flaw.

2) Having earned a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering for a major university, I am here to tell you the difference in power consumption between an amplifier that is engaged yet not producing any audio and this same amplifier in Stand By mode is insignificant. This is a "feel good" everything must be green feature rather than any significant savings in one's power bill.

3) To the best of my knowledge, this problem is 100% JBL and no iPad application, outside of something that makes a "keep alive" beep every 5 minutes or so, is going to correct JBL's design flaw.

4) As the iPad 2 is so thin, one needs to carefully line it up before inserting the iPad into its docking position. I would have liked to see some kind of a back-stop so I could seat the iPad as far back as this back-stop and insert. As it is now, one needs to line it up carefully... not a big deal, but again, a simple problem to fix so it's easier and quicker to mount the thin iPad 2.

5) OK... now the good news... assuming the JBL On Beat isn't in Stand By Mode, it sounds great! Perfect for a average sized room in that it fills the room with quality sound... for the price, the sound quality is more than acceptable.

I really like this, great sound, easily transportable and simple setup. Highly recommend it for the money!

Sound: If you're listening at moderate levels, this dock sounds awesome but as soon as you turn it up, the speakers distort pretty bad. It was only 3/4 of the way on the volume and most rock songs sounded pretty muddy.

Design: Looks great but is NOT functional for Ipads. Don't be fooled... you can't swivel the ipad. It locks in place when you clip on the ipad brace which is crazy flimsy and cheap. Also, if you're using an ipad 2, the bracket is absolutely useless (doesn't even make contact with the ipad2). Which begs the question, why does anyone need to swivel their ipod or iphone on the dock?

Remote: Well, this was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. The remote works great... if you're standing 5 feet from the dock. Any farther back and it won't work.

Summary: If you just want a good looking dock to play at moderate levels at home, this is a good purchase. If you want to turn up the volume and listen to anything with rock distortion, I'd keep looking. I wasn't very satisfied after paying $150.

Okay for the good things, firstly, the design is really captivating making it beautiful to be placed at practically anywhere. Secondly, the dock works great for my iPhone 4 and iPad 2. Thirdly, the dock is reasonably priced counting in the fact that it works for iPods, iPhones, and iPads.

However what makes me give it a 4 out of 5 instead of a perfect score is its sound quality on high volumes. Although it sounded great on low and mid volumes, I expected more of its loud volume as I'm used to hearing 1200W stereos blasting on full in my car.

Overall though, it's a great product with wonderful sounds for regular listeners and marvelous design, but as for listeners like me, I'd give it a 4 out of 5...

This is a response to Mr John M from Alpharetta. You rated the product with a measly 1 star. Why? Just because it did not meet the your expectations of making it an alarm clock? Come on man. That's imbecility. This is a speaker/dock/charging station. It did not say anything about it being an alarm clock by night and a speaker by day. If there's a problem then it's your needs. You did not justify the other obvious good things of this product. At $150, It's more than just a bargain. You get a well balanced sound. Noticeable bass but not as crisp as the more expensive one's on the market. So people who judge this product low because of bass should have auditioned the product first on the store before buying it. The bass on this baby is above average than the other similar products on the market. If you want some thump on your speakers, then shell out more dollars as what you're looking for are the much more expensive speakers. What you get on this speaker is flexibility. You can connect it to your MAC, Charge your phone, view/watch videos and pics on a landscape mode. Heck you can even watch videos on your TV using a video cable. So I don't see any reason why it only merited 1 star to some. It's an ultimate bang for the buck.

I wish more sound equipment was made with as much care as this gem. I spent some time looking for the perfect dock for my iPad and I finally decided on this one. It is extremely durable and solid, the sound quality rivals other top brands, and the price is fair.

I compared this speaker set with a few others and this one seemed to give the best kick for the price. I decided to buy it and I am glad I did. It has a nice modern look and seems well built like it is going to last a long time. Now my brother wants one for Christmas.

Bought this speaker set for my daughter's 18th birthday and it was a great success as a gift. She told me later that it was "the best gift" she had received! Great gift for anyone who likes music... basically everyone.

so far so good - but man, the price is ridiculous for not having blu-tooth or airplay! I am also surprised that they didn't include the more portable option of batteries as this would be an awesome beach speaker unit! I have only been using it for 30min but the sound is great (bass a little heavy - can probably adjust through iPod settings), but I do have one major complaint. My complaint is with the remote - it does not work 15 ft away! At best it's less than 1ft away and it has to be pointed at the bottom of the unit for anything to work. I might as well just stretch my arm a little further and change the song on my docked iPod Touch. Fix the price, the remote and make it more portable and I'd be sold for life JBL! :)