Customer Reviews and Ratings

The latest firmware (v2.4.36) fixes issues recognising devices and removes the annoying flashing LED.

The sound is *outstanding* and the usability is what you'd expect from anything bought at the Apple Store.

4 of 4 people found this useful

The power and quality of sound means I am selling my hi fi, of all the systems I've owned this is the best possible sound, I am amazed, worth every penny and lots more!!! Thank you B&W.

2 of 3 people found this useful

The actual device is amazing - stylish and fab tunes. BUT it is NOT compatible with the new iPod Touch 4th generation so we had to return it. Come on B&W sort yourself out.

20 of 38 people found this useful

This speaker dock is fantastic. It works well with the Ipod touches and the iphone 3gs we have in the house. Don't use it with anything other than the latest generations of Classic though, it doesnot work with the old 30gb Video model we have. If you are going to use it to sync the Ipod it will only work with cables below 2m in my experience, otherwise perfect.

The sound quality is out of this world. We have small rooms in our house, so the full sized Zeppelin was too big, but to be honest the quality from this unit is not any different. Now my teenage daughter tells me to turn it down! Great at all volume levels with no distortion. Also use it with my Mac as a set of USB speakers which is great for Itunes etc.

31 of 33 people found this useful

We've had 2 of these in quick succession and they have now been returned as both consistently (on a daily basis) suddenly stopped mid-song, then when I went to find out what the problem was the iphone had re-set and the white apple logo had come up.

The sound was wonderful, it looks great, but I'm not after something that suddenly cuts out mid-album. Cannot find any forums where this has been noted previously, but please be warned. Lets hope a future software update puts this right.

16 of 41 people found this useful

Having read the reviews, I bought one of these from the Apple Store, having heard its big brother & the Bose SoundDock. At home I usually use a universal dock connected to Cambridge Audio & Monitor Audio gear (i.e. somewhat mid-fi if you're a hi-fi enthusiast) but also have a Klipsch iGroove original (which my iPhone 3GS doesn't quite fit). Hopefully that's calibrated the rest of this for you... Music-wise, we're talking a lot of MOTR/acoustic stuff and some classical.

The little B&W is very small and well made. Sonically, the Zep mini is okay -
it does achieve some qualities which defy its diminutive size, creating a beguiling soundstage (but no real stereo separation) in the mid and upper frequencies. Against the Klipsch it's far more involving and accurate - instruments and vocal detail are more clearly discernable. Bass is well controlled and goes deeper than the rear-ported Klipsch but is not well integrated with the mids and highs. It's worth noting that B&W plan to issue a firmware upgrade in Q1 2010 which will include bass management. But in the meantime, it sounds fine on the floor in a large room given some welly but you'll find it sounding thin and hard in a small room.

It's quite tiring to listen to, sounding a little hard against the Klip/Bose sound of warmth and bass mud which, given that none of them approaches hi-fi sound, is a more relaxed listen. However it's not tiring to look at - that concave top reflects the colours of its surroundings in a pleasant change from the usual form factor.

I've compared this against the Klipsch for hours and decided that, whilst it is undoubtedly better, it's not £299.95's worth of better audio. So it went back to Apple (who gave excellent service and no hesitation in reimbursing me).

If I didn't own the Klipsch (and a compatible iPod) then I would probably have kept the little B&W for its reasonable sound and convenience. If I didn't have a dock on my 'hi'-fi then I probably would have bought the Zeppelin for an additional £91 to have good sound at the expense of convenience.

All subjective, I know, but I hope this helps.

29 of 40 people found this useful

After hearing this at a friends house, i have to say i was disappointed. The system lacks the punchier bass of its larger brother which is expected, looks far less attractive, which I also expected but surprisingly for the price, did not match the Bose SoundDock Portable nor the SoundDock II. Personally I opted for the portable, which not only sounds better but is also far more flexible! Rather then buying several systems to use across the home, I invested that extra £50 and went for one GREAT dock which i can take with me ANYWHERE!

Overall a good sounding dock from B&W, but not a touch on the Bose Sounddock II for performance or the Bose Sounddock Portable for sound and value for money!

6 of 20 people found this useful

Worth the amount paid - In terms of sound it is clean and crisp, more of a natural sound compared to bose soundocks. However, if you bump the volume up high the zepplin mini tends to struggle as regards the base, but the base is good generally just not at the highest volume. It has a modern sleek design, you can plug both your iPod and you computer in and switch from one to the other for different tracks. More than you will ever need from an iPod sound system. Better in smaller rooms e.g. bedroom, study. Sometimes it is a bit slow processing the tracks and can lack in responsiveness e.g. you click off on the sound system and it does not work then you click the button off on the remote and it turns off finally. It benefits entirely if the bit rate of each song or the quality of the song is high as this particular sound system thrives off good quality sound tracks - you will definately hear the difference. Not only this but it charges your iPod whilst it is in. It will fit any iPod in but it is best for the iPhone's and iTouch's all generations as it comes with the attatchments so that it does not damage the socket at the bottom. Overall fantastic aesthetics, great sound quality - This is a great price given the technology crammed into this sound system - astonishing.

8 of 10 people found this useful

If you want your product within a few days, choose this, great sound. If you want to wait a few weeks order a Bose! Personally, i have both & Bowers wins ever time....

11 of 19 people found this useful

Having scoped this system out online prior to launch, I couldn't wait to see it in the Apple Store and audition it as best as you can in that environment. At first I was a little disappointed listening to the in store iPod Touch, with there being a lack of warmth and clarity.

Docking my own iPhone and loading up a high quality MP3 encode, the sound improved considerably and after ten minutes of listening, we were convinced enough to purchase.

Having listened for a couple of hours with a range of tunes, I am absolutely delighted with the Mini. It is not as big or full a sound as the Zeppelin, but it is a big and full sound. They are different systems though, (the Mini is half the size) and to fill a studio flat or bedroom with quality rounded sound, these are the bomb.

Bought to replace a Bose Soundock which died after two and a half years of constant use, these outperform it. And I do not buy in to the wholesale criticism the Soundock has attracted of late, I always liked it as a system. The B&W sound is more natural, and cleaner in my opinion.

Two factors are crucial for me though - eq should be set to flat on the iPod for best results, and at least 192 kbps encodes are required for a decent sound. But I think that is a compliment to the B&W system - it is so good it shows up deficiencies in sound - remarkable for a system this size.

All in all, great value for money (even though it is not cheap) - fabulous styling and build quality, and most importantly, fabulous sound.

134 of 140 people found this useful