Phorus PS10

The Phorus PS10 has good overall sound quality. Bass has decent impact but is somewhat boomy and deep bass is lacking. Midrange is fairly even but is somewhat muffled and congested. Treble is somewhat subdued, smeared and upper treble is muted. Does a so-so job of recovering room ambience and is somewhat congested. Provides a decent volume level in a medium sized room. No significant difference between Play-Fi and wired sound quality.

Versatility is good. It's a stereo speaker, with multi-room support but lacks stereo pairing support with another Phorus PS10. Wireless: WiFi supports dual-band and this unit lacks Bluetooth. Communications: Lacks support for calling, texting and messaging. Digital Assistant Muting: Has a dedicated switch to disable the digital assistant by muting its microphones. Audio Connections: Has analog audio input and output. Audio Tailoring: Lacks any user tone controls. OS Support: Android and iOS. Other connections and features: Has a USB device port. Streaming by voice command: Supports voice command of several common streaming services such as Amazon Music, Pandora, Tune-In, and iHeart Radio. Voice ID: Lacks support to setup voice identity using this speaker, although it can use a voice print stored in a user's Amazon account trained from an Amazon speaker. This feature allows the account holder to access personal information with their "voice print".

Overall ease of use of the Phorus PS10 is very good. Wireless setup: requires Phorus - Play-Fi DTS app downloaded to a mobile device, steps are easy but not intuitive - need instructions which are included in app, involves inputting WiFi network password and requires Amazon Account login for Alexa assistant. WPS setup: Press button on unit and then WPS button on router. However, instructions don't state how long the connection should take, there is no progress indicator just a general indication that linking is taking place and connection takes up to 30 sec. Console controls: Volume controls are prominent, well labeled, with graphical indicators of volume level which are non-persistent and easily repeatable via verbal commands and easy to actuate. Audio mute: Play/pause as mute is well marked, well placed, but non-persistent indication on unit when muting is engaged and doesn't mute line in. Microphone mute: Well marked, well placed, clear indication when it is engaged. Source selections: App can switch between wireless sources but can't switch to line input source which requires physically plugging in the 3.5mm jack to activate line in port and digital assistant remains functional when line in is plugged. App remote: The volume control is well marked (slider next to a speaker symbol), and shows positional indication of level but no numeric or hash mark references, fine volume adjustments require a steady hand. Mute: This control is a bit hard to see but has mute symbol (the small speaker symbol next to the volume slider),when engaged clearly indicates that the unit is muted (with a not symbol). Voice transport controls: Natural language control of transport (Play/Pause/Skip/Mute), volume controls and source selection was easy and intuitive.