Sound quality: Jawbone's Big Jambox had good overall sound quality. Bass has decent impact and definition, but deep bass is lacking. Midrange is somewhat thin and a bit grainy, and treble is somewhat sizzly, lower and upper treble are fairly even, but upper treble is lacking. This model does a so-so job of recovering room ambience--the sense of an acoustic space, such as the hall or room in which a recording was made--and upper midrange and lower treble sound constricted and lacks fine detail. The "Live Audio" feature does have a noticeable effect, reducing the overall volume level and making the sound more diffuse and echoey. When using a wired connection, it sounds similar to when the device is connected via Bluetooth, but it has slightly less treble and slightly more bass. This model can provide a decent volume level in a small to medium-sized room.
Ease of use: The system's ease of use was good overall. While Bluetooth pairing was easy, the Big Jambox uses controls that either are not labeled or have low contrast labels. The speaker will emit tone alerts for various functions, such as Bluetooth pairing. The sound level of the alerts isn't particularly loud, but they can't be turned off or adjusted, so they may be annoying to some users. This model doesn't come with a remote control, which isn't an issue if you're nearby or using it a with portable Bluetooth device that can act as a remote. It could be inconvenient in other situations.
