Sound quality: Vizio's Crave 360 (SP50-D5) had good sound quality overall. Bass has good impact but is a bit boomy and lacks deep bass. Midrange is a bit metallic and hazy. Treble is smeared, sizzly, "papery" sounding and a bit prominent. Does a so-so job of recovering room ambience and is congested, lacks fine detail. Wifi, Bluetooth and USB sound quality are similar. Provides a decent volume level in a medium sized room - may distort and congest some program material at higher volume levels.
Ease of use: We found the Vizio Crave 360 to be fair overall. Connecting to a Wi-Fi network requires an app downloaded to a device, easy but not intuitive - need instructions, involves selecting Vizio's generated wifi then entering home network password. The Vizio app at time of testing glitched several times and was unable to play content initially. Bluetooth: Bluetooth pairing can be initiated during the wifi setup via NFC however if this was not possible it requires the Vizio app Bluetooth pairing function then the selection of unit from Bluetooth selection list on source device; unit provides an obvious indication that the unit is in pairing mode as well as when pairing has actually occurred. The volume controls is a large, prominently placed, rotating dial, it is unlabeled and lacking any graphical or index markings of volume level and lacks audible or visual indication when max volume is reached. Mute control: is unlabeled touch function (Play/Pause) with no indication that it is currently engaged. Switching sources: Requires app installation, wifi (casting) takes priority over Bluetooth and USB sources but selecting USB in app auto plays content but doesn't allow viewing or selecting USB content or transport controls of content, and Bluetooth selection begins the Bluetooth pairing process but the Vizio app also lacks viewing of local content within the Vizio app. Ambiguous. Remote app: Vizio SmartCast app - There is a direct volume control in app. The volume slider lacks numerical or index markings but clearly indicates position - non persistent disappearing after actuation. However, at time of testing the Vizio app was unable to access the stored internal music content of device where app was installed. A third party app such as "BubbleUPnP" was needed to gain this access to cast local content to the speaker. In addition, in order to group speakers or setup multi-room speakers installing Google Chromecast app is a must.
