Philips DS7650/37 Fidelio Docking Speaker

• wOOx technology for rich yet precise bass without distortion
• Elegant, slim and compact design to fit into any briefcase
• Crushproof and shockproof for safe transit
• Dock any iPod/iPhone, even in its case
• AUX-in for easy connection to almost any electronic device

The Philips DS7650/37 Fidelio docking speaker works with an iPod or an iPhone, and even though it's not meant to be used that way (I guess they're too heavy for the device), you can plug an iPad into it too. We tried, and it works just fine. It produces amazing sound for such a small device.

This is my second portable Philips iPod speaker. While I loved the first one I had--the Philips Fidelio SBD7500 Portable Speaker Dock for iPod/iPhone (Black)--for its equally excellent sound quality in an elegantly designed compact package, I did have a few minor issues with it in the long run. The small piece of plastic that works as a stand on that other speaker wasn't the most stable thing, and after a while the power cord started to wobble in the place where it connected to the device, so it wouldn't always power the device correctly. This meant that it would sometimes run off of the batteries, which weren't rechargeable. I found it best to just remove the batteries, so I could be sure they weren't needlessly getting drained.

The Philips DS7650 Fidelio docking speaker has none of those issues.

It continues to deliver excellent sound in a small package, but this time the front cover opens and folds over to provide a very sturdy stand--and it's a protective cover too! The stand also locks the power cord into place, so there's little chance it will wobble. And the internal battery is rechargeable, so you never have to pay for batteries. There are only two buttons on top, instead of three, and they seem to be larger, which is a plus. I also like that they're red, which makes them easier to find.

There are visual instructions, which couldn't be easier to figure out. Plug your device in the first time, and the software will automatically load onto it. Although you can use that software for a variety of things, it's unobtrusive, so you don't have to look at it again if you don't want to. If you're like me, you'd rather use other apps to listen to music and so on.

This speaker is a little heavier than the other one I own, but I think that's probably necessary to make it sturdy enough to safely take it with you.

I just love this iPod speaker. It provides amazingly good sound for something so small.

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I will begin this review by saying I am comparing this unit to the Philips Fidelio DS7550 Rechargeable Portable Docking Speaker for iPod/iPhone that I used prior to this one. The pros to the newer model you are looking at here are that it has a built-in cover, sleek black design, and smaller width than the DS57550. It also has a rotating plug-in/adapter that will fit any of your home outlets with other things plugged in. The downside is I don't find the sound quality to be quite as clear. It isn't overly muffled, but I sense a slight murmur-ish additive to the sound it produces compared to my first unit. On the whole it is more useful for its ability to be covered and safe from external dirt and dust.

Update: 7/2012. After having this speaker for 5 months it stopped working. Just quit. It would still charge and indicated it was on. Called customer service and they walked me through trouble shooting but the dock was not producing sound. They sent out a replacement immediately and were very apologetic, but I will have to go from 4 stars to 3 stars due to the short life span of this product. Hopefully the next one will last longer. I don't play it loud, I didn't drop it... it just stopped working.

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Simply stylish speaker that's compact enough to fit discreetly on the entertainment center but still have good sound. I like that it charges up the iPod, which some of the other speakers I looked at didn't offer. Without the charging feature, the iPod would be dead every time I'd try to use it, thus greatly disappointing small children :(

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When I saw the Philips DS7650/37 Fidelio Docking Speaker being offered via Amazon Vine for review, I decided I had the perfect test subject for it... my iPhone-addicted son. He's always listening to music or books, so I set it up in his room to see how it would pass judgement in his eyes. All in all, it did.

Design-wise, it's very well done. The flip-up clamshell design is very stable, and the phone easily hooks into the docking slot. In a closed state, it's narrow enough that I could easily see this going on in the travel bag for trips. The sound was richer than I expected from something of this size. He thought it was a little lacking there, but then again, he's possibly judging it against his full-sized computer speaker setup, which this isn't.

The speaker comes with a battery and a power cord, so you can charge up the speaker and take it around with you. That hasn't happened too much here, as he prefers to just leave it on his nightstand. There's an iPhone app that comes along this this speaker, so you can play internet radio and run some controls through it. Again, nice idea, but not something that came in to play too much in our actual day-to-day usage.

The Philips docking speaker is a good choice for this type of external iPhone speaker arrangement. It's a bit towards the higher side of the price range, but not enough to cause you to wonder if you had completely overpaid for it.

Disclosure:

Obtained From: Amazon Vine Review Program

Payment: Free

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We had an older Philips docking speaker that we enjoyed but had issues with the stand broke off after only a month. It didn't hold a charge as well as we would have liked, and after a while the ipod started falling forward.

I held off reviewing this for a while to make sure that none of the same problems occurring with this version. The look of this portable speaker is far sleeker and much more attractive. I love the look of the speaker, it's slimmer than our previous one. The stand is far sturdier and has yet to break after several months of use. Also the cover on the speaker has kept it cleaner than our other one.

The sound is fantastic for such a small speaker and it works well with both our I-pods and I-phones we don't have an I-pad to try it with but it appears that at least the smaller I-Pads would work fine.

For the price and the size the sound and durability are all I could ask for. This has been used to listen to music in the garage, back yard, shower and has been taken to work for listening to audiobooks.