Review: Sugr Cube – iOS/OS X compatible AirPlay Speaker

When it comes to portable Bluetooth speakers, I think it’s safe to say that today’s market is oversaturated. Interestingly enough, if you search for a Bluetooth speaker on Amazon, you will get about 37,500 hits. Most of these devices are very affordable, but you shouldn’t expect high-end design or high audio quality for a low price. However, if you are willing to pay a bit more, you might be surprised by what you can find.

 

In order for a product to differentiate itself from thousands of other similar products, it needs to have something unique. It needs to be nicely designed as well as to offer great audio quality, but it also needs to go one step further. This is exactly what the Sugr Cube, a speaker we are about to review, has done. It offers gesture-based controls and is AirPlay-supported, so you can use it with your iOS device as well as with your Mac. Continue reading to learn more.

 

 

Even though it looks simple and is quite small, this is a premium product. You will realize this once you see its beautiful packaging. First impressions on seeing and opening the black cardboard box are of something stylish, but also very basic. The Sugr Cube is basically a chunk of wood. It is available in Cherry and Maple, both of which look excellent. What I especially liked is a very smooth matte varnish, which is almost silky to the touch. A Nietzsche quote under the lid forms the finishing touch by saying: “Nothing Is Worth Living for Without Music”, and I couldn’t agree more.

 

 

Even though its name implies so, the Sugr Cube is not actually a cube. At a little over four inches in each dimension, it is somewhat deeper than the height and width. The backside is where you can see a single visible control knob, which can be used as a combined volume and on/off switch. A small green LED serves as a combined power and volume position indicator. Needless to say, the design is very simplistic and I find it to be very attractive.

 

 

Setting up the speaker is quite simple and effortless. You will need to download the speaker’s official app to your iOS device, and initiate pairing. The app will ask for your Wi-Fi password, and after tapping on the “Connect” button you’ll be ready to go. After that, just open the Music app and connect to it as an AirPlay device.

 

 

Before digging any deeper into the audio quality, it is important to highlight some of the most interesting features of this tiny AirPlay speaker. The most notable feature is that the iOS app controlling the speaker offers a range of music services. These are Cube Music (which imports from iTunes into its own 4GB of storage), Pandora Radio, Spotify, SoundCloud, iHeart Radio, Shazam, TuneIn, Google Play Music, and several other. There’s also the app’s own radio functionality with a small list of a well-selected range of radio stations, as well as a so-called Relax Radio, offering a choice of natural sounds designed to be relaxing.

 

 

 

Speaking of the audio quality, for a speaker of this small size, the sound quality is impressive. Obviously, you shouldn’t expect to get fantastic bass out of anything this small, but it’s still striking. In portable speaker ratings, this is one of the best I’ve tried, but you need to have realistic expectations. A speaker of this size could never compete with any Hi-Fi system.
What also needs to be noted is how loud it can be. The Sugr Cube pumps out 90dB at one meter, which I believe is an achievement.

 

 

On the other hand, I was surprised to discover some minor performance issues. The speaker dropped of AirPlay a couple of times, which lasted for only a couple of seconds. This resulted in paused or skipped music tracks. I cannot say that the problem is on this device since even some much more expensive speakers are facing the same AirPlay-related issues. This is something that many audiophiles are aware of and even Apple said at one point that it’s working on “streamlining” this technology in order to improve its performance.

 

 

What is unique about the Sugr Cube are the gesture controls. To skip a song, just tilt the Cube left or right about 45 degrees. To play and pause, you need to tap the top surface.

 

The controls work great, and even though this won’t bring a revolution to how we enjoy music, I liked this gimmick. I am not even sure if saying that this feature is a gimmick would be correct. In case you like to place your wireless speaker on your desk while listening to music, I am sure you will use the gesture controls instead of taking your phone and controlling the music.

 

 

The Sugr Cube is promising to bring up to 24 hours of battery life, which I knew I had to test out. However, what is important to be said is that majority of AirPlay speakers aren’t actually designed to be “camping-ready” equipment since most of them are designed to be moved only from one room to another.

 

However, there are times when you need to rely on the speaker’s battery life. The Sugr Cube packs a 6,000mAh battery inside, which should provide up to those promised 24 hours of use. I am happy to say that the promise turned out to be correct.

 

 

At $229, the Sugr Cube is definitely on the premium end. However, it does offer a lot for its price: the great design, decent sound, and a 24-hour battery life. With all of this said, I think it’s reasonable value for the money, which is why I recommend this product.