Archeer A320 2.1 Portable Bluetooth Speaker Review

Everywhere you look people are bringing their music with them. And so the audiophile market follows the trend of portability with the ever increasing pressure for higher fidelity sound and longer battery life. Audio company Archeer has taken it one step further and introduced a portable speaker product that pleases the eyes as well as the ears. 

I received an email from Archeer to see if I would review their A320 2.1 Channel compact wireless home stereo system.  I have to be honest, without knowledge of the Archeer product line I wasn’t sure what to expect. I decided to do a blind test and just base my review without product knowledge, company history, or price point; just the company name and model number.

A few days later an Amazon box arrived at my door.  Inside the shipping box was the Archeer box with the A320 nestled inside.  While unpacking the box the first thing that struck me was the sheer beauty of the bamboo covering of the speaker.  The soft and warm look of wood is evident throughout my house so the A320 would be a perfect fit for any room in my home.

As I unpacked the rest of the box I found the AUX cord, carrying bag, and USB cord.  I thought Archeer had forgotten the power cord until I read the quick start guide and realized the A320 is actually a portable speaker system.

Build Quality

Looking over the unit, I liked the clean design of the inputs and controls. I could have done without the feel of the fabric wrapping, but that is a matter of personal preference over actual problems with the speaker.  Since it is in fact a portable device there is some concern that over time the material may wear.  I suppose only will tell but the soft dark gray, not quite black, textured material transitions nicely to the bamboo wood in the front and back of the unit.  The material does an adequate job of holding the speaker in place even during higher volumes.  Some consumers might opt for small rubber stick on feet attached to the bottom of the speaker to help decrease wear and tear on the fabric which the speaker rests on.  They will also serve to decouple the cabinet from the surface to reduce resonance.  I think it will be a good addition, and if I decide to keep this little gem, I’ll probably add them myself.

The A320 is equipped with two 5 watt fullrange drivers and a 15 watt subwoofer.  Impressive for a portable speaker, but a subjective listening test will tell if the look of the speaker will match the output. The fully exposed drivers and sub surfaces might cause some sphincter contractions for people with young toddlers and curious fingers.  Not an issue in my house, but worth mentioning.

On the back is the AUX port, DC in via micro USB to standard USB, charge light, and reset button. In addition, near the bottom of the back of the unit is the bass port. On the top of the unit are easy to understand universal symbols for power, play/pause, and volume up and down. In the middle of these buttons is a small led light that will show different functions of the speaker.

Archeer A320 Portable Bluetooth Speaker Set Up

The quick start instructions indicated to simply press the power button for 5 seconds, open up the Bluetooth menu on your phone or tablet, and pair the speaker system. The flashing green light on the top of the speaker indicates that the unit is ready to be paired with your phone, the blue light indicates that the unit is in standby mode.  My phone easily paired up with the system and I was ready to go.  With all the new technologies coming out for pairing and sharing your music all over your house, there is still something to be said for the ease and convenience of Bluetooth.

While reviewing portable speaker systems it’s always nice to have them come in fully charged and the A320 worked right out of the box. Archeer says in its quick start guide that the unit needs to be recharged when the volume levels diminish to less than normal. I found that the top light will start flashing red when the battery level is very low and the unit will play when plugged into the wall.  Archeer also lists the battery life at 11 hours.  I used the speaker for at least that at different volume levels and can say that this speaker will play for an extended period of time at mid volume levels before having to be recharged. When the unit is fully charged the red light on the back turns off.

Listening Tests

Archeer makes no bones about their A320 being heavy on the bass so I decided to start my listening session with the bottom heavy sounds of Bob Marley and the Wailers classic best of album “Legend”.  The movement of the synthesizers at the beginning of “Exodus” ramify the sound as much as it could across the 8” spacing between the two fullrange drivers giving the A320 a nice full sound.  As the horns kick in they add another dimension on top of the repetitive motions of the synthesizer. But where the A320 really shines as a compact portable speaker is in the bass. All the songs on the “Legend" album emphasize the bass guitar and the A320 handled it with ease.  The bass in the unit is amplified further if the speaker is placed near a wall. 

As one consumer asks on Amazon, “The bass is very strong on my unit but I would like to tone it down for some kinds of music. Is there a control?”

Archeer’s response:  "This speaker is designed with strong bass."  LMAO, so in other words, NO!

Of course the users can always adjust the bass in their phone's EQ settings or by moving the speaker away from nearby surfaces.  For instance, I found the best setting for the A320 on my iPhone 6 to be the “Late Night” setting.  It toned the bass down to levels where the vocals weren’t drowned out or turned to mush, but still kept the full robust lows that many people will find attractive in the A320. 

I played through most of the album with similar results.  Strong bass, decent mids and highs. 

I then moved to Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal from the “Bad” album.  The beginning heartbeat sounded exceptional for such a small speaker system.  Soundstage, mids, and separation are much better in this song than any of the Bob Marley songs.  As Michael goes back and forth with himself asking “Annie are you walking?” I found myself really getting drawn into the song. When standing directly in front of the speaker the mids and highs are definitely more pronounced as is the soundstage and imaging.  I tested the unit in a 450 ft^2 acoustically bright room with hardwood floors.  The A320 surprisingly filled the room nicely for a portable speaker with excellent emphasis on the bass.

Some interesting notes about how the A320 works with other sounds from your phone.

While reviewing the Archeer A320 I noticed that text message alerts played through the speaker which could become quite annoying if you get involved with a multi-person text conversation.  If an Amber alert came through while listening, I might have had a heart attack.  Don't plan on using your phone to check out Facebook while playing music either as the audio on any videos that come up will be sent out to the A320. On the plus side when a phone call came in, the A320 faded out to a very low volume and I was able to take the call. When the call was ended the speaker faded back into its previous volume level.

Conclusion

The A320 is a Bluetooth speaker not a WiFi speaker so no Apple Airplay, Playfi, Chromecast audio or any other WiFi streaming options are available. And in this version no AptX, so MP3 and SBC audio support over Bluetooth is what you’ll get.

So how much is the Archeer A320 worth?  In this ever growing market of portable wireless devices the cost can range anywhere from $30 to over $500 for a system of this size or smaller, and most of the time you get what you pay for. I have a $350 portable speaker from a well known manufacturer that jumps off the shelf when it’s playing. It’s hard to get it to synch with my phone even through Bluetooth, and I often have to “forget” the device in my Bluetooth settings menu to re-synch it. None of these apply to the much more affordable A320 from Archeer.

I showed the Archeer A320 speaker around the office, connected it to my phone and played some samples. Everyone really liked the sound, but were leery of the beautiful finish asking “How much?” in a worried way, knowing the potential price of a higher end portable speaker.  Most guessed a price range between $200 - $300. So, when I told them the Archeer A320 was only $90 through Amazon and currently on special promo for only $79.99 they had one reply – “Sold”.  At this price point, you simply can't go wrong!

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

• — Excellent
• — Very Good
• — Good
• — Fair
• — Poor

Metric	Rating
Build Quality
Appearance
Treble Extension
Treble Smoothness
Midrange Accuracy
Bass Extension
Bass Accuracy
Imaging
Soundstage
Fit and Finish
Performance
Value