The Force is definitely strong with this one
With the release of the most recent Star Wars film, the Disney driven merchandising engine has gone into overdrive. Even now, several months after the film was launched, it's difficult to escape Star Wars related stuff.
One of the better examples of the movie merchandising we've seen recently is from AC Worldwide, in the form of a set of Bluetooth speakers shaped as either a Stromtrooper or C-3PO. In this instance we have a near-bust plastic representation of a Stormtrooper to test, but is this just a gimmick for fans only or is this speaker worth looking more into?
The first thing you'll notice is that the Stormtrooper speaker is surprisingly large, standing at 280mm from the base and with a circumference of around 700mm. It's a solid lump of plastic too, weighing 2.3kg and without any signs of cheap quality materials used. In fact the Stormtrooper is really quite a magnificent looking product, and if you've opted for the C-3PO version then you'll get a shiny gold metallic finish.
There's a high degree of precision here for the exterior that isn't let down when you take a look inside. Within you'll find a reasonably powerful 102mm down-facing 10W subwoofer along with a pair of 32mm 3W speakers. The decent 2200mAh battery manages around three hours of continual use from a full charge, and AC Worldwide hasn't scrimped on technology either with NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, and HFP 1.6 wideband speech standards.
On the rear of the base you'll find connectivity in the form of an aux port, USB for charging your phone or tablet and a 9V power input, along with a power button. The front of base houses touch sensitive buttons for manual and Bluetooth connectivity, volume, track skip, play and pause. Interestingly there are also a couple buttons to control the bass level, which is a great addition that's often missing even from expensive speaker setups.
The sound quality is also really quite remarkable, with an equally impressive maximum volume, deep bass and generous mid-range levels. While it won't replace your living room stereo, the Stormtrooper speaker is certainly good enough for most audio playback situations. One element that wasn't quite as good as the rest of the audio quality was the voice, to us this sounded a little crackly and distorted. It was acceptable, though, and you do get the bonus of the Stormtrooper speaking through a set of famous phrases such as "move along", as well as the sounds of blasters being fired when first pairing or when the speaker has been idle for a while.
Obviously there's the novelty value to the Stormtrooper design, but it's also a very good stand-alone speaker in itself. Furthermore, if you purchase two units they pair together and allow you to connect a single device to both simultaneously.
The AC Worldwide Star Wars Bluetooth Stormtrooper speaker comes in at £129, the same for the C-3PO model too, with a slight saving if you buy a pair for £250. Are they worth it? To some degree, yes. If you're a fan of the films, then you'll love them, and the quality of the audio won't disappoint either. If you're after a powerful speaker and you couldn't give a monkey's about Star Wars, then you're hardly going to fork out £129, despite the audio quality. We, however, really enjoyed the Stormtrooper speaker and its novelty value. David Hayward
Perfect for any Star Wars fan.