I’ve heard a fair bit about the Devialet Mania portable speaker since it was launched a few years ago, so when it was updated in a couple of new colours recently, I thought it was time I had a listen.
The two new options – green and pink (officially “rose bloom”) – add a splash of colours to the mostly earthy designs previously available.
The green one I have to test is a great match for folks who love the outdoors and might bring it on a trip to the beach. Just mind the weight because the 2.3kg speaker isn’t the lightest around despite its compact size.
Well, it certainly feels solidly built, with a handle at the top for easy moving between rooms at home or even at a barbecue party outdoors.
Buttons on the side are rubberised and protected. They are also useful for powering things on and changing volume without using the Devialet mobile app.
However, you do have to be careful with the speaker, since it has a modest rating of IPX4, which means it’s just resistant to water splashes. Do not submerge or drop it in a pool.
A USB port on the side isn’t covered with a rubber grommet and the driver itself is exposed without protection. So, just remember this is a portable speaker but one to be treated with some care.
In return, the Devialet Mania rewards you with great-quality audio, something that the French hi-fi company is known for through its sleek amplifiers before it launched portable speakers in recent years.
I’m not sure of the Devialet Mania’s “stereo calibration”, since this is just one speaker pushing out sound. It does promise to adjust to your environment, which is what you’d expect today also from rivals such as Sonos as well.
What I’m surprised by is the clarity and focus of the mid-range, relatively free of distortion and rather unveiled, unlike many small speakers.
Fire up a quieter track, like Eva Cassidy’s live performance of Autumn Leaves, for example, and you’d find it easy to imagine the performance in front of you.
I like that the bass goes low for the guitar in the track, while the piano plays in the foreground. Okay, the highs and lows are not totally seamless, unlike on larger speakers, but I like it that I can hear the separation instead of having the different components of a track all meshed up.
If you like jazz vocals, the Devialet Mania should do well. Indeed, on a rainy afternoon, as I write this, I am enjoying how it’s filling up my study room with bossa nova music in a way that rivals some modest bookshelf speakers.
Speaking of that, the Devialet speaker does go pretty loud without suffering distortion. I played tracks from The Odyssey movie, which had dynamic transitions from loud to soft and high to low, and the small portable speaker kept pace pretty well.
The bass, I must say, was tight and focused for the most part. Only when it came to really large-scale portions of some tracks will you detect the limitations of size (and physics) in extension and depth.
To be sure, the Devialet Mania’s four 25W speakers powered by Class D amplifiers are highly capable. They are aided by two 38W woofers, also powered by Class D amplifiers. They account for the weight, which I think is worth carrying around.
Devialet also says its speaker plays back at as low as 30Hz range – the lower end of human hearing. Though I can’t say for sure if it reaches that low, I can say it gets the bass done well for many tracks.
I played a famous Chinese track The Missing Times sung by Zhao Peng who is known for his bass-baritone vocals. The Devialet Mania shows how far things have come for portable speakers by presenting the singer’s vocal range so well. Here, you won’t hear the cut-offs or truncation on many portable speakers.
Okay, what about tracks that I usually listen to to chill out, instead of “test” tracks? Well, I’m happy to say the Devialet Mania plays my usual shoe-gazing tracks without fuss. They are usually less demanding, anyway.
In other words, the speaker will be great if you just want more-than-decent quality for the everyday tracks playing in the background. The Mania is great for most musical content unless you throw in a complex mix and listen critically.
What Devialet has made is a high-performing portable speaker that is better than most I’ve heard. It’s good enough to be an easy-listening speaker in most rooms in Singapore, I’d say, and it’s great because it can be carried from place to place.
What I’d baulk at is the S$1,769 price, which is several times what rivals offer. Heck, for that price, you can buy a pair of decent bookshelf speakers.
Then again, you wouldn’t have the portability and easy app control that does away with multiple components to fiddle with. The Mania is easier, in many ways, so it may work for you.
Do note, if you’re willing to splash the cash, that Devialet sells the Mania at different prices for different colours. Yes, rather like shoes you find on a fashion site.
The black and grey go for the cheapest at S$1,469, a good S$300 cheaper than the “moss green” version I tested. A red one goes for almost S$2,000.
Yikes! I’m shaking my head, but I think I’m not the target market, even though I think the Mania is a good speaker.
