SOL Republic + Motorola = Stacked Deck

by The Editors on September 13, 2013

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In the consumer electronics world new Bluetooth 4.0 speakers seem to be popping up every time we turn our heads. Even in the action sports space the competition for portable audio solutions is heating up. Nixon launched their Blaster speaker earlier this summer and now headphone maker SOL Republic is answering back with a collaboration with Motorola called Deck.

Like many other Bluetooth speakers Deck turns your phone into a mini boom box. Where the Deck differs is in what SOL Republic calls “Heist Mode.” This Bluetooth setting allows the speaker to pair with up to five different Bluetooth devices at once. When a song is playing, control of the Deck can be stolen by any other paired device. Don’t like the song your friend is playing, press play on your phone and launch something from your digital music collection.

While this control swapping may cause occasional panics at the disco, it’s actually pretty rad once you begin messing around with it. Say you’re skating a spot and are sick of your music. One of your friends can send his songs to the Deck. Or, if you’re just hanging out at the beach with friends you all can share music from your phones without having to pair and unpair or trade songs around. If you’re at home the Deck has mini jacks for both audio in and out so you can play Heist Mode through your home stereo or just blast some music off your phone.heist_switch

Deck features a two piece plastic shell and is very portable. At 7.25 x 4.25 x 1.12 it is perfect for throwing in a backpack and almost small enough to stick in your back pocket. A rubber base on the bottom of the Deck keeps it from slipping around once you put it down somewhere. Deck has what SOL Republic calls “360 degree full sounds.” The idea is that the music comes out everywhere and doesn’t require any directional pointing for good sound. While this seemed to work well indoors where walls can bounce the sound around a little, we found that using Deck outdoors required us to prop it up, or stand it on its side so we could get good sound coming off it.

So far the battery life on the Deck has been amazing. In the weeks we’ve been testing it we don’t remember every charging the battery. Each time the Deck is turned off a voice announces the battery level in plain English. Last time we turned it off the guy said, “Battery half full.” And this is after weeks of the Deck just sitting around on our book shelf.

Deck comes in three colors (black, yellow, and red) and is currently available for pre-order on the SOL Republic website for $199.99 and is scheduled to begin shipping on September 25, 2013.

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