Music

Fender rocks into the Bluetooth speaker game

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Fender's debut bluetooth speakers, the Newport and the larger Monterey
Fender's debut bluetooth speakers, the Newport and the larger Monterey
Fender's debut bluetooth speakers are inspired by the iconic brand's classic guitar amps
Fender's Newport bluetooth speaker runs on a battery said to be good for 12 hours of use
Both of Fender's bluetooth speakers promise its "signature sound"
Both of Fender's debut Bluetooth speakers pair to devices within a range of 33 ft (10 m)
Both of Fender's bluetooth speakers promise its "signature sound"
Fender's debut Bluetooth speakers are inspired by the brand's classic guitar amps
Fender's Newport Bluetooth speaker runs on a battery said to be good for 12 hours of use
Fender's Monterey Bluetooth speaker is priced at US$350
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It takes something special to stand out in the completely saturated Bluetooth speaker market these days, like say, taking the shape of a humanoid robot or a dining table. Then again, you could bear the name of an iconic instrument maker, like the very first set of Bluetooth speakers from Fender.

Both speakers promise Fender's "signature sound" and are inspired by the company's classic guitar amps, with a protective grille and amp-like control knobs on top. They hook up to Bluetooth devices within a range of 33 ft (10 m), feature a built-in microphone for phone calls and come with support for AAC music files and aptX technology.

The Monterey is aimed at audiophiles and is the bigger of the two speakers, packing two woofers, two tweeters and a quad driver system into its heftier body. It also offers a standard 3.5 mm aux input and two RCA jacks so you'll have options when hooking up your music, but is the less portable of the two as it requires power from a wall outlet.

Fender's Newport Bluetooth speaker runs on a battery said to be good for 12 hours of use

The Newport on the other hand, is designed to be taken with you and is powered by a battery for a claimed 12 hours of use. Inside are two full-range drivers matched to a tweeter channeling 30 W, along with a USB port to charge mobile devices.

The Monterey is priced at US$350 and the Newport at $200, so they are certainly far from the cheapest Bluetooth speakers you'll find. The Monterey calls to mind Marshall's Woburn unit but has a rated output of 120 W and is quite a bit cheaper. Meanwhile, the Newport is comparable with the Marshall Stockwell portable speaker.

However, if you're not too bothered about the rock 'n' roll aesthetic, Amazon's Echo speaker is the least expensive of all those here, and brings Alexa smarts to the party.

Source: Fender

View gallery - 9 images
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3 comments
mattlad
Does it go up to 11?
Pilate
This is brilliant! I'm surprised it took this long.
warren52nz
Don't think about using this for a bluetooth connection from your guitar. There will almost certainly be a significant delay from playing a note to it coming out of the amp which will make it unplayable. I'm not saying they're claiming you can but if you're thinking laterally beware of that.