At the end of 2013, Brookstone’s line of wireless speakers, Big Blue, was bolstered by the addition of its Big Blue Party, a six-driver, totally wireless, Bluetooth indoor-outdoor speaker tower. It appears to be an on-the-go version of the Big Blue Media Tower, a similarly vertical speaker designed to boost your home entertainment center — not stand alone as a the sole audio source.
Big Blue Party, on the other hand, wants to provide all the bump on its own, and doesn’t want to stay put, either. Though it contains some potentially party-starting audio specs (72 watts with 18 watts per channel, four 2.5-inch drivers, a 36-watt/5.5-inch circular subwoofer, and a 5 x 7-inch passive box radiator) we think the device might catch more eyes than ears; it looks pretty cool — like some kind of bomb that James Bond has to carefully remove from the heart of a missile silo.
The Big Blue Party’s got a smartly-included “easy-grip carry handle” for hefting the 12-lb., 16-inch tall tower from the living room to poolside, an attractive big blue power button in the center of the front grille, and simple volume, treble, bass and mode controls underneath the handle. You’ll need to charge it for five hours to get the full 4.5-hours of playtime.
The subtle, aesthetically pleasing design is refreshing, but it doesn’t intimidate with an overly futuristic appearance; it won’t look out of place next to the grill during a backyard cookout, and you need not worry about kids cannonballing the device to death with residual waves from the pool because it’s “splash-resistant.”
Big Blue Party’s predecessors, all of which are also Bluetooth-enabled, include the Big Blue Go (an $80 portable mini-speaker/speakerphone), Big Blue Live (at $100, it’s a meatier version of the Go), Big Blue Studio (a $130 amplifier-esque speaker), and the aforementioned Media Tower, the indoor brethren of the Party. But at a potent $300 price-point, will hosts be bringing the Party to their party? Would you? Let us know in the comments below.
