Neptor’s colorful NPSP01-BL is cuter than your Bluetooth speaker

By Alex Tretbar March 24, 2014

Sometimes you don’t need a ridiculously high-end system for listening to music. It’d be a little overkill to, for example, spend $17,500 on Devialet’s top-shelf stereo amplifier system and set it up just to take phone calls and blast the jams while you do the dishes. Sometimes you just need a fun little speaker that playfully takes care of your audio needs while you playfully get stuff done. That’s what Neptor’s new NPSP01-BL Bluetooth speaker is designed to do.

Neptor, one of a handful of brands under the Chino, CA-based Eagle Tech umbrella, is named after Neptune and the planet’s ability to generate more energy than the Sun provides to it. The line’s NPSP01 is a husky little jelly bean of a speaker — a little over two inches wide and three inches tall — and has touch-based control technology on board, a feature we’ve been seeing a lot more of recently as portable/Bluetooth speaker makers increasingly look to ditch tired old buttons in favor of sleek and subtle twists and taps (Cone and Quip, to name a couple). Tap the NPSP01 for power, music and phone controls, and spin it for volume.

There aren’t any traditional wired inputs on the NPSP01, so you’ll want to be sure that your devices are Bluetooth-compatible before dropping $50 on one of them — and keep in mind that you’ll need to set aside 90 minutes to recharge the speaker after its 3.5-hour charge fades. Users can utilize the speaker’s omni-directional microphone for seamlessly hands-free calls that probably sound pretty good.

It’s tough to say just how good the NPSP01 will sound — its availability was just announced today — but the relatively low price-point and fun-loving aesthetics make it a good bargain for those without wallet-busting audiophile aspirations.

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Alex Tretbar, audio/video intern, is a writer, editor, musician, gamer and sci-fi nerd raised on EverQuest and Magic: The…

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