The Luxa2 Groovy W is a speaker that promises a host of features — it’s got Bluetooth, NFC, a wireless charging station that doubles as a personal powerbank, a microphone for calls, and a dedicated app. Will all these work together positively to make it stand out from all the other wireless speakers out there?
Physique
The Groovy W is a mid-sized rectangular box that comes with a separate charging base (which we’ll get to in a bit). The speaker is not at all heavy, weighing in at 596 grams. A speaker grille that protects its dual drivers is what makes up the majority of its face.
Up top is a glossy plastic panel that holds touch-sensitive capacitive buttons like Play/Pause and volume up and down, as well as indicators for the NFC, battery life, speakerphone, and Bluetooth. For us, we would be happier if the company went with a matte finish rather than a glossy one for its panel.
The entire device is lined with chrome platings that go hand-in-hand with its glossy finish. Two metallic strips go around the entire speaker that positively gives an accent to the Groovy W.
At the back is where the power button is placed right beside the microUSB port and 3.5mm audio jack for wired connection.
Sound Quality
Let me say that the Groovy W has a decent sound reproduction in general. This means that overall sound is clear and loud, but we eventually saw a few niggles after using it for more than a week.
Although mids were impressive, we noticed that highs could be overpowering at times and bass lacked authority. We would be happier if the former was set down a notch and the latter had a little more oomph in it.
Cranking it up to maximum volume delivers pretty loud sound. We used it on a beach trip and we’re happy to report that it could keep up even on outdoor use. One thing we noticed, though, was that slight distortion was present on full volume. It wasn’t a deal-breaker for us. It’s just that we tend to nitpick sometimes.
In this department, we were satisfied with the Groovy W’s performance despite minor gripes.
Special Features
This speaker carries a handful of features to offer its users. One of the main ones is its Bluetooth connectivity which is the most common way of connecting to the Groovy W next to utilizing its 3.5mm audio jack. Bluetooth connectivity was easy to use and takes a short time to pair so that’s good, but we couldn’t say the same for its NFC.
We’ve tried pairing it multiple times to an NFC-equipped smartphone and what we got was an error message. We also tried using a different device thinking that the first phone had issues, but we were proven wrong — we still experienced the same error regardless of what device we used. Sadly, NFC was of no use to us during our entire time with it.
Another feature that it carries is the ability to use it as a loudspeaker. Once a phone is connected to it, users can make calls and talk to their contacts through the speaker thanks to its built-in microphone. We could clearly hear the person talking on the other end of the line and same was the case when we tried speaking.
A noteworthy feature the Groovy W has is its separate charger. This 4000mAh slab of battery pack has a USB port meaning it can act as a standalone powerbank and charge your other devices — smartphones, tablets, cameras, etc. as long as it can be charged using a USB cable. It has its own LED indicator to show you how much power is left.
You may think that’s cool but it’s not the best part. Since the separate battery wirelessly charges the Groovy W through the use of Qi, users may also charge their Qi-capable devices just by placing it on top of the circular area seen above. I can personally say that I would probably buy the Groovy W because of its charging capabilities rather than its sound quality.
The company also made a dedicated app for all its speakers. The Luxa2 app is available both in Apple store and Google Play store for download. With it, you can choose what music to play and control its volume but that’s pretty much it. The app is very basic with all your songs compiled in one long, alphabetical list. There are no categories like Artist, Genre, or Playlist — you only have your entire music library in one place.
Battery Life
To test its battery life we played music continuously via Bluetooth on full volume. The Groovy W lasted 3 hours and 20 minutes on its own battery. After which we placed it on top of its charging station that added 2 more hours of play time, netting a total of over five hours of continuous playback. The result was far less than its 15-hour claimed battery life, but do consider that we were streaming via Bluetooth the entire time and volume was on full blast.
Conclusion
The Luxa2 Groovy W is a wireless speaker that can definitely be a travel buddy. It’s not that compact but its functionality regarding charging batteries is a good backup plan for your devices when no outlet is in the area. Sound quality is good, but with minor gripes. It also gives you a choice in terms of connectivity whether to use Bluetooth or NFC although in our case, NFC didn’t work at all.
Luxa2 Groovy W specs:
Output power: 7W
Drivers: 2-piece 35mm drivers
70 x 25 passive radiator
Bluetooth 3.0
NFC
Qi wireless charging
Dimensions: 66 x 82 x 180
Weight: 596 grams
2,200mAh built-in battery
4,000mAh separate battery charger
Price: Php4,850
What we liked about it:
- Overall decent sound quality
- Charging station acts as standalone powerbank
- Volume loud enough for outdoor use
- Packed with features
What we didn’t like:
- App lacks categories for tracks (only displays all songs in one long list)
- NFC didn’t work on various NFC-enabled devices
- Glossy panel is susceptible to smudges
Is the NFC feature of the speaker compatible with the NFC on iPhone 6 Plus?