Oregon Scientific iBall review

An original concept that works well as far as the wireless implementation goes, but flounders on the rocks of appalling sound quality (for a £200 unit Tested at £200.00

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

The wireless feature is a neat touch, but the iBall's core function – sounding good – just isn’t there

Pros

  • +

    Looks great

  • +

    wireless feature works well

  • +

    good connectivity

Cons

  • -

    Sounds very poor for a £200 system

Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.

Aimed at iPod owners, the iBall is – in theory – a fine proposition. You get a receiver with built-in speakers, plus a docking station/wireless transmitter. That's right, this funky-looking system operates without wires. Simply plug your iPod into the dock, and tunes fire across to the speaker unit located up to 30m away.

The receiver uses six C-cell batteries that are good for around six hours of wireless use. You can also power it via the mains. Control buttons on the speaker ball and a basic, backlit display allow you to control your iPod without getting up.

The chunky dock comes with a selection of different iPod adapters, while one for a Shuffle costs £6. Cradles for the latest iPods and nano are also available.

Fully featured
Connection-wise, the dock has an auxiliary input and output, plus an iPod socket for hooking up to your computer's iTunes. There's even an S-Video output to send photos or video to a display.

This would be all fine and dandy, if only the performance wasn't so weak. Music sounds muddled and insubstantial: the Jackson 5's ABC is a mish-mash of vocals and instruments, with little separation or clarity. Bass has been pumped up to compensate for the lack of detail.

The iBall is a fine concept, and the wireless feature works very well, but for £200 you can get a speaker system that kicks this well into touch.

What Hi-Fi?

What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence.


Read more about how we test