Reviews: Kindle Voyage and Creative Sound Blaster Roar SR20A

Book lovers tend to prefer the e-ink screen of e-book readers over the LCD panel on tablets. For them, the new Kindle will be a boon.

Bluetooth music speakers are a rage these days, with the small form factor making it easy to use them at home and carry while travelling. Creative’s new speaker packs in a variety of features and offers good sound.

Kindle Voyage

₹ 16,499 (Wi-Fi)/ ₹ 20,499 (Wi-Fi and 3G)

Amazon’s latest e-book reader, the Voyage, is a premium device. It essentially builds on the legacy of the Paperwhite ( ₹ 10,999 for Wi-Fi, and ₹ 13,999 for 3G), with significant improvements.

Like the Paperwhite, the Voyage also has a 6-inch front-lit e-ink display, but with a couple of big changes. First, the text looks sharper and easier to read since there are more pixels (300 pixels per inch versus Paperwhite’s 212). Zoom in, and there is no visible distortion of the written word. If you are reading comics or books with a lot of graphics (such as Top Gear—Epic Failures: 50 Great Motoring Cock-Ups), they are reproduced much better on this screen. Second, the screen lighting automatically adjusts to the ambient light, making it easy on the eyes. The e-ink screen remains anti-glare.

The improved processor makes interaction with the Voyage faster than any other Kindle e-book reader. There is much less time between your input and the response to it—page-turn speed is faster and smoother. The touch-sensitive PagePress sensors placed to the right and left of the screen for turning pages aren’t really required—it is more convenient to tap on the screen to flip pages.

At 162x1157.6mm, the Voyage is the smallest Kindle device. The Wi-Fi version weighs 180g and the 3G variant 188g, making them the lightest e-book readers. The back panel has a grippy, soft-feel finish and a glossy black finish near the top.

The Voyage is an expensive e-book reader, but it is the best there is at the moment.

Creative Sound Blaster Roar SR20A

₹ 14,999

The silver brick-like Sound Blaster Roar SR20A wireless speaker can charge a phone via USB, has near-field communication (NFC), can directly connect to a PC, supports aptX and AAC audio codecs, and has a microSD card slot. The 6,000 mAh battery can power around 10 hours of music playback.

It can be used to record phone conversations and memos, or set to gradually lower music volume as you fall asleep.

The SR20A has two 1.5-inch drivers, one 2.5-inch subwoofer and two passive radiators. The sound signature is neutral and regular bass sounds just fine with no rumbling. There are two audio-boost features—ROAR and TerraBass. ROAR amplifies the mid range, which makes vocals unnaturally sharp on rock tracks, but works well for pop and R&B music. Vocals can sound a bit weak on some tracks, and ROAR addresses that problem. If you listen to a lot of dance or trance tracks, the boost provided by TerraBass makes the sound richer. The only disappointing aspect is that the speaker does not reproduce the deeper elements in a sound stage, the way a Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay A2 ( ₹ 22,990) or a Bose SoundLink Mini ( ₹ 16,875) does.

If your music collection is stored on a computer, we would recommend using the USB cable to connect—this improves sound quality considerably. The Sound Blaster Control Panel software (Windows and Mac) allows change of sound modes and equalizer settings. It is not available in the wireless mode. The monocoque chassis reduces vibrations from individual components inside—moving parts create disturbance and reduce audio quality.

The SR20A blasts out solid, room-filling sound. But the real attraction of this speaker are the extra features, each proving useful at some point of time.