A couple of years ago, Yandex chose the right strategy to promote its ecosystem. She had a “face”, although it would be more correct to say – a voice. “Alice” has combined many of the company’s products and learned how to juggle them beautifully: you can order a car, find out about traffic jams, listen to the news (although now they are all about coronavirus), turn on music and even just talk.
The second correct and logical step: “Alice” began to appear in devices. And I'm not just talking about the Station, but also about the good LG XBoom AI ThinQ:
Just what you need: review of LG XBoom AI ThinQ with “Alice” and Meridian sound
Ilya Kichaev
10 July 2019
Or about the relatively inexpensive and portable Elari SmartBeat:
Review of Elari SmartBeat: portable speaker with “Alice” inside
Ilya Kichaev
12 April 2019
And I’m not talking about small speakers, the cost of which is about 4,400 rubles.
In addition to all this so far small but variety, two JBL brand speakers have been added. To contact Alice, we chose the Link series - speakers that work with voice assistants. Depending on the market, the filling of Links varies. For example, at IFA 2022 I saw both Music and Portable, but in the version with Google Assistant:
New JBL products at IFA: Pulse 4 for home disco, smart speakers and true wireless
Ilya Kichaev
5 September 2019
Both speakers reached Russia with losses: our version does not have Chromecast and AirPlay 2. And streaming in Hi-Res 24 bit / 96 kHz is impossible - there is simply no such option in Yandex.Music, but you can attach Tidal or some Deezer Hi-Fi.
Video review from channel DIGITAL 3
Vadim: “Alice, hello! How are you?"
Alice: “I only remembered you”
Hello, my name is Vadim, and I have found an almost perfect smart speaker with Alice. In any case, I chose her. Now I will tell you why and what disadvantages there are.
So, this speaker was produced not by Yandex, but by JBL. But just like in other Yandex columns, the same Alice also lives in this JBL column. The column is called JBl Link Portable and the name speaks for itself.
Review of the Module with Yandex TV with Alice. Review after first use
⇡#Appearance and ergonomics
JBL Link Music speaker next to an office mouse for size comparison
The speaker is so compact that it can easily fit even on the smallest table. It is significantly smaller than the familiar Yandex.Station, and also much less angular than it. At first glance, it seems that the column is made in the shape of a cylinder, but in the top view the square cross-section is clearly visible, albeit with strongly rounded corners.
| Appearance of the JBL Link Music speaker | ||
The device is quite heavy, so it shouldn’t bounce around on the table. Instead of legs, the manufacturer decided to cover the entire lower surface with semi-soft plastic, which should dampen small vibrations and prevent slipping. Well, on the top flat edge there are barely noticeable holes for two built-in microphones, as well as three mechanical buttons with a short stroke, designed for manual control of the volume level and calling “Alice”. The main control mode for the speaker is, of course, voice.
| Fabric surface finish | ||
The outside of the speaker is covered with fine-mesh mesh fabric. It is very pleasant to the touch, and the quality of workmanship evokes only the most positive emotions. The front side is distinguished by the company logo in a rectangular insert. In the upper part, under the grid, there are three LED indicators that inform the user about any actions of “Alice” or her readiness to listen to your instructions. Well, at the back, next to the connector for connecting the power cable, there are two more buttons designed to enable the search mode for Bluetooth devices and mute the microphone. Placing the latter on the back side can hardly be called a convenient solution, but since the device is compact, it is not so difficult to rotate the speaker if you need to temporarily turn off the microphone.
Overall, JBL Link Music looks solidly excellent. This speaker will easily fit into any modern interior and even decorate it with its presence. It looks like a real premium device. It's just the modest dimensions that confuse me. We will now find out whether such a baby can provide the user with high-quality sound...
Main advantage
One of the main features is its portability, that is, what was missing in the Light station and in the Mini station. This column can hardly be called a new product; it was published more than a year ago. But at the same time it is still relevant. Primarily because of its price. If at the time of its release it cost about 12,000 rubles, today it can be bought for about 8,000 rubles. And for the money this is a very, very cool speaker.
Why I think this column is the perfect solution. The main and most important thing is that one such speaker is enough for the whole apartment. Let's compare, for example, with Light or Mini stations. In a good way, to fully control a smart home, smart speakers should be in every room. And even if you have a one-room apartment, then in a good way a separate speaker should be in the kitchen, a separate speaker should be in the room. Perhaps there should even be a separate speaker in the toilet so that you can control everything.
With a portable speaker this is much easier to solve. You can simply pick it up and move it to the kitchen when necessary. You can take it and move it to the living room or bedroom when you go to bed. In principle, instead of buying several cheap speakers, which are inferior in sound quality, you can buy one portable one. And this is a completely working solution. While I was testing it, I was convinced of this myself. The battery lasts for 8 hours of operation and, in principle, this is enough.
⇡#Connection, features and impressions of work
When you first connect to the network, Alice loudly notifies its new owner that in order to work with it, you will need to install the Yandex mobile application on your smartphone. It notifies so loudly that you can’t even believe that this sound is coming from such a small speaker. In principle, to listen to music with JBL Link Music, you can not connect “Alice” at all, leaving it in a “sleeping” state. In this case, the speaker does not need to be connected via the Yandex application to your home Wi-Fi network, but you just need to manually switch it to Bluetooth search mode and connect it to any sound source that has the appropriate communication technology. In most cases this will be a smartphone or laptop.
| Connecting JBL Link Music via the Yandex mobile application | ||||
But JBL Link Music is interesting primarily because of its built-in voice assistant, “Alice,” and therefore it would be completely wrong not to take advantage of all the capabilities of this speaker. Finding and connecting a device in the Yandex mobile application is quick and without any difficulties. Like Yandex.Station, the JBL Link Music speaker, during the connection process, asks the user to bring the phone closer to transmit special coded sounds, similar to the conversations of the R2D2 robot from the well-known movie saga. Well, then JBL Link Music turns from a simple speaker into an entertainment center and control of your smart home, if it has any other compatible devices - sockets, lamps, air conditioners, TVs and other household appliances.
We have already become familiar with the capabilities of Alice several times when testing various Yandex devices. In addition to voice control of smart household appliances, “Alice” is able to chat a little about life, talk about the weather and traffic jams, find the answer to some question on the Internet, recognize its owner by voice and, in accordance with his preferences, for example, change lighting in the apartment or turn on music of a certain style. The latter, as before, is searched by “Alice” exclusively in the Yandex.Music application if you have an existing subscription. In this case, “Alice” will also find films, but will not be able to broadcast them, since JBL Link Music does not have a video output.
But the sound of JBL Link Music surprised us very pleasantly and even shocked us a little. We never expected such volume and bright clear sound from such a little thing: a room of 20 square meters is easily filled with surround sound. At the same time, I don’t want to set the maximum volume level - at least for such a room it is excessive. The sound from the speaker is very bright and spacious. Moreover, it literally extends 360° around the speaker due to the horizontal placement of the speaker inside the housing.
At an average volume level, the sound is formed by a deep, rich bass, which is much less pronounced both at low volume levels and at the highest possible levels. The mids and highs are pleasant to the ear even at minimum volume, which will come in handy if you use calm music as a sleep aid at night. Well, for a noisy party it is better to place JBL Link Music closer to the center of the room. The main thing is that the power cable does not interfere with guests.
If we talk about the most preferred musical styles for JBL Link Music, then, as is the case with any other mono speaker, this device reveals itself most fully when playing rock, jazz, electronic and popular music. Instrumental music also sounds good. Also, JBL Link Music is an excellent option for dubbing a movie when watching from a laptop. And in general, for a laptop with a built-in Bluetooth module, this speaker can become a good home assistant. The only pity is that you can’t just move it from room to room - you have to turn off the power supply.
The operation of the two built-in microphones is no different. Despite the fact that there are only two of them, “Alice” recognizes even a whisper quite well. True, in the evening, in complete silence. But, alas, it’s not easy to shout out to her with the music playing at full power. To do this, you literally need to shout loudly: “Alice! Turn it down!"
Sound quality
The next important plus is power and sound quality. The speakers in it cost 20 watts. The sound goes 360 degrees. This is more than enough for listening to music in a small room. This is weaker than large Yandex Stations, but it is much more powerful than Yandex Station Light or Yandex Station Mini. But it's not just about power. She is quite powerful for her size. It's about sound quality. The sound here is really cool. If you don’t listen to them at full volume, the sound is very comparable to large Yandex Stations. In reality, this speaker is enough for music.
Dock station
The next important plus is the docking station. It's really comfortable. The column can be removed and placed any way you like, that is, you don’t have to worry about which side to put it on. Here it is all done very correctly. Also, if you take the speaker, for example, somewhere on a trip to nature, then you don’t have to take the docking station with you. There is a separate entrance to the speaker itself for charging. That is, in this case it will charge like a regular portable speaker, which, as a rule, does not have any docking stations.
Additional benefits
The next feature that most portable speakers have, but not smart speakers, is moisture protection. That is, this speaker is a full-fledged portable speaker, not some cut-off, truncated version. You can take it to the beach, to the pool and generally not be afraid if water gets on it.
The next plus is the choice of colors. There are really a lot of them. You can choose the one that suits you.
Another point that will be important for many is that the speaker works with wi-fi in two ranges: 2.4 and 5 GHz. Well, for comparison, Yandex Station Mini only works with wi-fi 2.4 Gigahertz.
Packaging and equipment
Inside the thin outer cover there is a dense black box with a foam pencil case, the cells of which contain the main elements of the kit:
- The JBL Portable wireless speaker itself
- Charging dock
- Envelope with instruction manual and USB-C cable
Strange, but the power supply is missing, although the same Station from Yandex has one. Apparently, the JBL developers decided that we should take the charger from some kind of smartphone. Fortunately, the simplest 5V/2A is suitable for the speaker, from which it will charge in about 3-3.5 hours.
But everything is packaged very well and prevents damage to the device even during careless transportation.
Disadvantages of the column
And let's move on to the disadvantages that need to be noted.
- The speaker does not have an input for connecting external speakers . The column is powerful. In most cases, there is no need to connect any external acoustics, but still, if there was an input, it would be nice. Let me remind you that Yandex Station Mini has such an entrance. And you can connect some very powerful system and not worry at all about the fact that someday you may not have enough sound volume. But Yandex Station Light doesn’t have such an entrance either. At the same time, let me remind you once again that Yandex Station Light has 5 watts of speaker power, Yandex Station Mini has 3 watts of speaker power, and here it is 20 watts. Therefore, of course, this is not some very critical disadvantage.
- Another drawback, and it may be significant for people who have already used JBL portable speakers. You've probably heard about the possibility that several speakers can be combined into one network and they will play simultaneously. So, this column does not have such a function. You can't connect it to other speakers and have them play at the same time.
- The next point is the lack of ability to connect to a TV . Yes, for this price - 8 thousand rubles, it’s difficult to call it a direct minus. But, in general, for comparison, if you are choosing between, for example, a large Yandex station and this speaker, then keep in mind that this speaker does not connect to the TV. Accordingly, it cannot play any video content. If you choose a large Yandex Station, then there you can watch YouTube and some films. Because there is an HDMI input for connecting to a TV.
- Next is the package. I was a little upset by one thing: the kit, accordingly, includes a speaker, a docking station, and a proprietary JBL Type-C cable, but no power supply . Not to say that this is some kind of big problem. Now everyone has power supplies, but I would still like to have a branded power supply from JBL. The same Yandex Station has no problems with this. The power supply for the speakers is always included.
- Well, the last point, which I personally lack in this column and for me, in general, is the most important - this is a meager indication . There are light bulbs that let you understand that Alice is hearing you now and is answering something. But it would be very cool to introduce into this column, for example, like in the Mini Capsule or like in the Yandex Station Max, a screen that would show the time. Personally, I would be willing to pay extra for this. Because it looks really cool. And the column would also serve as a stylish watch. Unfortunately, this column does not include that. For me this is an important drawback, but I am ready to accept it. Because all other advantages, of course, cover this. But keep in mind, if you also want to use the station as a watch, then perhaps Yandex Station Max or Capsule Mini, and it already has a review on the channel, will be more suitable for you.
Review of the JBL Link Music Yandex smart speaker with voice assistant Alice
This summer, the Harman company introduced two smart speakers with support for Alice's Yandex voice assistant - the stationary JBL Link Music and the portable JBL Link Portable. The product announcements, without false modesty, said that “Alice has never had a sound like this before,” and also mentioned the “legendary JBL sound.” Considering the manufacturer’s extensive experience in creating portable acoustics and the success of its other products, there was every reason for this.
Moreover, both presented columns are only partly new. It is based on the JBL Link series, which previously worked with Google Assistant, proved itself well and gained considerable popularity. The news is that now the voice assistant Alice has “settled” in the speakers, which means they have received full support for the Russian language, and can also be integrated into the “smart home” system, which Yandex is quite actively developing. We decided to start our acquaintance with the stationary JBL Link Music.
Specifications
| Power | 20 W |
| Speaker size | ∅64 mm |
| Declared frequency range | 60 Hz - 20 kHz |
| Signal to noise ratio | 80 dB |
| WiFi | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 and 5 GHz) |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 4.2 |
| Supported codecs | SBC |
| Dimensions (diameter and height) | ∅112×134 mm |
| Weight | 730 g |
| Retail offers | find out the price |
Packaging and equipment
The speaker is delivered in a typical JBL box, decorated in white and orange. The front side bears an image of the device and logos, and on the side there is an illustration with the motto “Dare to listen,” which can be translated as “Dare to hear.”
Inside the box, the buyer finds a speaker, power cable and documentation. A little, but more is not required.
Design and construction
The speaker body has a “barrel” shape, and is quite compact: its diameter is only 112 mm and its height is 134 mm. For comparison, Yandex.Station has dimensions of 141x141x231 mm.
The side surface is completely covered with gray fabric. By the way, there is only one color scheme, but it is quite universal - the discreet design of the speaker will fit quite organically into almost any interior.
Inside there is a speaker with a diameter of 64 mm, directed downward. There are two passive radiators on the sides. According to the manufacturer, this design allows the speaker to provide “360-degree sound” that evenly fills the space around the device.
At the bottom of the front panel there is a small insert with the JBL logo.
Four LEDs are hidden under the fabric on top, visible only when in operation. Their glow allows you to control the activation of the voice assistant, volume level, and so on.
On the top panel under the soft-touch coating there are three buttons: the central one is responsible for calling the voice assistant, the two side ones are for adjusting the volume level. There you can also see the holes of two microphones for “communicating” with Alice.
The bottom of the case is rubberized, it provides good “adhesion” of the speaker to the surface—swiping the device with a careless movement is not as easy as you might think based on its dimensions.
At the bottom of the rear panel there is a connector for connecting the power cable. Above it are two buttons: activating Bluetooth and muting microphones.
Connection
The initial setup process for JBL Link Music Yandex is practically no different from what we have seen with other solutions with Alice. We connect the speaker to the network, after a while the voice assistant greets us and tells us what needs to be done next.
Open the Yandex application and go to the devices section. Click on the add column button and select the one you need from the list. Let's move on to the settings.
Select a Wi-Fi network to connect to (2.4 and 5 GHz networks are supported). We enter the password, bring the smartphone closer to the speaker - data is transmitted to it using sound signals.
The device “thinks” for a while, and if there are firmware updates, it installs them. After successful connection, the application offers to get acquainted with Alice's skills, and JBL Link appears in the general list of devices.
You can activate Bluetooth pairing mode with a voice command or using the button on the rear panel. The connection process itself is standard: find the column in the corresponding gadget menu, click on its name, and agree to the addition.
After trying to connect in parallel to a smartphone and a PC running Windows 10, it became clear that the speaker does not support multipoint. At the same time, using the Bluetooth Tweaker utility, a list of codecs used by the device was obtained. There is only one codec, and it is SBC, which is usually quite sufficient for compact acoustics.
Unlike many other devices with Alice, JBL Link Music Yandex supports full-fledged voice assistant operation when connected via Bluetooth - you can call Alice, ask her to perform certain actions, and even use her to control playback on the sound source. All this is shown in the short video below, where, with the help of the heroine of today’s test, one device for a “smart home” is controlled, the process of interaction with which is the same for all speakers with the Yandex voice assistant.
Exploitation
Most existing speakers with Alice have four microphones, but the heroine of today’s review has only two. And, frankly, you can feel it. “Communicating” with the voice assistant does not cause problems as long as the volume of the music played by the device is not higher than about 50 percent of the maximum, and the environment is more or less quiet. If you turn it up louder or install a speaker in the kitchen, where water is constantly flowing, something is boiling, or the hood is working, you have to raise your voice or use buttons. The buttons, by the way, are very nice. They are hidden under a soft-touch coating and are pressed easily and with a moderately noticeable click.
There were no problems with the stability of the connection to the wireless network - even at a serious distance from the JBL Link Music router, Yandex worked correctly, despite three solid walls separating the devices. But here everything depends not only on her, of course. The LED backlight only works when the voice assistant is activated and any parameters are changed, no unnecessary “illumination”. The indicator is noticeable, but not too bright - in general, the speaker can be safely placed on the bedside table without fear that it will interfere with falling asleep.
To coincide with the release of new devices with Alice, Yandex timed the launch of a skill for a voice assistant called “Morning Show.” When activated, Alice plays various tracks from the user’s playlist on Yandex.Music, supplementing them with comments and news on topics that interest the user. According to the creators, the “show” is as personalized and unique as possible for everyone. It turns out very interesting, the interests of the listener are really taken into account if you first “tell” about them - accumulate a more or less voluminous history of listening to Yandex.Music, queries in the search engine and reading news.
Sound and frequency response measurements
And now for the fun part: “legendary JBL sound.” The speaker sounds really impressive for its size - you can’t deny it. There is plenty of bass, there is a slight emphasis on high frequencies, but the mid-frequency range is very problematic. The sound is far from “even” and extremely far from ideal, but overall quite pleasant. With many compact speakers, we honestly say that their limit is podcasts and bedtime stories. Everything here is dramatically better - JBL Link Music Yandex definitely won’t replace full-fledged acoustics, but it still copes with music playback. It’s not worth listening to while sitting in an armchair by the fireplace, but just as a background for everyday activities is fine.
The fact that the sound of the speaker is far from being devoid of very unique features can be clearly seen in the graph of its frequency response. Traditionally, for such decisions we carry out two series of measurements. The first is by placing the microphone normal to the speaker at a distance of about 60 cm. And the second is by moving the microphone upward at an angle of 45°, since often during operation the device is located approximately at the level of the listener’s waist.
The results do not differ too significantly; the main trends are quite visible. As mentioned above, the low-frequency range attracts attention: the sound starts from 50 Hz. What is frustrating is the significant dip in the 1 kHz region, which leads to quite noticeable problems with the transmission of the mid-frequency range. Let's average both series of measurements to get the overall picture.
Let's compare the frequency response of JBL Link Music with the measurement results of other compact stationary speakers: Yandex.Stations and LG XBoom AI ThinQ. And at the same time - with “Marusya” Mail.ru. The main conclusion that can be drawn from the heap of graphs below is that none of the compact speakers is devoid of very controversial sound features, which is the norm for the form factor in question.
Subjectively, the sound quality of the heroine of today's test can be compared with the LG XBoom AI ThinQ, which until recently was, perhaps, the best in this parameter among speakers with Alice. And it remains - after all, two speakers (∅20 mm and ∅89 mm) do their job. True, there is no talk of any “360-degree sound” in her case. The frequency response graphs of both devices are surprisingly similar - in particular, there is a dip around 1 kHz.
Let us repeat once again that we are now considering extremely compact devices with plastic cases; sound quality can only be compared within this form factor. Almost any more or less full-fledged acoustics will show strikingly better results.
Results
JBL Link Music Yandex will easily find its niche in the line of speakers with the voice assistant Alice. It is compact, but at the same time has good sound - quite at the level that you would expect from a device under the JBL brand. At the same time, it does not have any extra bells and whistles, such as connecting to a TV, and therefore its cost is low compared to the general background. Of the obvious disadvantages, we can note only the not the most impressive performance of the microphones. But, for example, there is the ability to simultaneously play music via a Bluetooth connection and fully use the voice assistant, something that no speaker with Alice could boast of before.
