Devialet Mania

The Paris-based audio company owned and founded by Pierre-Emmanuel Calmel has for several years ruled the Bluetooth segment with the absolutely brilliant Phantom. Via Calmel's acclaimed Analogue Digital Hybrid driver, Devialet went from nothing to everything overnight and, including a couple of upgrades to the Phantom, they have built what I have long considered to be the single best wireless Bluetooth speaker on the market. But yes, if it sounds good it costs a lot and with a price tag of up to nearly £3,000, it has also been possible to buy a really nice stereo amplifier and two great speakers for the same money but that is of course a completely different discussion. Devialet has since 2008 been the world leader in what they have been doing, that's what I wanted to get to (before I started babbling, as is often the case).

It is very nice but better in pictures than in reality where the fabric on the outside and the rubber strap feels a little weak in terms of finish.

With Mania, their new mini speaker, Devialet obviously wants to reach a new audience, a wider one. £790 is certainly a lot of money for a Bluetooth speaker of this size with the performance on offer, but it's a far cry from the price that Devialet wants for the Phantom II and the French believe that the Mania is worth its cost, especially compared to the closest competitors Bose, Sonos, JBL, Marshall and Sony.

The Mania measures 17x19 centimetres, is round as you can see with a small rubber strap on top as a carrying handle and it weighs 2.3 kilos. It plays music for exactly nine hours per charge (I've charged it three times now, and timed it) and then charges via USBC. The Mania has a chip for 360-degree sound and calibrates itself depending on how tight the space is where you place it. Active room comp, if you will, although in practice it works much easier than it sounds. Connecting to the Mania is done either via Bluetooth or via wifi and if you run it via wifi, as in the case of JBL's new gadgets, you have the opportunity to enjoy music in better quality (as long as you skip Spotify, that is - with their potato sound).

The bass response is fantastic.

The sound of the Mania is obviously the important thing here and of course the quality is really good. The first thing that struck me was that the Mania, despite its small size, can play much louder than competing models from Bose, JBL and Marshall without the sound becoming noisy with a lot of distortion. For measuring 17x19 centimetres, it's honestly quite impressive how loud this little bullet can play and still give off clean and clear sound with lots of warmth and life. Because that's where the Mania ends up in terms of character. The sound is a bit JBL-ish, with Bose tendencies - without being as hopelessly dynamic-poor and bass-fixated as Beats, for example. There's a lot of bass here, deep and punchy bass and the midrange sounds full and controlled. There is some treble missing here, though. Voices sometimes feel a little dull and a bit muted, which is also not possible to EQ away in the free app that Devialet offers, but it's definitely not a big problem for me who usually prefers it to sharp, peaky trebles and weak bass reproduction.

The push buttons on the side of the strap are awkward to press and the on/off functionality is a bit unclear, unfortunately.

The Mania is good... As I said, the sound is very good but at the same time it is not possible to recommend it given the slightly senseless price. Near £800 for a Bluetooth speaker of this size and with this performance is too much, regardless of volume options or bass control. If you're asking me for buying advice, get a JBL Partybox Encore instead and save your money. It sounds almost as good and can play at least as strong.