Huawei Sound Joy Review: Actually Quite Good IF You Get Two!
These speakers from Huawei are actually better than I expected, especially if you get two of them and use them together. We have the Huawei Sound Joy speakers with us today, and as I mentioned, these impressed me.
Design
So let’s talk design first. While the speaker itself does look rather similar to other cylindrical-shaped portable speakers, there’s a sort of elegance to this with a fabric covering across most of the body. On either side of the speaker, you get the two passive radiators alongside the 20W full-range driver and 10W tweeter inside.
The logo, Bluetooth indicator and volume controls are all covered in rubber and they’re all quite large, which makes finding the correct control a breeze.
There are volume up and down buttons, which are huge and unmistakable even just by touch. There’s also a vertical strip at the back of the speaker which has a lanyard included, along with the power, mic mute, play/pause, Bluetooth pairing and the last button is to activate the Shake Stereo Link feature to link another Sound Joy speaker as a stereo pair. Under all that, there’s an LED indicator for low power and charging status as well as a USB-C port for charging.
On the top of the speaker, there’s a LED ring which lits up upon turning on as well as when music is playing, which is nice. It also serves as a volume indicator when you’re raising or lowering the volume with the light filling up the ring accordingly. A small visual cue, but a nice one nonetheless.
There are small rubber feet on the speaker to keep it from rolling around when you’re putting the speaker horizontally, and the base of the speaker is also coated in that same rubber. All in all, it looks and feels rather rugged, which is nice. One point that I’d be worried about is the top with that LED ring, because there isn’t really any protection there, so it might get scuffed if it’s dropped.
App & Connectivity
Anyway, let’s move on to the software. You’ll want to download the Huawei AI Life app to get software updates and such. You’ll be able to control auto shutdown, some basic EQ presets and even the LED light effect from here. I will say though, it’s not the easiest thing in the world to get the speaker to connect to the app. I’m honestly not sure what’s up with the software, but it’s very finicky.
The speaker is running on Bluetooth 5.2 so that’s fine, I can get relatively far with my phone before the connection starts cutting in and out. The speaker also supports SBC and AAC and that’s also all the connectivity you’re gonna get here, since there’s no microSD slot or 3.5mm AUX port for you to plug in your phone.
Huawei Sound Joy Battery Life
There’s an 8,800mAh battery inside, and Huawei claims 26 hours of battery life if the light is turned off. I left it on and typically got around 15 or so hours in total playing at a moderate 20% volume. It charges up fast at 40W if you use a compatible charger and wire, so that’s very nice.
IP Rating
The speaker is IP67 dust and water resistance rated, so no issues bringing this to the pool or the beach.
Sound Quality
So now we come to sound, and Huawei has collaborated yet again with French audio company Devialet. First off, I have to note that these speakers can get really loud. But even when it’s loud, you don’t really get distortion creeping in until the higher levels, by which point, you’d most likely be upsetting your neighbours and damaging your hearing, so yeah, don’t push them that high. But thanks to that collaboration, the sound out of this is actually really nice.
You get power in the lows and the bass is nice and rich. The mids are detailed too, although you won’t be able to get every nuance in songs. But again, these sort of portable speakers usually don’t offer that sort of clarity, so that’s not a knock against it. The treble is decently clear and crisp, although I do have to note that this speaker does much better at pop and rock rather than classical and jazz. Vocals are quite nice on this though, they’re clear and sufficiently weighty, holding their own against the rest of the mix.
As for soundstage, this is where things get a bit iffy. The speaker projects sound perfectly fine if you’re in front of it. It can project quite a distance. But the moment you walk off to the side you’ll notice a dip immediately. Because of this, I typically used these speakers in my bedroom instead of in the living room or other big rooms.
As a stereo pair, it suffers from the same problem, but it’s not as bad anymore because you get two speakers beaming it at you essentially, which widens the area. It’s a bit of a shame because when you look at the design of the speaker, it looks like it should be able to output in almost 360-degrees, but it’s really only outputting where the front is facing in a rather limited cone. I’m not sure I would recommend this for large parties, unless you’re placing this with the back facing a wall and you’re just having a party in a single room, then perhaps. For casual listening in a bedroom or if you’re having a picnic, then yeah, it’d be a better use case I think.
Huawei Sound Joy Price
That being said, I really like the sound out of this. Huawei’s collaboration with Devialet has produced some very impressive products, and I’m looking forward to more. The speaker retails at S$188, and I’m sure you’ll be able to find it at a discount. Right now as I’m filming this, there’s a S$20 discount already, so yeah. It’s a relatively decent value for the sound quality that this speaker is offering.