Dell AD211 Bluetooth Speaker Review

Bluetooth speakers are fairly ubiquitous, with just about everyone jumping into the mix. Dell can be counted among those who want to make themselves known on your desktop with their AD211. The portable tube is appropriately priced, but does it pack enough punch to make you seek it out? Good question — let's find out!

With Bluetooth speakers, there's no real surprise. They're typically tubular in shape, have speaker grilles, and controls subtly laid out in an easy to find location.

The AD211 is no different in that regard. A rounded-square design drags on for about six inches, with one side occupied by nothing but perforations to let sound out. Around back, you find the charging port (micro USB, naturally) and wired input, should you need/want that functionality.

One side is flat black, while the other is similarly colored — it just houses the controls. A center power button is surrounded by familiar sound system buttons. Volume, a Bluetooth connectivity button, and call accept/hang up buttons all keep a home there. a small microphone sits up top for taking calls, and is the only disruption other than a status light and NFC branding there.

The bottom has two tacky feet meant to keep the AD211 from rocking back and forth or slipping around, and they do so admirably. The downside to them is that should you want to stand the AD211 on edge, they'd show.

Pairing was simple enough, with various Android and iOS devices being paired with no problem. A Macbook was also linked up without incident, so the range of devices that can use this is ended only by Bluetooth capability in our testing. The AD211 also accepts NFC, if you're still using that bit of tech.

As for sound, the AD211 holds a strange distinction. I can't say what came out was particularly crisp. The AD211 has a hollow sound, and bass was shallow. Higher pitches resonated just fine, though. The AD211 uses an aptX codec for "CD-quality audio wirelessly".

That hollow sound was a bit strange, but the AD211 does one thing many other Bluetooth speakers don't do well, and that's sound bigger than they are. The AD211 produces big sound for its size, and would probably be fine in a small coffee shop or large living room.

Dell also boasts of ten hours playback, and that's accurate. I had it blaring Play Music All Access for over a full work day before needing a recharge. That charge to the 2250mAh battery took about an hour, too.

Though the sound isn't as crisp as I'd hoped — it's big. In my office, I had the sound turned down under halfway, and never had an issue. Testing it at home, the loudest setting gave a clear signal anywhere I was around the inside or slightly out.

Though a bit hollow, the sound is clear. It seems as though Dell went for big instead of fine-tuned, and that's fine. The AD211 is $49, and is well worth the spend. Considering other bluetooth speakers run upwards of $99 or better, with a similar quality sound, the AD211 is an easy recommendation.