Pulse 2i Wireless Multi-Room Smart Speaker with Bluetooth - Black - Compatible with Alexa and Siri

This review will largely be about the Bluesound brand, although this speaker is really really fun - especially when paired with a 2nd one to have it in stereo. The build quality and features of the speakers are excellent and I love that they keep improving the firmware/software. When I was looking into purchasing a new "ecosystem" of sound, I looked into the different players. There aren't a ton and Sonos was the leader. I dug into both Sonos and Bluesound becuase I knew I'd be building a new house and would be purchasing a lot of components - so before the big financial investment, I wanted to make sure I was heading in the right direction. Because it all came down to quality of sound for me, I leaned heavily towards Bluesound. I started my journey by purchasing the Bluesound Powernode about 2 years ago, and replacing my amplifier in my office with it. I had 2 simple bookshelf speakers and a powered sub. WOW, once i set it up I was floored at how much better sounding the system was. I was very much hooked on the experience and did really like how Bluesound and the BluOS worked. I then bought 2 of these speakers for my house and have been testing them out in relation to my home and home network. Now for the support team. With one of the speakers there was an issue where it would cut out/power off and because it was so new I didn't want to try and deal with it. I worked through their support team and the replaced it for me. That was a year ago and I just worked with their support team for the PowerNode that was out of warranty, but they also replaced that for me and their support team is responsive and very helpful. It feels like they've been working on the support side, which for me is key since i'll be purchasing a LOT more components at the end of this year when our house is finished - and I want to make sure I'm completely covered. TLDR; Loud, clear audio and great support means i've found a long term partner for my expansion needs.

I didn't return it because it is very convenient to be able to move around a player in and out of the house that is synced with my HiFi system. Unfortunately, the sound quality is not great. Why build a high-resolution, uncompressed digital audio streamer that sounds so dull? My Ultimate Ears "Mega Boom" Bluetooth speaker sounds WAY better for 1/4 the cost. I am a recording engineer and listen to a wide range of music from classical and jazz to bluegrass and R&B.

I like this - it is reliable (I've owned it for over 6 months) and has a nice soundstage that makes it sound a good bit bigger than it is. I use it at low volume exclusively and do not need more than mono - However, it definitely does not sound like a point source (and this is adjustable). Overall, very high quality with a reliable wi-fi connection to my home network. I have not tried bluetooth. The app is easy to use to control it - the buttons on the top less so.

The speaker advertises as voice control but that is NOT exactly true. You have to talk to your cellular to make it work. The Speaker does NOT have a microphone so you can NOT talk directly to the speaker. I spent 4 hours on their web site and then finally talked to Chris, the BlueSound technician, technical specialist and he confirmed this point to me on the phone. Do NOT buy this if you want to talk directly to the speaker.

This is a well-made, well-designed wireless speaker, and for under $400, it could be recommended. But, at $800 misses the mark. What's the mark? Sound quality. There's a distracting digital quality to things when the volume is turned up. Everything sounds a bit harsh, lacking timbre, realism and smoothness. The soundstage is very impressive, but after listening for more than a few songs, I couldn't shake that "something's not quite right" feeling. Yes, the speaker was well burned in, and I have more than 40 years of audiophile experience, so I know what's what, and what a speaker is worth. Dig a bit deeper in your pocket and get the Bowers & Wilkins Foundation Wedge or the Naim Nu-so. They're also overpriced, but much more satisfying.

I read a professional review that doubted there was any value in the built in Roon compatibility. That compatibility was one of the reasons I picked the Pulse 2i over it's competition. I also have a Tidal subscription and appreciate it's built in MQA decoding. Listening to some well mixed music can sound like there's another speaker in the room (full stereo), using the 'wide' feature. I have several mid-Fi audio components, and I find the audio quality of the Pulse 2i completely adequate for my bedroom sound system. I recommend this Smart Speaker if it fits your integration needs. Shipping box is useful if you want to take it with you on a trip Setup is trivial, although firmware update took some time Paired with a Li-ion AC power block it would make a good portable for camping, etc.

I purchased a soundbar and sub about two years ago. This simple setup seemed to work great so I decided to expand to a multi room setup and add surround sound speakers. Huge mistake. Since purchase and setup I have been plagued with a ton of issues that all trace back to a serious lack of thought on the software and networking side. Now for reference Im a network engineer turned cybersec architect with 13 years experience. I've been around a lot of software and networking stuff, and the choices made by bluesound are beyond pitiful. Let's start with the basics, network connection. These are wireless speakers whose main pitch is to allow multi room setup. Bluesound clearly cheaper out on whatever chips they use, because the speakers routinely see a signal strength about 10 dBm below what every other device/diagnostic tool does. This leads to incredibly degraded sound quality on speakers that are barely fifteen feet of unobstructed Line of Sight from the wireless access point. Additionally there has apparently been a bug in how they group speakers for Dolby surround with theater mode. I've had no eta on fixing it or any details, and no contacts from any senior support people despite promises they would. Onto the app. Some appalling design choices here. So the speakers will cast a non internet connected Hotspot for initial wireless network config. That makes sense, you connect to the devices Hotspot and then put in wifi info so it can join the network. One problem here, the app is designed so the speakers FIRST try to find an update and get stuck in that loop BEFORE YOU CAN CONNECT IT TO YOUR NETWORK AND THE INTERNET! This essentially forces you to have to login to the config page of the speaker to configure network settings as the app has no way to cancel the update search. Additionally common sense requests from the community, like being able to add speakers to multiple groups for on the fly sound assignment (basic feature for these types of devices) has been "on there to do list" for about 2-3 years from what I can tell from the forum posts. Dozens/hundreds of requests, no real movement or change from bluesound. As for support... Nice enough, but it seems like it's one person or two, and they essentially just read off a basic network troubleshooting guide with heavy implication you've set things up wrong. Now given my background I was able to counter this and prove my network was not at issue, unfortunately since this seems to be all they can address that left me dead in the water with my issues around quality, network connectivity, the surround sound bug, app issues, and other random big and little annoyances. I am heavily regretting ordering the additional speakers for my setup, and even more so on investing in this ecosystem in the first place. I am extremely dissapointed in the quality of the devices given my setup has cost around 3.5k, and bluesound does not seem to care to do much about it beyond imply I must have done SOMETHING wrong with my network config (again they can't say what because each specific they've had me check has come back fine/clean/configured properly of course) or say they're "looking into it". I would look at Sonos or Bose if I had to do this again. One final point, I've been able to get my system barely working (frequently need to reboot or reset/resync devices) mainly due to my Profesional background, it's absurd that these devices are so poorly made with regards to the network/wireless component that it essentially requires a background in network engineering to get about 70% of the functionality you're hoping for.

This Bluetooth speaker is great. Amazing sound, achieves high volumes without distortion. Deep base yet midrange is pure. would recommend for a small to medium room or for outside use.

Es ist so traurig, dass wir verlernt haben uns einen richtigen Klang zu gönnen! Musik aus Smartphones ist unser Alltag geworden. Wir merkten aber, dass wir von den Tönen sehr schnell gereizt wurden. Nun steht bei uns Bluesound Pulse 2i und verzaubert uns mit dem klaren Klang und jedem einzelnen Detail in dem Musikstück, was gerade abgespielt wird. Ich frage mich nur, ob die Box wirklich was besonderes wäre, oder die einfach die Musik wiedergibt wie sie klingen soll! Wir hörten die Musik den ganzen Abend und wollten nicht ins Bett, so verzaubert waren wir von dem Klang und allen Nuancen der Lieder, die wir eigentlich schon immer gehört haben. Kurz zu App: die Installation ist wirklich pain in the A..! Wifi wurde nach dem 3. Versuch gefunden. Die Box leuchtete Blau, was bedeutet, dass sie im Netz war, aber weder IPhone, noch Samsung Geräte konnten die Box in der App sehen. Danke, dass hier jemand meinte, dass man die App löschen muss und dann wieder installieren. Genau das hat uns geholfen. Amazon Musik funktioniert super. Spotify geht nur mit Premium Mitgliedschaft, was sehr enttäuschend ist. Allerdings kann man über Bluetooth die Musik zur Box leiten. Das klingt gut. Wenn man aber das gleiche Lied von Amazon direkt über die Box spielt, dann fällt man vom Stuhl, was für Klangunterschiede es gibt. Musik aus dem IPhone kann man direkt über AirPlay hören. Man aktiviert das Symbol direkt beim Lied in ITunes. Die Verbindung wurde komischerweise ab und zu getrennt. Kann allerdings an meinem alten IPhone liegen. Die Box spielt also bei uns von morgens bis abends und wir genießen die Musik endlich wieder in vollen Zügen. Bluesound hat uns ein Stück von Lebensqualität wieder zurück gegeben. Eine absolute Kaufempfehlung!

Overall: what is desired from (a set of) loudspeakers is, in the end, high quality sound. At the end of the day, the Pulse 2i "smart" speakers very capably deliver this. I notice that it is very difficult to find the frequency range of these speakers anywhere in the documentation: it is roughly 51 Hz to 17.7 kHz. Unless you're a very young teenager, a dog or a bat you won't hear anything higher than that. For optimal bass performance, though, their subwoofer will be necessary. Still, a PAIR of speakers delivers well for normal daily listening, especially if you use the best controller settig. Why only 4 stars? 1) These speakers are overpriced relative to the rest of the field. Bluesound was an early entrant into this category of loudspeaker and is apparently still trading on that. I estimate the price should be dropped around $150 or so. 2) Documentation for setup is extraordinarily rudimentary and poor. Those reporting any sort of "ease" of setup here likely have had prior experience with setup that they've forgotten about. The fact is, loudspeaker setup could hardly be MORE difficult or poorly documented. In particular, a new speaker goes through an initial upgrade process that isn't mentioned in the written documentation and that confounds the entire process. Moreover, when using them with WiFi the ISP connectivity isn't well represented in the controller. 3) I'm not entirely convinced these loudspeakers have the longevity that they should, though I could be wrong about that. Note: individual speakers perform well, but don't have nearly the same presence that two do. So, if at all possible, get two. You'll be glad you did.

Speaker arrived faster than expected. Packaging of the product was exceptional. Great sound from this speaker. I have since ordered the sound bar and sub for one room and going to get the new powernode and the flex speakers for another room…pleased customer 👌

Ich habe lange meinen Vifa Stockholm 2.0 als Wlan Lautsprecher im Wohnzimmer benutzt. Da wir bald umziehen und mir der Vifa zu groß (lang) für das neue Zimmer ist, muss nun etwas neues her. Geld sollte nicht die Rolle spielen, bis 1000 Euro wäre i.O. Nach sehr langer Recherche und Probehören kam der Bluesound und der Denon Home 350 in die enge Wahl. Lautsprecher von B&W oder auch die KEF LSX sind schon in der Vorrunde rausgeflogen. Immer wieder bemerke ich, dass viel Werbung immer dort gemacht wird, wo der Klang von allein nicht aussreicht!!! Aufgrund der vielen positiven Bewertungen im Internet kommt man um den Pulse 2i nicht herum. Die Erwartungen sind dadurch sehr hoch. Ich beziehe mich nur auf den Klang, die Einrichtung ist heut zu Tage mit allen Lautsprechern ein Kinderspiel, hier hatte ich bei keiner Firma Probleme. Die ersten Klänge des Bluesound waren erschreckend. Mein Sonos Roam hätte diesen an die Wand gespielt. Nach intensivem Ausprobieren in den Einstellungen hatte ich den (mich mich) optimalsten Ton der App eingestellt. Jede weitere Veränderung des EQ hätte den Klang verschlechtert. Hört man nun eine Weile nur den Bluesound könnte man wirklich überzeugt sein. Besonders ist v.a die Wiedergabe der Details. Der Lautsprecher ist ab Werk wirklich sehr Hell, fast Spitz abgemischt. Jedes Hintergrundinstrument wird dadurch um so besser und klarer herausgearbeitet. Der Bass ist absolut ausreichend aber eher neutral als fett. Schaltet man nun aber mal zum Denon 350 oder dem Vifa rüber, dann kommt der Schock. Selbst meine Frau und auch ein Freund haben im Blindtest meine Meinung bestätigt. Die Stimmen klingen schrecklich! Etwas zu viel Hall und obwohl der Hochton etwas spitz ist, kommen stimmen eher dumpf. Insgesamt wirkt der Ton eher blechern und fast wie eine Live-Aufnahme. Mein alter Bose soundtouch 20 klang im direkten Vergleich für alle 3 Personen besser. Der Sieger aller Lautsprecher war aber ganz klar der Denon. Der Bass ist ein Wucht!, nicht nur aufgebläht sondern gut differenziert und trocken. Ich habe dennoch den Bass in den Minusbereich stellen müssen, da es sonst zu viel des Guten wäre. Die Instrumente kommen sehr klar und fein rüber, wenn auch nicht ganz so präsent wie beim Bluesound. Hier war es mir aber definitiv zu spitz und aufdringlich bei manchen Liedern. Die Stimmen jedoch, sind um Welten besser als beim Pulse 2i. Man bedenke auch den Preisunterschied von 250 Euro, sowie die Schnellwahltasten direkt am Gerät bei Denon. Der Pulse ist für mich keine Kaufoption, jedoch sind Geschmäcker bekanntlich verschieden- Selbst ausprobieren, aber bitte VERGLEICHEN! Nur den Bluesound allein hören, macht keinen Sinn. Ich hoffe mein Tipp hilft dem einen oder anderen, den Denon sollte sich jeder mal anhören.

Integrated well with bluesound product. Good addition to the overall system. Providing the extra benefit of mobility