There have been many examples of wireless speaker technology over the years, and while the majority works well enough for what it promises, range has not been one of those exemplary virtues of these products. The IFA however has brought to light TrekStor’s Wireless SoundBox, and now getting long-range sound wirelessly is as easy as plugging in a USB dongle.

The Wireless SoundBox consists of the aforementioned USB dongle which runs on the 2.4GHz wavelength, and two SoundBoxes. While this raises worries of inter-device interference due to the many types of devices plying this wavelength route (such as WiFi routers, wireless phones, even high-end wireless keyboards), the Engadget team (www.engadget.com) was actually impressed with its range during the recent IFA Consumer Electronics trade fair in Berlin. Considering the number of 2.4GHz devices on the show floor, the speakers played flawless, no-lag sounds, and at a fair distance too. This is probably due to its “great connection security” according to its marketing rundown, attributed to the inclusion of 8 selectable transmission channels within the 2.4GHz band.

This seems to substantiate the company’s claims of a 25 meter range, perhaps we can confirm this if we get shipping products here in the Philippines and we can get our hands on a unit. Other than range, expandability is another good point of the SoundBox, with the capability to support up to 20 additional SoundBox speakers (a total of 22) – on a single stereo set (dongle plus 2 SoundBoxes). Each box is battery-powered, with a claim of 12-hour wireless music playback on one set of batteries. Line-in ports are also provided for direct wired connection to the speakers.

Over everything else, the company seems to be concentrating on making their product as simple to use as possible, which is complemented by its intrinsically easier-to-set-up nature as wireless devices (usually that is). Instead of running wires around and about your other devices (or the furniture, or the ceiling), these speakers make surround-sound a plug-and-play affair. Sound quality as tested by Engadget seems to be merely adequate, in other words, it performs as expected but doesn’t surprise with bigger sound than what it seems able to produce, unlike the elephant earbuds reviewed here.

Video taken by Engadget at the IFA. All credit goes to them.

The 2.4GHz band has long been used for PC devices, and as said above, wireless speakers are nothing new. It is gratifying to see that a product executed well, even without any blatant innovation, can still make jaded editors stand up and take notice, and make me anticipate something that’s not a high-end videocard or a swanky-looking laptop. I can’t wait for these speakers to get here.