Neulich in the conference. One of the group is missing, so he is connected via mobile phone. Aiming the phone reasonably properly so that the person in the distance hears as much as possible is anything but easy and ultimately unsuccessful. The smartphone is poorly suited for such usage scenarios; its microphones focus on a speaker and not the surrounding area. A lot can be improved with a conference loudspeaker, a large loudspeaker offers more sound pressure and does not distort at high levels. Microphones that capture everything in turn take everyone from the round with them, and then there are the tricks of the electronics.
This type of device is therefore always recommended when more than two people are communicating with each other. Conference loudspeakers are usually connected to computers, smartphones or tablets via USB or Bluetooth. The end device recognizes them as a loudspeaker-microphone combination and they are suitable for telephone calls, chats and video conferences. As a part-time job, they play the music. Manufacturers in this area are Poly, Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic or Dell.
We have been using a Speak speaker from the manufacturer Jabra for years. He is not only responsible for hands-free telephony with Bluetooth, but also has to take on the task of the PC loudspeaker as a part-time job. To do this, it is connected to the computer with a USB cable. Last, but not least, you could also use it to play music, the sound is quite decent.
Jamba invests a lot in design and conception
Now Jabra has released version 2 of its conference speakers, they are called Speak 2 75, Speak 2 55 and Speak 2 40 and cost between 180 and 400 euros. We tested the largest with the 75 millimeter speaker and the medium-sized with 55 millimeters for a while. We left out the smallest model, which has neither built-in Bluetooth nor a battery.
As always, Jabra invests heavily in design and conception. The loudspeaker is operated with softkeys on the outer edge of the housing. The key assignment is printed on the smaller model. The larger one displays them with a backlight, but only when switched on. The speaker is now protected with fabric, which quickly attracts dust. We liked the metallic cover of the predecessor better.
With a light ring: the large Speak 2 75 from Jabra visualizes whether you are speaking loudly enough.
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Image: manufacturer
As usual, the USB cable can be rolled up at the lower edge of the case. Unfortunately, the new model series does not have the kickstand, with which the speaker can also be placed upright. To support the transition to USB C, there is now the new universal connection as standard and a USB-A adapter that can be plugged in.
Both loudspeakers are put into operation quickly. When switched on, a rotating LED ring shows the status, in red a mute or in green an ongoing call. At the same time, the element also visualizes the battery level and the quality of the input signal. If the ring lights up orange while speaking, you should move closer to the device or speak louder. However, this only works with the 75 model.
Up to 32 hours of battery life
If the old conference loudspeakers only had one built-in microphone, there are now four. Another finesse is the background noise suppression, which absorbs ambient noise amazingly well. We played loud music on the radio, started a phone call in which we suppressed the reflex to shout against the music, and talked at a normal volume. The interlocutor heard nothing from the music, you can hardly believe it, it borders on magic. The Jabra specialists also coped well with clattering cups and heckling. There is also speech leveling, which helps ensure that all voices can be heard equally well, regardless of the volume. In this way, even the quiet speaker in the back corner makes an audibly good impression.
The new speakers support common conference systems such as Microsoft Teams, Google Meet or Zoom. Jabra specifies the battery life of the large speaker as up to 32 hours, the 55 should last twelve hours. In our opinion, this is realistic information. All in all, Jabra offers a very convincing solution for a lot of money that you quickly learn to appreciate. If you are looking for even better acoustics, you have to use fixed speaker microphones or ceiling microphones, which is very expensive.