Sharp GX-BT480 is a large, very large Bluetooth speaker designed especially for those who conceive music in company.
It is useless to deny that the thought runs fast to the new generations, who can take advantage of a Bluetooth speaker that is excellent for enjoying the best outdoor tracks, especially now that the warm season arrives, but also those who do group activities in places where there is none. an electrical outlet, and and needs important help, which is not afraid of large spaces.
Sharp GX-BT480, the review
Dimensions that matter
Already from the box it is clear that the Sharp GX-BT480 is a very generously sized speaker: a cylinder of 31 cm in length for about 13 or 14 in diameter (depending on whether we also include the underlying base or not), whose weight exceeds very little 2.2 Kg.
A “monstrous” speaker therefore, which in terms of size has very few rivals in the market, and which is certainly a good business card for Sharp that wants to enter a market, that of Bluetooth speakers, in full swing.
Inside the box there are the speaker, the USB / MicroUSB cable for the power supply, the power supply (with all the international sockets) and a convenient strap, which hooks to the rings in the upper part, and which transforms the Sharp GX-BT480 in a kind of shoulder bag.
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Ready for war
Once put on the track, you immediately notice the large Play button at the top, with the volume buttons next to it: the other playback and control buttons are on one side, while the convectors are on the other, protected by a semi-removable rubber.
Sharp GX-BT480 is in fact certified IP56, which means that it doesn't give a damn about dust and splashes, but it cannot be immersed in water: a protection quite in line with what is the use of the speaker, by the pool or on the beach. .
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On the side of the controls there is also a small blue LED that indicates its operation and the five white LEDs that instead offer the battery status: however, these light up for a second each time you press one of the buttons, which is good because keeps the battery status clear, but sometimes it seems like a defect.
The internal battery, from 10400 mAh, officially allows up to 20 hours of autonomy, an estimate that we fully agree with: we used the Sharp GX-BT480 for a whole week without recharging and without fear (in a different way), always via Bluetooth from an iPhone 8, and durability is undoubtedly one of the product's winning features.
On the other hand, there is no USB-A socket for charging a smartphone, which we would have expected with such a capable battery.
Power to sell
Put to the test the Sharp GX-BT480 is capable of offering a musical volume well worthy of the physical volume it presents. The speaker fully fills a room in a house, even a large one, and with the right acoustics even a small gym, all by itself.
The audio, 40 W (100 dB) is directional, comes out from the front, while the bass comes out from the back (or so it seems, we haven't taken it apart) and has its best part in the volume, although we would have liked have aptX codec on board and instead nothing.
Tested on some tracks, the audio offers a good but not exceptional listening, especially in the definitions of the higher frequencies. The speaker offers three different types of equalizations, achievable from the side controls that actually improve a bit especially in movies, but for the music department the Sharp GX-BT480 proves to be an excellent road companion, less listening for fine palates.
The voice assistants are absent, which in the case of Google Assistant and SIRI can be called up but only as a bridge for the smartphone.
Ultimately, the possibility of excluding listening via Bluetooth and focusing on the internal one via MicroSD (up to 32GB, MP3, WAV, FLAC and APE supported audio) is interesting, so that listening is truly completely independent.
Considerations
If you are looking for a portable speaker, which accompanies you practically anywhere with friends indoors or outdoors, Sharp GX-BT480 is a good solution for many reasons: the battery is very large, the possibility of listening to audio even from SD is convenient and the strap solves many of the problems due to transport (because otherwise you would need a backpack on purpose).
The audio is good, not excellent but in our opinion it is not an essential parameter for this type of device, because usually environmental noises are a much greater problem and in any case in this range the price / performance ratio is really interesting.
Pro:
• Very good autonomy • The strap is very comfortable • The use of a MicroSD for the songs can be very useful
Cons:
• The audio can be improved • It was useful to use the internal battery for other purposes
Price:
• 159.00 Euro
Readers can find the Sharp GX-BT480 directly from the Amazon.co.uk pages.
