As a follow up to the Zeppelin mini, Bowers and Wilkins unveiled their Z2, an Apple AirPlay capable speaker designed to work with the iPhone 5’s 8 pin connector.
The Z2 is the first of its kind to connect with Apple’s Lightning connector, enabling it to hook up directly to the iPhone 5, iPod Touch (5th generation) and iPod Nano (7th generation). A slot sits on top of the speaker, allowing you to slide in whatever device you’re using. If you don’t have anything with Apple’s Lightning connector, you can still connect through Apple AirPlay, allowing you to stream music using either the Internet or an MP3 file. The quality difference between the Lightning connection and Apple AirPlay is unnoticeable. The Z2 also features WiFi connectivity.
The set up is painless. You’ll need to grab the app off the Internet, but through the app you can customize the speaker to your own desire and be playing music within a few minutes.
As for specs, the Z2 pumps out a total of 40 watts (2 x 20 watts), and has a frequency range of -6dB at 42Hz and 22Hz. As far as design goes, you have two options for color: white or a matte black. The speaker itself is covered with a curved metal grill. It’s got decent size, weighing in at 2.6 kg and measuring 320mm by 180mm. The audio plays clean, and it’s one of the best sounding AirPlay speakers on the market in its price range.
The Bowers and Wilkins Z2 comes in at $399.99, the matte black design ships in April with the white design coming along in June.
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