Bull Audio has arrived in the Philippines, aiming to offer affordable high-quality sound solutions with designs inspired from Ibiza. Fortunately, we were able to get our hands on a couple of their offerings.
In this article, we’ll be looking at the Bull Audio Nova and Bull Audio Retro speakers. One is built for partying, while the other is more compact and fit for smaller gatherings or personal use.
Aside from their attractive price points, both devices are in for a review to know how these products elevate the listening experience.
Design and Construction
Kicking things off, let’s talk about Nova’s build. It gives a more modern take on rugged speakers and it’s as light as a small school bag filled with books. The speaker is made with a mix of mostly polycarbonate material with rubber coating.
Once it’s turned on, you’ll notice that it has a subwoofer fitted with RGB lights and the Bull Audio branding at the center. Their logo is also etched on the sides in the shape of a mic with rubber-sealed surfaces.
On top, there are rubberized buttons with a volume dial in the middle. There’s also what seems to be a handle just above it, which we assume is for carrying the speaker.
At the back, we have the ports that come with a detachable cover. There’s also a vent at the bottom to help with thermals.
Input options include a 3.5mm audio jack, a USB Type-A port, a TF card port, and a Type-C DCIN port.
There’s also a port for a wired microphone, which is dependent on whether you’d make use of the speaker’s wireless mics.
That’s right, the Nova speaker comes with a couple of microphones and a small remote in the box.
The mics are sizable and come with volume buttons. Meanwhile, the remote has controls for mic volume, LED toggling, and play controls.
Next, we have the Retro, and as the name suggests, it comes with more of a vintage look at a more compact size. It comes with a leather strap, a fabric finish for its mesh, and small polycarbonate stubs to support it standing up.
Similarly, the front flashes the Bull Audio logo for users to see. However, I think the designers could’ve opted for a more minimalist approach to this.
On top of it, we have playback buttons for volume, play and pause, mode, LED toggles, and the power switch. Like the Nova, it’s coated in rubber with its surroundings made of plastic separated from the fabric mesh.
At the back, we have the ports with a detachable cover again. However, it comes with less input options, including only a 3.5mm audio jack, a USB Type-A, and a Type-C ports.
Below it is the speaker’s LED light, which feels a bit weird considering the logo is found up front. It’s just a small nitpick, but maybe this could’ve been at the front while the ports and logo could’ve been together.
Generally though, Bull Audio’s offerings are quite nice design-wise. They certainly put thought into how the build and construction played out with minor gripes on our end.
Buttons, Connectivity, and Battery Life
Going back to the Nova speaker, there are buttons for power, LED toggle, echo, bass boost, and play controls. For the mode button, users get a few options, such as the auxiliary cord, Bluetooth, and the TF card slot.
While we mostly used Bluetooth for the speaker without a hitch, other connectivity options work just fine. Another extra feature it has is TWS pairing, which enables it to use two Nova speakers for a wider audio output.
For the microphones, however, connecting it to the speaker wasn’t as straightforward as it should be. Pairing takes a while, as it doesn’t really come with a dedicated app to help streamline the process.
Next, we have the remote, which offers a lot of buttons for sound profiles. What’s not as nice is its equalizer button, which is essentially a toggle and there’s no way for users to customize it.
There’s also its RGB lighting toggles, which can be tinkered with via the button or remote. While it’s capable of syncing with audio playback, it isn’t as refined as users would expect.
This is the same for the smaller Retro speaker, which comes with similar features at a smaller scale. Like the Nova speaker, we mostly used the speaker with Bluetooth, but its aux cord is a handy alternative.
For battery life, the Retro packs a 2000mAh battery and it’s good for about 10 hours of playtime on a single charge. Speaking of, it supports 3.7V charging rate, and Bull Audio says it’s ready to go again after 3 hours of charging.
Meanwhile, the Nova is rated at 12 to 20 hours of playback, recommended for trips out and larger functions in a medium-sized room. However, its rated capacity hasn’t been disclosed.
Sound Quality
For sound quality, both speakers generally come with consistent tuning. Clarity is decent and doesn’t leave more to be desired considering what it’s worth.
For reference, the Nova speaker has an output of 50-60W. Meanwhile, the Retro speaker has a smaller 14W output. For the Nova, lows, mids, and highs are preserved well, even with the highest volume. The Retro has nods in mids and highs, with the lows or bass needing some work.
There’s minimal distortion at max volume for the Nova, which is nice. The Retro, on the other hand, is still good to blast without worry.
To sum both up, the Nova is loud with balanced dynamics, although has a bit of distortion when on full blast. The Retro is generally fine with my only gripe being the lack of bass.
Verdict
The Bull Audio Nova and Bull Audio Retro speakers are fresh arrivals in the Philippines whose designs stand out. Among the two, the Retro speaker feels more straightforward to use.
Both devices do have their own pros and cons. What stood out for the Retro is how nice it was fleshed out with my only issue is its RGB lighting placement. It also has generally good audio output despite lacking bass.
While the Nova aims to be feature packed, it’s a hassle with how the microphones and sound profile toggles work. We feel like a dedicated app or a great one-pager could remedy this.
Still, the Nova comes with a great price, retailing for PHP 4,999. Interested users could still check it out with its special intro price of PHP 4,499.
As for the Retro, it has an SRP of PHP 1,999. Like the Nova speaker, it comes with a promo price of PHP 1,399 should users want to cop it.
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