Creative D100 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker

Full Review

Creative D100 is a wireless speaker system to let you stream music from any Bluetooth enabled device - PC, mobile phone, MP3 players etc. The Bluetooth wireless speaker works either with a four AA batteries or AC mains power and it is the most affordable speaker in Creative's wireless line up which includes the ZiiSound D5 and Creative D200.

Features and Design
The Creative D100 comes in four different colors - black, blue. pink and fluorescent green and we received the  black color version which has a plastic moulded body that tapers towards the back. The body measures 336 x 115 x 115 mm which resembles many center channel speaker of a standard Home Theater system.The system weighs 1 kg without battery and the build quality is good. Its plastic matte finish is much better in keeping fingerprints and smudges at bay.

The front has a cloth speaker-grill which is not removable and at the center there are controls for pairing and volume with one power LED indicator. The speaker has one port at the back and below there is a power switch, aux-in and AC power socket. The bottom has a compartment to house 4 AA batteries.
Creative has rated the D100's frequency response as 20Hz to 20KHz and the system is compatible with any device that supports Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP/AVRCP Profile. The device operating range is rated at up to 10 meters in an open space.

Performance
I paired the Creative D100 with devices like iPod Touch 4G, Dell Inspiron Mini 1012, Nokia 5800 XM and also connected to a PC via its Aux-in. Pairing happened in a jiffy and the 10 meter range worked as expected and the signal drop did not happen even with one wall in between the audio device and the Creative D100.

And for the sound quality, the Creative D100 reproduced above average mids and highs but the lack of bass is our biggest disappointment. Yes, we did not expect earth-shaking deep end bass from this tubular box but we had to listen hard to notice the bass and left us wanting more.

The mids and highs are clear but the highs could have extended more - streaming music whether its is a high bit rate audio files sounded slightly dull. The mids are crisp but again, they also could have sounded crispier and richer.  For Rs.4499. we just wished they delivered a much more balanced sound. The overall sound signature is slightly dull, mid dominated sound. In short, the lack of clarity and depth disappointed us.

One good thing about the Creative D100 though, is they never sounded distorted or bloated. They played loud enough for a bedroom or in a mid-size room but it was hard to get excited by the sound they reproduced and we found it convenience and simplicity more impressive than its musicality.The four AA batteries lasted for around 18 hours of audio playback which also makes the system suitable for prolonged outdoor use.

Bottom Line

The Creative D100 offers simple wireless solution for everyone to play their music collection easily. It has a lighweight design and its AA battery option makes it a good portable option for casual listening indoors and outdoors . For Rs.4,499 though, the Creative D100 Bluetooth Wireless Speaker has average sound quality which is unexciting and lacking refinement especially at the lower and higher frequency.