Devialet Mania Review: Incredible "Portable" Speaker!

So this is Devialet’s new “portable” speaker. Portable in quotation marks because it’s not really all that portable at 2.3KG, but I must say, it sounds pretty darn good. We have the Devialet Mania speaker with us today, and I actually quite like it.

Design

So, let’s talk design first. The first time I saw the speaker, I thought it looked like a kettlebell, but of course, far more luxurious. You get a spherical eyeball-esque look to the speaker, with push-push configuration woofers on either side, and a small handle at the top for carrying around. There are four full-range drivers that you’ll be able to somewhat see under the fabric covering. It might not be too obvious on camera, but in real life, there’s a slight puckering of the fabric where it covers the grilles, so yeah.

The unit we have with us today is the more expensive Paris Opera edition that comes with a 24-carat moongold plating. It looks very elegant, sure, but it’s also priced at S$1,760, or S$400 more expensive than the regular edition, which comes in at S$1,360. But, the Paris Opera edition does come with the wireless charging dock included, which is priced at S$129, if that helps soften the blow a little.

Anyway, back to the design. The handle has a rubber coating to it, and it extends to the sides and bottom of the speaker. On either side of the speaker, you get three buttons. One side hosts the play/pause and volume up and down buttons, while the other side has the power button, the Bluetooth pairing button and the last button is to check the battery level of the speaker.

App & Features

Let’s move on to software. You need to get the Devialet app, which will then allow you access to stuff like a limited EQ for the bass and treble, active stereo calibration and… yeah that’s about it. The app is really simplistic and there’s not really a LOT of features to toggle on or off.

The most important one would be active stereo calibration, which makes use of the speaker’s four microphones to adjust the sound based on the room. So basically, if you have the speaker in the middle of the room, it’ll blast sound out equally in 360 stereo, but if you put it against a wall, it’ll adjust the output of the two drivers near the wall and such.

Another cool feature that Devialet has included would be Speaker Active Matching which works in tandem with the woofers to really pump out bass.

Connectivity

As for connectivity, there is no analogue input so you will have to stream your music over Bluetooth, of which the speaker supports Bluetooth 5.0. Aside from that, there’s also AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect. The speaker does support Alexa, but I don’t use it, so yeah.

Battery Life

There’s a 3,200mAh battery inside that Devialet says can last up to 10 hours, but of course, this is very dependent on how loud you’re using the speaker and such. There is, however, a USB-C charging port, which is nice, and there’s also the option for the wireless charging pad, although that’s an additional purchase.

There’s IPX4 water resistance here, so it will hold up to splashes of water, but at this price point, I’d really be quite careful with the speaker regardless.

Sound Quality

And now, sound quality. I must say, I’m not the biggest fan of Devialet when it comes to speakers, as I generally find them slightly overpriced. But for the Mania, I think the sound quality is actually quite worth the money. I’ve been using this primarily on my desk next to me while I’ve been working, and the moment I first put on Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy? Wow. The bass that this speaker can pump out is actually quite insane. It’s deep, textured, powerful. But more than that, the mids and the treble is so clear and distinct. And Devialet’s managed to do all that, in such a small footprint. Granted, it’s kinda dense and slightly heavy, but the fullness and richness of the sound is just incredible.

And of course, the soundstage is fantastic. It fills the room, it’s immersive and all. The one thing I will note is that if you’re listening to songs that have the instruments running from left to right, you will notice that it’s not quite as precise. But honestly, it’s just how these 360-degree stereo speakers are. For the most part, positioning and all are perfectly fine.

If you have cash to burn, by all means, you might like the Paris Opera version. For most people though, there should be no sound difference compared to the normal one, so I would certainly, myself at least, buy the normal one and save that extra bit of cash for something else. But this is a very impressive speaker, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed having it on my desk for the past week.