Devialet’s first portable wireless speaker comes trundling into our hands looking totally unique… but will we be bowled over by its thumping bass?

[ Words Simon Lucas ]

£690 / go.stuff.tv/Mania

Does it resemble a glitzy bowling ball? A gym kettle bell? Maybe a teapot? We’re used to Devialet serving up products that are downright weird, so it’s no real surprise the firm’s first portable speaker is a distinctive one.

At 2.3kg the Mania is a dense little thing – definitely on the heavy side for slinging into a backpack and taking any further than ‘down the garden’. It’s reassuringly constructed and finished, mind you.

That weight hints at what’s inside too: four full-range drivers lurk beneath the fabric grilles, with two woofers in a push-push arrangement at the sides. It aims to deliver “360° stereo sound”, using four mics to adjust its output relative to where you plonk it down. And thanks to an IPX4 rating, those surroundings can even safely be a little on the damp side.

Can something so small deliver sonic performance to put its hi-fi rivals to shame?

Tech specs

Drivers 4x full-range, 2x woofers Amplifiers 4x 25W, 2x 38W Connectivity Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect Codecs AAC/SBC Battery 3200mAh Durability IPX4 Dimensions 193x176x139mm, 2.3kg

Bowl lotta love

There’s a lot going on under the Mania’s hood – some of it good, some of it maybe a little bit less good…

■ Ball bearings It’s got Wi-Fi, so the Mania will work with Spotify Connect and AirPlay 2, but on the Bluetooth front only basic SBC and AAC codecs are supported. This means Android owners can’t stream in the highest possible quality. n Ball control The four microphones don’t just monitor the room to improve sound quality – they also work with Alexa. It’s not at its sharpest-eared here, and needs setting up through Amazon’s app, but it is responsive enough.

■ Play ball

Devialet’s free control app is best described as ‘focused’. There’s no integrating your favourite streaming service or internet radio, but you can tweak the sound with a two-band EQ and add it to a multiroom setup.

■ Masked ball The handy little strip of four tiny LEDs that indicate battery status is found on the opposite side of the speaker to the button that turns them on. That makes it a teeny bit fiddly for at-a-glance checking.

For some listeners, the Devialet Mania will be pretty much ideal – we all know someone who’s all about that bass, after all. We love the spherical styling and are seriously impressed with how much volume is on tap. But if you prefer a properly balanced and realistic sound, this speaker might prove to be too much of a good thing. @OnlySimonLucas

STUFF SAYS ✩✩✩

Meaty, beaty, big and bouncy: the Mania is easy on the eye but more bass-heavy than you might be expecting