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The Thumbs Up! Infinity speaker is an oval shaped unit that arrives attractively packaged in a solid box that helps inspire some confidence in the enclosed product.  Included in the box, with the speaker unit, are a micro-to-standard USB lead for charging purposes, an audio lead with 3.5mm jack plugs for linking those audio sources that do not support Bluetooth connectivity, a small booklet manual and a leaflet explaining how to claim a free gift and enter a competition to win a monthly prize.

The Infinity speaker has dimensions of 170 x 87 x 55mm (W x H x D) and weighs 360g.  Due to the bulk of this device, you are unlikely to consider slipping it into a pocket when on your travels.  A bag would be a more appropriate means of transportation and it is a pity such a useful accessories was not included with the product especially if it was made of a cloth material which could then double as a means of removing the fingers smears that quickly build up on one of the device’s surfaces.

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Covering the rear of the Infinity speaker along with its top and base is a compressed rubberised material.  Located on the rear of the speaker are sockets for connecting the supplied leads for linking and audio device not supporting Bluetooth and charging the unit’s 1200 mAh Lithium battery.  According to the User Manual, this battery should provide up to five hours of use while the press released I received indicated that a more generous 10 hours should be capable.  Actually both estimations were well wide of the mark and rather pessimistic.  Currently I have been listening to music for over 18 hours from a single battery charge.

The speaker’s controls are mounted on the top of the unit.  You can stop/start the music, increase and lower the volume level plus cycle backwards and forwards through tracks.  Unfortunately in an attempt to arrange these controls so that they form the infinity sign, they are placed rather close together.  As a result you could often find that instead of changing the volume level, you switch to another track.  Maybe somebody with pencil-thin fingers could get away with it but my digits really struggled for an accurate finger press.

Occupying the curved ends of the Infinity are perforated metallic grills situated over the pair of 3W speakers delivering the audio.  The front of the Infinity features an LED Equalizer, with ten lights, and a mirror.  This combination is meant to give the illusion that the lights generated by the equalizer are flying off into the speaker, presumably on a journey to infinity (the virtual location, not the speaker).  This light show, when it does make an appearance, is supposed to be generated so that it moves in time with the music.

I say “supposed” because I have very little evidence to go on.  When providing music from a smartphone via Bluetooth, the promised light show was conspicuous by its absence.  It was not until I switched to a wired connection using an iPod Classic and even then I needed to increase the volume level before there was an intermittent flashing of lights.  The appearance and pattern of the lights, when they did appear, bore little relationship to the tempo of the music being played.

While the presence of the mirror is meant to facilitate the occasional light show, it is very efficient at collecting finger smears from when the speaker is being handled.  I found it almost impossible to pick up the Infinity speaker without touching the mirror and leaving some evidence behind.

Despite the awkward method of control and the intermittence appearance of the light show, neither had too great an effect on the audio quality delivered by the Infinity speaker.  For a product of its size, I felt the audio quality of the speaker was excellent for both a personal and small group audience.  You just need to sit back and enjoy the music and forget about the light show. Currently the Infinity speaker is available from Amazon.co.uk priced at £43.15.

http://www.thumbsupuk.com/Products/Infinity_Speaker