BenQ TreVolo S Review

Pros

• Has multiple modes so you can use the speaker independently or sync up multiple speakers
• Up to an 18 hour play time, when running off of a full charge
• Compact body style with fold-out speakers make it lightweight and easy to travel with

Cons

• Less impressive audio performance when playing music with heavy bass instrumentals

BenQ treVolo Design

The design of the BenQ treVolo is fairly simple and meant for great portability.

There are two fold-out subwoofers (amplifiers) which helps to increase the audio quality when you’re playing music. When it’s time to pack back up, simply fold in the amplifiers and you’re on your way.

The central body of the speaker houses the actual speaker with 6 control buttons located on the top.

The 6 control buttons on top of the speaker includes:

• Play / pause
• Change mode (3D mode, duo mode, or party mode)
• Volume up
• Volume Down
• Bluetooth on / off
• Power on / off

There are also 3 different modes you can select from:

• 3D mode
• Duo mode
• Party mode

Using the BenQ treVolo Speaker

The BenQ treVolo speaker is easy to setup and intuitive.

To get started:

1. We unboxed the treVolo speaker and components
2. Assembled the power supply (2 pieces)
3. Plugged treVolo in to charge up

That’s all there is to setup.

Electrostatic Technology

The BenQ speaker system uses electrostatic technology to provide high-quality audio output. Electrostatic speaker technology is designed to decrease the distortion rate, providing clearer, deeper, smoother audio performance.

For comparison, conventional speakers have a distortion rate of about 10% while electrostatic speakers have a distortion rate of less than 1%, per manufacturer reports.

BenQ Audio App

BenQ offers an accompanying smartphone app to control the TreVolo settings.

The app is pretty basic, allowing you to:

• Enable / disable 3D sound
• Enable / disable Duo mode
• Monitor charging

3D Mode

The 3D mode on the BenQ S speaker allows you increase the dimension of the audio, without altering the soundwaves. This basically equates to less distortion in the audio, and a cleaner, crisper sound.

In general, I feel that the audio quality is already extremely crisp, especially for a speaker this size.

Enabling 3D mode does modify the sound, though I tend to prefer it in regular mode. I’m not sure I can even put my finger on what I don’t like as much about 3D mode…but it just feels off.

In any case, I expect this is a personal choice for many users.

Having the option of using 3D mode or not is a nice extra and can provide flexibility depending on your preferences.

Duo Mode

Duo mode allows you to pair two of these speakers together for improved stereo audio, with one speaker operating as the “left speaker” and the other speaker operating as the “right speaker”.

We only have one TreVolo speaker, so we weren’t able to test it, but it sounds like a cool feature.

Party Mode

The BenQ treVolo also offers party mode.

This mode seems substantially similar to Duo Mode, as it allows you to connect and use 2 treVolo speakers together.

BenQ treVolo Speaker Performance

To test the audio performance of the BenQ treVolo speaker we tried out the speaker with a variety of sound types and song choices. We also tested for maximum audio levels.

Testing the Bass

Some third-party reviews stated that the bass output of this little speaker could just not compete with higher quality speakers.

To test this for ourselves, we played a number of mostly hip hop and rock songs, which contain a lot of bass.

Overall, bass was sufficient.

With a speaker this size my bass expectations are pretty low. At the end of the day, a speaker like this can never really compare to a home theater system or larger more traditional sub-woofer.

Never-the-less, I still found the bass more than sufficient for how I’d use a speaker like this.

Oddly enough, I feel that the crispness of the audio helps the bass come through better. In certain songs I find that I hear elements of the music that I didn’t previously hear due to distortion.

The electrostatic design removes much of this distortion so you get a more crisp sound, which I feel has a positive impact on the bass as well.

Testing the Sound Output

At the highest volume the BenQ treVolo was able to emit up to 86 decibels of volume at 3′ away from the speaker.

For such a small speaker, this is a pretty solid.

For comparison, the Amazon Echo Dot 3rd generation generates 79 dB of volume. See our tests here.

Testing the Battery Life

The BenQ treVolo speaker claims to run for up to 18 hours before needing a charge.

That said, depending on how you use the speaker will effect the run time.

Playing at louder volume generally uses more power, and would therefor decrease the run time.

As far as charging time goes, we did not see any manufacturer guidelines on how long the unit needs to be charged to hit 100% charge.

Based on our experiences, it seemed to take about 1 hour for a full charge (at least that’s when the light stopped flashing).

BenQ treVolo S Specs

• Model: treVolo S – B0785FZ3S6
• Dimensions: 9.7” x 5” x 5”
• Weight: 2.2 pounds (1 kg)
• Frequency Response: 60 hZ ~ 20 hZ
• Maximum Volume: 86 dB
• Battery Life: 18 hours
• Charge Time: Unknown
• Charge Type: Micro USB
• Connection: Bluetooth 4.2
• Input: 3.5 mm stereo input, USB audio

Should you buy the BenQ treVolo S portable speaker?

So, is the BenQ treVolo S portable speaker right for you?

This speaker is small, lightweight and has a great battery life making it portable and easy to grab-and-go for day trips or longer vacations.

The fold-out amplifiers provide a nice depth of sound without adding a lot of bulk.

I would recommend the BenQ treVolo S portable speaker to people who:

• Want a speaker that can pair up to other speakers: The treVolo S speaker has the ability to run as a single speaker or pair up to another treVolo in duo mode.
• Want a long battery life: This BenQ speaker has a long 18 hour run time which means less time charging and more music.
• Want easy pairing to a smartphone or tablet: If connectivity is your main aim, this BenQ speaker is an excellent option. It was easy to quickly pair my smartphone to this speaker by downloading the BenQ audio app. In addition, the micro USB connection makes it easy to charge up the speaker as well as the ability to send a pure digital audio signal transmission directly to the speaker.

For more information check out the BenQ TreVolo S on Amazon.