THE Apple iPhone may reign over all other mobile phones and its 8GB storage space might even double as your trusty music player.

However, its wimpy built-in speaker does little justice to Coldplay's Violet Hills at top volume.

Solution? The T612, a high-quality iPhone and iPod speaker.

Where other iPod speakers pay lip service to the iPhone's music playing features by sticking in a few output jacks, the T612 lets you thrust the iPhone into the docking cradle of the speaker and blast out tracks that are stored in the phone.

It even creates a semblance of surround sound from its single speaker by ramming two drivers and two tweeters into its 14-inch body.

The T612 strives to satisfy any audiophile's demands, with vocal quality of the tunes sounding crisp and punchy.

Rabid rock fans will also dig its bass quality.

Selecting the Bass button at the top of the gadget lets drum beats and beatboxing thumps sound ultra meaty.

If Guns and Roses are bad for your ears and Bach is good instead, this gizmo can turn classical.

Various musical instruments sound clear and bright.

Best of all, you can crank your iPhone all the way to the maximum decibel with little perceptible distortion. Perfect when transforming your bedroom into Headbangger Haven.

This gadget is set apart from its rivals by is its immunity to mobile phone interference.

This means that there is no annoying static when the phone rings while it is docked in the speaker.

Only downer? High-pitched tracks sound muffled.

Its saving grace is in how impressive it sounded when movie trailers are played.

The bomb blasts and gun fights in Pearl Harbour are razor sharp and Patrick Dempsey's low voice sounds extra mesmerising when I play my Grey's Anatomy videos.

For couch potatoes, the wireless remote lets you control your music from anywhere in the room while the single cable does not add to the cable clutter on your living room table.

But at 2.2kg, it might not be the lightest speaker to tote to a house party.

Final say

The juicy sound quality and faux surround sound make it an ideal partner to the iPhone.

This story was first published in The Straits Times on 5 November 2008.

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