Design & Construction

Bearbricks have always been a collectible and nothing more. But today, we are experiencing the first step in its revolution. This is the 400% portable bluetooth speaker in its clear variant. Can 20,000 hours of engineering pay off with this first attempt? Well, there is only one way to find out. Starting off with the design, the 400% may be a fixed dimension platform, but due to new electronics, the Bearbrick team had to redesign the speaker from the ground up. From the top, the speaker units are contained inside its head. 2 front-firing 20mm tweeters in each ear while 2 40mm back-firing woofers are housed in the back of its head. The head is rotatable up to 180° to face left or right, which can be useful aesthetically or to alter where the audio is fired towards the listener. Moving onto the body, the circuit board and battery is housed within with the controls on both the hands and hips. Ine notable feature is note is the longevity of the speaker as the battery can be easily replacable with the removable plastic cover. The power button triggers the on/off with a short press and pairing mode with a single press after it is on. Onto the hands, the right hand skips tracks forward with a left twist and backwards with a right twist. While the left hand controls the volume. At its lower limbs, both legs houses more components that is covered with a reflective mirror finish on the inside. The USB-C port is located at the back the left leg and emits a green/red LED for a short while depending on its charge. All of its hands and legs can be moved like how normal Bearbrick function, including the ability to sit down or pose it various positions. There are rubber pads at the bottom of both feets to ensure that it does not shift around from the sound vibrations above. The entire Bearbrick weighs a hefty 895g and is not dust or water resist. Clearly, with its plastic-type material, it is far from being drop-resistant and should be handled with immense care.​​ Internally, the Bearbrick is good for up a short 6 hours of playback, but it does support quick charge that gives you full battery life in 1.5 hours of charge from a dead battery. 

Sound Quality

Moving on to sound quality, the 2 front-firing 20mm tweeters in each ear and 2 x 40mm back-firing woofers produce a dynamic, exciting and energetic sound signature that is suited for Pop, Hip-Hop and many of its sub-genres. Having a frequency range between 90Hz-20KHz, the bass is fairly audible but far from being chest thumping or even room-filling. The bass although not as strong, doesn't bleeds into the mids nor distort at loud volumes, however, itg will reach its maximum depth at around 80% volume, thereafter only the mids and highs will increase in loudness. The mids do sound crisp with good detail while the highs sound bright and forward with clarity in the vocal reproduction. The instrument separation is okay but surround and left and right channels left more to be desired, If you are keen, pairing another Bearbrick audio speaker does help with better stereo output. Working with Rinaro Isodynamics, Bearbrick is serious about having good audio quality by in building their proclaimed Quad 360 sound technology, but more work is definitely needed in future iterations as I had trouble perceiving its proclaimed omni-directional sound as it mostly sound like it was coming from one direction. In summary, the placement of the speaker matter a lot. If placed with the Bearbrick facing forward, more highs and mids take the centre stage and bass is diluted. If placed facing backwards, it sound more accurate as the overall frequency spectrum becomes more balanced. Although the speaker sounded decent out-of-the-box, its sound signature cannot be customised as there is no compatible app for it. The only way to alter its sound is via a third-party equaliser option. If you are looking to use it as a speakerphone, it is with a heavy heart to let you know that there is no built-in mic to take calls, hence all calls will be directed to the phone instead. Now those who are into using their smart assistants may be disappoint since the speaker does not have a mic nor any Google Assistant, Siri or Amazon Alexa integration for your smart home needs.

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Connectivity & Portability

In terms of connectivity, Bluetooth 5.0 and the standard SBC and AAC codecs are offered and not the latest Bluetooth 5.4 or with any AptX codec support unfortunately. However, any device with Bluetooth 5.0 is still very much relevant for long-term use. Battery life peaks at 6 hours with a moderate volume level and does charge up fully in 1.5 hours. If you watch movie or videos with the speaker, it doesn't have much latency. There is no 3.5mm audio-in port available and you can use the USB-C port on the back of the left leg for wired use and to charge the speaker as well. 

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PROS​

• Dynamic Sound Signature

• Iconic Design

• Stereo Mode

• Bluetooth 5.0

• Replacable Battery

• USB-C Fast Charging

• USB-C Aux-In

• Three Colours Available

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CONS​​

• No Speakerphone

• Short Battery Life

• No App Support

• No Smart Home Integration

• No AptX Codecs Support

 

The Bottom Line

All in all, the Bearbrick Audio 400% Portable Bluetooth Speaker is a decent first attempt at lifestyle speaker for the Bearbrick collectors community. The top selling features include its dynamic Marshall sound, unique design as well as portability. Built with the iconic Bearbrick 400% platform, it is definitely a unique and revolutionary take that could see its future as one of the best innovation in recent times. Three variants of Clear, Smoke and Black are available to fit users of different genders and interior furnishing styles.