Orange Box review

Looking very much like one of its guitar amp heads, the Orange Box is a Bluetooth speaker with a very different makeup to any other in this saturated market. The idea of a guitar amp-inspired speaker isn't exactly something new, with Fender, Marshall, and Vox having all taken a stab at one. However, Orange has come up with a fresh and intriguing premise with their version, aiming to blow the others out of the water.

Unlike any other Bluetooth speaker we’ve come across, the Orange Box has both Class D and Class A/B amplifiers built into it, no doubt a result of the company taking advantage of their knowledge of solid-state amplifier technology and injecting it into the Bluetooth speaker format. Most Bluetooth speakers rely on Class D amps, so the idea with this particular speaker is to provide a higher quality sound than its competitors.

We were given the 50-watt Orange Box to review, but there’s also the Orange Box L available. The larger version has the same wattage as the one we’re reviewing here but a bigger bass driver to deliver increased output. Despite being smaller, the Orange Box is almost exactly the same as its bulkier brother in terms of spec, with both aiming to be amongst the loudest Bluetooth speakers available today.

Orange Box review: Design

As part of our testing, we took the Orange Box with us on holiday to the Cotswolds in the UK, and everyone we showed it to cooed appreciatively. It looks absolutely stunning, a far cry from the humdrum complexion of the majority of Bluetooth speakers out there on the market.

Orange’s ‘peel’ style tolex with black piping is just like that on our own Orange amp and as well as standing out visually, it also provides the speaker with a feeling of durability. Complete with the Orange ‘Voice of the World’ crest and wheat-colored grill, many a guitarist would be forgiven for thinking it’s a new lunchbox amp rather than a Bluetooth speaker.

When we pulled it out of the box we were surprised at its heft, which sees it weighing in at 4.3kg. Its dimensions measure 35 x 19.5 x 20cm, so it’s not exactly a chuck-in-your-backpack type of speaker either, and we had to lump it in the boot of the car with our bags and supplies for a weekend getaway.

Orange includes a removable, vegan-leather carry handle in the box so it’s pretty easy to transport despite its comparatively large size. It’s not as big as something like the Marshall Woburn II, but nor is it sprightly like Positive Grid's more portable speaker-slash-practice amp Spark GO.

The control panel will be familiar to anyone who’s used an Orange amplifier before but may leave non-musicians scratching their heads at the bass and treble clef logos. Also, they’re the other way around to how you’d expect to find them on a guitar amp which left us confused initially.

It also features an on/off toggle switch, an Orange jewel LED power light, individual bass and treble controls, dedicated volume control, and a handy overload light that lets you know if you’re driving it too hard. A 3.5mm aux-in with included coiled cable lets you connect directly if you want to save battery and the Bluetooth button allows for quick pairing.

Orange Box review: Features

There are two 2-inch high-frequency drivers and a single 4-inch bass driver behind the acoustically transparent grill, with its configuration designed to give an excellent balance to the sound with depth in the lows, punch in the midrange, and a smooth high end. Another way it differs itself from others is the construction of the cabinet itself. Much like their guitar amps, actual thought has gone into the enclosure and how the speakers are mounted to help it deliver its exceptional sound.

The Orange Box features Bluetooth 5 connectivity, which means faster and larger data transfer and four times the range versus Bluetooth 4.2. Of course, most people probably won’t notice this, although the extra distance is nice to have. The Bluetooth connection button also doubles as a play/pause button, just in case you can’t find your phone in a hurry when someone is telling you to turn it down.

Connecting to our Pixel smartphone was an absolute breeze for us, with our phone instantly finding the speaker once Bluetooth was enabled. There’s a pleasing little two-note, palm-muted guitar motif when you connect which we thought was a nice touch. In next to no time we had our favorite Spotify playlist of esoteric rock, metal, and alternative hip-hop up and running, leaving more time to down our first of many cold beverages that evening. Score one for ease of use.

The Orange Box boasts fifteen hours of battery life, which to be honest is not that much compared to many other Bluetooth speakers out there. We’ll put this down to the use of the Class A analog amplifiers meaning it can’t compete in terms of lifespan with other options on the market. In our test, we used it for two nights in a row and it delivered without running out, but for those long festival weekends, you might find yourself running out prematurely which can really put a damper on that post-headliner party.

The charger is large and bulky too, much like the one you get with your laptop. This makes it a bit of a pain to carry around with you, particularly if you’re tight on space in your backpack or suitcase. Alternatively, it’s a good excuse to throw out your partner’s curlers for the sake of the party but try winning that argument at your peril.

Orange Box review: Sound

So far so good, there’s a wealth of features on offer that make it a very complete Bluetooth speaker, but what about the most important part? We expected a lot when we heard Orange were making this, and we needn’t have worried because they’ve absolutely smashed it out of the park when it comes to sound.

The Orange Box is every superlative we could think of. Its sonic quality is just as good as its guitar amps, articulate yet full, balanced yet powerful, and delivers a tone that even our non-musician friends could appreciate was far beyond what the majority of Bluetooth speakers are capable of. The detail of the sound stunned us, with every little nuance you’d normally only hear on a pair of studio monitors present and accounted for. From the rich depth of Steely Dan’s ‘Aja’ right through to the muddy thunk of the bass and cutting guitar tone on Queens of the Stone Age’s ‘No One Knows’, the Orange Box delivers.

Putting on Radiohead’s ‘The National Anthem’ we were pleased to find it delivered that weighty bass tone beautifully, with clarity on all the electronic and acoustic instrumentation. It’s a dense mix but the Orange Box handled it with ease. Cranking the volume up it easily fills a room with quality sound at the halfway point, without ever feeling overbearing thanks to the lovely balance of EQ. If anything does get a little too much, it’s easy enough to balance it out via the two dedicated controls for bass and treble.

Once we’d gotten our favorite mix reference tunes out of the way it was time to test the bass and find out how far would we be able to push it before we hit that overload warning light. Starting with our go-to bass tester, Lil Wayne’s ‘A Milli’, we didn’t even hit the halfway point on the volume and bass knobs before the warning light began flashing. The accompanying wobbly grill with a rush of cool air from the bass driver will be welcome on those hot summer days, and once we pushed it further than that there was a slightly disconcerting rattle that had us immediately turning it back down again.

Moving on to our other favorite hip-hop test track, we loaded up Dr. Dre’s ‘What’s the Difference?’, setting the EQ back to a neutral setting. It coped with the stabs of brass and strings tremendously well, delivering a tone that’s punchier than that overhand right from Riddick on Xzibit’s verse, all the while maintaining its balance and composure. The super high-pitched early synth line is easily audible and the reverb on the instrumentation sounds phenomenal.

One thing we do note about the sound is that there’s not much in the way of stereo separation, which means it feels like a mono speaker, albeit a very good one. Of course, it’s a Bluetooth speaker designed to be used in informal settings, so we can’t be too hard on it for this but if you're looking for super-wide stereo you won't find it here. That said, it could certainly do the job as a second or third set in your home studio to check mixes in mono, such is the quality of the audio.

Orange Box review: Verdict

There’s a lot to love with the Orange Box and it does the most important thing well, which is deliver excellent sound quality. It’s definitely aimed at guitarists but the look and sound are enough to convert non-musicians, with many of our non-muso friends appreciating both the aesthetics and the tone of it. It’s on the pricy side of things when it comes to Bluetooth speakers but if you prioritize sound quality in your music listening, there are not many that will do it better than the Orange Box.

Orange Box review: Specs

• Launch price: $355/£275/€320

• Amplifier: 1x 30W RMS Class D - Subwoofer, 2x 10W RMS Class A/B - High Frequency

• Driver: 1x 4-inch Bass Driver, 2x 2-inch Full Range High-Frequency Drivers

• Impedance: 4-ohm Low-Frequency Driver, 8-ohm High-Frequency Drivers

• Freq Response: 35-20,000 Hz

• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5, 3.5mm Aux Input

• Compatibility: Audio Codecs APTX, AAC, SBC

• Battery: 2600MAH, 3-hour charge time, 15-hour playback time

• Dimensions: 28 x 17.5 x 17 cm / 11.02 X 6.9 X 6.69”

• Weight: 3kg, 6.62lbs

• Contact: Orange