by Bowers & Wilkins’s $400 Z2 is the apparent successor to the company’s Zeppelin Mini, but instead of a 30-pin dock connector, the Z2 features a Lightning-connector dock and AirPlay wireless streaming. Supporting the latest iPhone, iPod touch, and iPod nano models, the Z2 is available in black or white glass-filled ABS. (The black model is available now; the white model won’t ship until June.)
Like the earlier Zeppelin mini, the Z2 measures 7.1 inches tall, 12.6 inches wide, and 3.9 inches deep; it weighs 5.7 pounds. The speaker looks cool, with a distinctively angled round top, and a pleasantly curved recessed area surrounding the Lightning dock itself. On the bottom right of the speaker sits a single LED, which glows red when the unit is asleep, glows pinkish when it’s connected to Wi-Fi, and indicates other statuses during setup and troubleshooting.
In front of the Lightning dock sit two tiny, slightly raised, capacitative buttons for controlling the system’s volume. These buttons are some of the first touch-sensitive speaker buttons I haven’t hated: Because you can see and feel them, there’s never any doubt that you’re pushing in the right spot, and the buttons themselves are responsive.
On the back of the Z2, you’ll find an ethernet port, a reset button, a 1/8-inch (3.5mm) auxiliary-input jack (for connecting a wired audio source), and a connector for the Z2’s power adapter.
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