by JBL makes two nearly identical speakers, with names that highlight their key difference: the $200 SoundFly Air lets you stream audio to the speaker using Apple’s AirPlay technology, while the $180 SoundFly BT uses Bluetooth, instead.
With the exception of that core, but outwardly invisible, difference, the two SoundFly speakers are nearly identical. Each is small and white with a fabric grille (lighter gray on the BT, darker gray on the Air), and each is designed to plug directly into a wall outlet. In other words, the speaker is its power cord and power brick: You plug the whole shebang into the wall. The speakers are designed to throw their sound upward, so they should work even with outlets positioned closer to the floor.
Each SoundFly ships with the appropriate plug adapters for your country—in the U.S., you get both two- and three-prong plugs—and each measures 7.5 inches wide, 2.8 inches tall, and 3.6 inches deep and weighs slightly less than one pound.
Both SoundFly models have a pair of touch-capacitive buttons. The first is actually integrated into the JBL logo in the center of the speaker grille and acts as a power button. On the SoundFly BT, the button simply toggles power on and off. On the SoundFly Air, pressing the power button briefly puts the speaker to sleep; you can wake it by either pressing the button again or by sending AirPlay audio to it. Pressing and holding the Air’s power button for three seconds puts the unit into Eco-Standby mode, from which you must manually wake it up by pressing the button again. Both SoundFly models automatically go to sleep after ten minutes of inactivity.
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