Test: F&D W5

There’s an abundance of Bluetooth speakers out on the market. Some might think there’s too much to choose from. But we’re not one to complain about the loads of choices. Throwing in another option into the mix is F&D. This time, we’re trying out the compact F&D W5.

Take it anywhere. Shaped like a cube, the F&D W5 is a compact speaker that’ll easily slip inside any bag. It won’t take up much space, which makes carrying it around an attractive option. With rubber sides and back combined with a cloth grill, it gives you a good grip on the speaker. F&D touts it as a “waterproof” Bluetooth speaker but there isn’t any IP rating indication on the spec sheet so we’d take caution in dunking the W5 in water. At the very least, the ports are covered so a quick splash of water wouldn’t cause any damage.
With ease. Pairing with the W5 is a pretty easy affair. It connects almost instantly with my Android smartphones. And it’s easily spotted by said devices. However, you can only connect one device to it at a time. The one other thing I like is the speaker itself has a play and pause button, making it easier to start or stop a song.

Keep playing. When it comes to audio quality, the W5’s strength is in the mids. The treble is decent, too. But, as expected, you can’t expect much from the bass. It sounds a tad thin. But we aren’t faulting it too much for that. And the speaker gets loud even with its diminutive size. And even when volume is maxed out, it doesn’t break.
Decent run time. F&D promises over five hours of use in its promotional material and the W5 delivers in that regard. I got six and a half hours out of this. Charging time is under an hour and a half.

Don’t speak. In theory, you can also use W5 as a mic for calls but when I tried using it with Facebook Messenger’s call options, I could hardly hear the other person on the line. I needed to press it close to my ear to hear. I’m not sure if this is a defect in the unit I had, though.
VERDICT
With its no-fuss design and decent audio performance (at least for playing back audio), the F&D W5 is a good option if you’re looking for a budget-friendly Bluetooth speaker.
SPECIFICATIONS