Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.
I recently received a Ukonnect Hifilink Music Audio Streaming Receiver for a product review. The receiver itself came with a USB to micro-USB power cable and two audio cables - one with headphone style jacks on both ends (possible use : aux-in port of a car or radio) and one with RCA connectors (possible use : home stereos with RCA inputs).
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| Hifilink Receiver |
Unfortunately the plastic case of this unit was damaged, basically one of the parts of the cover was loose and I could just take it off which also gave me a chance to peek inside. On the plus side, a few rubber bands held it together and it still worked. I reached out to the company and they confirmed that they would replace the unit.
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| Well normally you don't want your device to open up like this but might as well take a pic! |
I have tested Bluetooth based devices before, but this was the first unit that I have tested that was WiFi based and before I actually tested the product I had some concerns kicking around in my mind.
My first concern was related to the WiFi operation but after some testing and review of the product manual it seems this unit has two modes:
1) The unit can act as a standalone WiFi point, which is useful if you are in an area that does not have an available wireless network. The only drawback is that most mobile cellular devices use either WiFi or cellular for data - but not both. So if you are connected to this unit with your smartphone, you will probably lose access to the Internet.
2) The unit can access as a wireless client and connect to an existing wireless network. So, as an example, if you use this at home you can connect the Hifilink to your home wireless and then any other devices should be able to see it.
I used option 2 primarily, with my Moto X and it worked fine. With Apple devices it apparently uses the built-in Airplay protocol, but with Android you have to use 3rd party applications - they mention
BubbleUPnP and that is the software I tested. The volume control of the software didn't seem to work (made minor adjustments to volume) but honestly that is what I prefer - just one volume control on the unit, with many of the Bluetooth adapters you had to consider the phone/table volume and the Bluetooth receiver volume.
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| Two audio cables and one power cable |
Overall the setup wasn't really difficult and the audio quality was pretty good. It seemed to have enough output power to push my Turtle Beach XO FOUR headset with no problem and even had good bass.
For my music, I primarily use Google Play Music. From what I can tell there is no way to directly use the Play Music software with this unit, however the
BubbleUPnP software actually somehow interfaced with my library and I was able to play songs from my playlists. However, since you aren't using the actual application you will lose access to certain features you might be used to.
This device does have some limitations which aren't necessarily a problem with the product, just factors you need to consider as you determine how you will use it. First, I don't think this device would be a good fit for "in car" audio simply because whatever device you are using will no longer have Internet access but if you are using a WiFi only tablet that isn't an issue. Second, you have to use
BubbleUPnP (or similar) software to push audio, so you can't just expect every app to push audio/music to this adapter. That is an Android specific limitation, and may not be true with Apple devices.
On the plus side, I could see a device like this being a great gadget in a house (or college dorm) where you may have multiple people that want to push music to a sound system. You also avoid the distance limitations of Bluetooth.
Here are the main points I noticed about this product:
Compact: The receiver itself is fairly light and think, smaller than my Moto X smartphone. It has a built-in battery so you can use it with headphone to walk around the house with no problem and without worrying about the distance limitations of Bluetooth.
WiFi Connectivity: This unit can act as a client and connect to an existing WiFi network, or can act as a standalone access point. Once you have configured both modes, simply pressing the power button 3 times will toggle the two options.
Output Options: The unit has a standard audio jack (either for headphones or to connect to an aux-in connect) and it also supports digital audio output. I did not test the digital output.
Bottom line: This is a neat little gadget that acts as a WiFi audio receiver which allows for some interesting approaches on how to use it. If you have tested Bluetooth audio receiver, definitely consider this product as an alternative approach to wireless music.
Amazon Product Page: http://amzn.com/B00OFBF0K0
