LG MUSICflow Sound 360 Review - An Elegant Centerpiece Speaker For Your Home!

LG recently launched their 2016 Bluetooth Speaker line and we've been seeing a similar trend with these consumer Bluetooth speakers is that they are increasing focus on both the sound quality and the form factor. Let's see if LG's latest stacks up to the competition!

The MUSICflow Sound 360 and its cylindrical packaging

LG MUSICflow Sound 360 Specs

Drivers: 1.1 CH, Built-in Subwoofer (dual passive radiator)

Battery: 5,200 mAh (up to 20 hours)

Connectivity: Bluetooth

Price: 7,990 Pesos

Unboxing / Accessories

Inclusions inside

The LG Sound 360 has a cylindrical shaped packaging (We can't really call it a box, nor an unboxing.) Inside is the speakers, manual and paperwork, a one meter micro USB cable and a microfiber cloth.

Build Quality / Design

Speaker grille, micro USB flap, and LED indicator

The premium polycarbonate body is shiny and is surprisingly not too much of a fingerprint magnet. It looks like porcelain and thus looks good right next to vases.

Regulatory logos and information on non-slippery rubber padding

On top is an LED rim that lights up when you tap the capacative buttons on it. There are the usual Play / Pause; Volume Up / Down; Next / Previous button choices. The LG logo is where the NFC chip is located and is where you place your phone proximally to pair. When you press down on it, it rises to reveal the speaker grills inside.

At first glance it is highly elegant in design!

There is a slight curve under the head which reminds me of the neck of vases design-wise. Near the bottom are speaker grills where most of the bass come from. Below that is brushed metal ring where the battery status LED and the micro-USB protective flap is placed.

When you flip it over, you will see the usual regulatory symbols and logos ingrained into the non slip rubber padding.

Features

The ring light blinks in a pattern to communicate

The capacitive buttons only need a gentle press to activate. It does ignore presses that are too fast but is very responsive otherwise.

The circular placement of the buttons does have a downside. It is hard to use when you are not looking at the speakers. The 360 degree design makes it hard to tell what orientation the buttons are at a glance. 

The LED ring is how the speaker communicates to the user. It does require reading the manual to fully understand but is very quick to learn. The Mood LED button changes the behavior between blinking, steady or turned off.

WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND TO READ THE MANUAL because it is there where the different lighting patterns are described and explained!

Even with the LED lighting up, it's almost impossible to identify which button is which when in total darkness. It would have been great if the button symbols themselves lit up.

Pairing is instantaneous because of the Bluetooth 4.0 which boasts an effective range of 10 meters.

Note: Sadly we only have one speaker so we were unable to test the DualPlay feature which allows it to be pair with another LG Sound for stereo setup

Battery Life

The LG Sound 360 has a 5700 mAh battery that takes 5 hours to charge and it can be used while charging. You can expect longer at lower volumes. For us, the comfortable volume levels are in the 50 to 60 percent range. 

We ran a battery test where we played podcasts and music at maximum volume and the Speakers lasted for 5 hours. The max volume on this is loud enough to fill a Studio Condo unit that may or may not cause your neighbors to file a noise complaint. 

The charging LED light at the bottom has three colors when charging to tell how much battery it has: red for = under 60%, purple for above 60% and blue when full. 

Sound Quality

The sound quality of the MUSICFlow Sound 360 sounds balanced / in-between consumer and audiophile grade. That simply means that its great sounding for a stylish type of home speaker.

The speaker sounds loud with little distortion!

Even at max volume, the sound quality remains decent where highs, mids and lows are deep but clear with almost no audible distortion. The sound is powerful (loud) and will surprise anyone that the sound is as good as the speaker looks. Sound stage is not that big and we could not test the Stereo capabilities when paired with a second speaker. 

Pros - Solid build quality, great price, loud, decent sound quality, portable water bottle like furniture shape

Cons - No IP water or dust resistance, no 3.5 mm jack

Verdict

The LG Sound 360 is the perfect centerpiece to your modern home. It is elegant in design and at first glance, most people would mistake it for a vase or an expensive thermos water bottle. What makes it even better is how powerful, how clear and how loud the sound produced by this speaker is. If you want a speaker that produces sound that is great as how it looks, then look no further!

GIZ Rating: 4/5 Stars