Any iPod speaker dock worth its salt now offers wireless streaming, so you can keep your device in your pocket as you listen. The 100W Soundfreaq Sound Stack uses Bluetooth, which opens it up to non-Apple devices.
Inside are twin mid/bass drivers and twin active subwoofers.
On the front is an array of nice-to-use, touch-sensitive buttons. There's a dinky remote, attaching magnetically to a small recess in the back.
There's also a free app, Soundfreaq Remote. This gives basic playback and playlist controls and is a neat idea, but it proved tricky to access the playlist on our office iPhone 4S.
The wireless connection is reliable, though, and our review sample didn't suffer form any dropout.
Docking is best for sound
From a musical point of view, though, there's no substitute for hooking up an iPhone or iPad to the 30pin dock connector. Doing this equips music with greater excitement, detail and punch, although it's still nowhere near the standard of the class-leaders at this price.
Spin Florence And The Machine's No Light, No Light and although the Sound Stack doesn't send you running for a set of earplugs, there's still a distinct lack of clarity and openness.
High frequencies sound unrefined and off-colour. If you want a broader soundstage, you can hit the UQ3 button on the front of the unit. This helps spread the sound, but the price is a slight loss focus.
There's a lot of serious competition around this price level but the Soundfreaq Sound Stack falls short of this standard.
It's a decent wireless speaker dock, but not the most desirable example we've seen – you can do much better for the money.
See all our dock system Best Buys
