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Braven's latest portable Bluetooth speakers: 850 charges your iPad, BRV-1 laughs at H2O (eyes-on)
It's no secret that we generally enjoy Braven's pushes into the portable Bluetooth speaker arena. The company is again aiming to take your dollars away from the likes of the Jawbone Jamboxes, offering up two new units for CES. The 850 is its largest speaker yet, being roughly the same size as Big Jambox -- and priced much the same at $300. As you'd expect, the 850 is clad in aluminum, and has a USB port for charging external devices. That's not all, however, as Braven claims this is the world's first battery-powered speaker that'll charge 2.1A gizmos (like the iPad) on its own accord (no word on expected battery life). Even more impressive -- and expensive -- we're told that two units can be run in true stereo with either serving as the left and right channels. No pictures for now, but we'll update this post as soon as we get them.
Aside from the 850, the $170 BRV-1 (dummy units pictured) ditches the company's smooth rectangular speaker angles, in favor of ruggedness and IPX5 water-resistance. The not-so pocketable speaker is clad in rubber, featuring two large buttons on both edges for playback controls. The speaker grill on the front get's Braven's usual treatment with aluminium, while the back houses twist-cap protected microUSB port, USB port, battery indicator and a 3.5mm input jack. Both speakers are set to sit along its Six Series units sometime this month, and you'll find more pictures of two BRV-1 mockups in the gallery below.
