Cowin Ark review - the portable Bluetooth speaker with a subwoofer

As far as Bluetooth speakers go, the Cowin Ark is unique in the sense that it actually comes as two separate components. You have the ‘Cruze’, a rather standard-looking Bluetooth speaker, but it also has a separate wireless subwoofer base station.

The two units attach using a magnet and what Cowin describes as ‘Magnetec’ technology. It's essentially inductive wireless charging, the same you see on many smartphones that support the Qi standard. As such, when you’re not charging the Cruze, you can place your compatible smartphone on the subwoofer base station to charge, which is a handy feature.

The subwoofer itself has a silver brushed metal finish surrounded by white plastic edges, and its four white feet can be seen protruding from its base. I wasn’t particularly fond of its design, as it looks more like a toaster than a piece of audio equipment. With the Cruze placed on top, the whole assembly takes on a slightly anthropomorphised look thanks to the two visible drive units inside.

^When combined, the unit looks like a small, dumpy robot

The Cruze has a consistent brushed metal finish, but its edges feel sharp and unrefined, and compared to a stylish Bluetooth speaker like the Cambridge Audio G2, it looks pretty garish overall. However, when the Cruze only measures 200x60x65mm, it does mean it's compact enough to carry around with you, such as on outdoor activities or around the home thanks to its built-in battery which is rated for around 8 hours use. A travel bag is included, as is a cleaning cloth to help keep the mirrored finish looking pristine. Then, once you’re back at the base station, you can dock it on the subwoofer for more impactful bass on top of recharging its battery. You also have the option of charging the Cruze using a Micro USB cable.

Unsurprisingly, the subwoofer is intended for home use only. Measuring a substantial 300x170x145mm, it's hardly something you'll be moving from room to room, and its lack of built-in battery means you'll need to keep it plugged in via its DC jack at all times. 

The top of the Cruze has the usual touch-sensitive media playback buttons for controlling your music, and you can either use Bluetooth, NFC or its 3.5mm auxiliary jack to start playing your chosen tracks from your phone or tablet. However, its rather comical-sounding audio prompts during the pairing process are pretty jarring to say the least (you'll never hear the word 'connecting' the same way again), and it doesn't remember the volume setting after being put into standby either, meaning I had to keep turning the volume back up whenever I turned it back on. 

Fortunately, the Cruze and base station don't have to be in constant contact during music playback, as they pair together wirelessly. This gives you some freedom to move the Cruze around, but each unit can only maintain its connection for around 10m. You can also use the Cruze for hands-free conference calling thanks to its built-in microphone, and it's sensitive enough to comfortably pick up your voice from around 2m away. 

Music quality

Inside the Cruze are two speaker drivers with a passive radiator. It doesn't fare particularly well on its own, as its thin sound lacks presence and doesn't really make much of an impact, but thankfully music becomes much livelier when it's paired with the base station's ported 3.5in subwoofer. 

The bass isn’t wanting for brute force, but it lacks a degree of refinement. With a track like The Toure-Raichel Collective’s ‘Tidhar’, which has particularly unruly bass, the Cowin Ark struggles, as the base station’s cabinet constantly resonates and vibrates with each beat, making it very distracting to listen to. Even less difficult tracks still sound a bit muddy at times, but for the most part it copes reasonably well. Volume levels are also respectable, filling a medium to large room, but it begins to distort at the higher levels.

Conclusion

Overall, the Cowin Ark should be commended for its concept. A modular Bluetooth speaker is a good idea, especially as some portable speakers do tend to lack for bass presence. However, its execution left a lot to be desired and its design will be divisive. The base station should really augment the existing bass delivery from the Cruze, but instead the Cruze’s almost non-existent bass means it sounds tinny and flat without its companion. Given a choice, I’d still opt for a separate subwoofer-less Bluetooth speaker such as the Cambridge Audio G2.