Wireless

When summer rolls around, we all go mobile. We drink morning coffee out on the patio, surf while sitting by the pool, and might even do an overnighter in a treehouse. Of course, all of those activities are accompanied by music, and we also need to stay connected for incoming calls.

It’s that time of year again. Birds are singing, the sun is shining, temperatures are warming, and people are starting to move outdoors again. (Okay, fine, I know I live in Miami, but really, I feel your pain, Buffalo!)  When I go outdoors, I love taking my music with me. JBL has two new products designed to take music to new locales, both indoors and out.

I’m skeptical of any audio product with a fancy design. In my experience, the more trendy or attractive a product is, the worse the performance. Maybe this prejudice comes from a place of subconscious competition, given that I’m so trendy and attractive.

So I approached the Parrot Zik with caution, not least because I found out that “Design by Starck” was not a misspelling and had nothing to do with Ned or even Robb (What about Tony? — Ed.).

But turns out, zee Ziks are zuper.

Another day, another dock — but wait. There's no dock on the new Phorus PS1 ($199). It's just a shelf. And the little Phorus PR1 ($149). That's no dock either. . .

We took a long listen to Klipsch's Image One on-ear headphone when it launched last year, and found them to be a highly competitive portable phone, especially when judged against the mic/remote-sporting on-ear competition of the time — most of which (like the Bowers &Wilkins P5) cost a lot more or (like the Beats Solo) simply didn't sound as good.