Here at Highpants HQ we have a great appreciation for high quality audio. Not only does it get us through the day but it also acts as the heat beat of the team.

So, when we stumbled across the Tivoo Max, a new gadget that combines portable high-quality audio, retro styling and pixel art, we couldn’t resist banging it on the company credit card. Just don’t tell the boss! If he finds out we figure we can just say it was for review purposes, content is king after all.

With design flair straight out of the 1950’s, looking much like a TV from the era, the Max makes a striking first impression. It’s VERY easy to fall in love with.

At its core though the Max is a 40watt 2.1 Bluetooth speaker with a ported sub-woofer, DSP driven surround sound and enough battery power for 10 hours of playback time. Separating it from the rest of the crowded wireless speaker market is the large 20cm pixel art display adorning the front of the unit. Each of the large LED pixels on the 16 x 16 display can switch between 16 million colours, making the animations bright, colourful and just a little hypnotic.

The key to getting the most out of the Max is the Divoom mobile app. Once they are both paired the display springs to life with festive applications for every occasion, beat matching waveforms and real time social media updates. The Max has cool factor to spare. You can even convert pictures to pixel art or create your own masterpieces by hand.

Day to day the Max is responsible for providing the tunes we rely on to get us through. The sound it produces is clear and bright with ample bass and enough volume to allow us to hear it from every corner of the office. In fact, we took it to the team Christmas party and it filled a large dining hall with glorious clean sound, our song selection might have been questionable but it was very clean sounding. I would easily put the funky Max up against more expensive Sony or JBL Bluetooth speakers when it comes to audio quality. Of course, if you need a rugged waterproof speaker stick with the Sony.

While the Max is pumping out the tunes in the office it is also providing chronological information, letting us know the impending deadline is fast approaching. As a time-peace the Max can display a multitude of faces, but we keep it simple during the day.

As you keep toying with the Max’s mobile app you realize Divoom were not joking when they said there are 30 built in functions. Day to day you could make use of the smart alarm clock, voice memo, thermometer with weather conditions, schedule planner and 24 professional sleep-aid profiles with more white noises than a pod of whales. When it’s time to party there are pixel games, DJ mixer and endless entertainment resources with 50000 Internet radio stations.

We can confidently say that around the office there is complete consensus, this is the coolest gadget we’ve recently acquired. That barely ever happens around here. For example it hasn’t helped when it comes to music selection, for that we still resort to rock paper scissor wars.

We picked up our Max from the Divoom site for $129.99 USD, at that price it is 100 bucks cheaper than the equivalent Sony or JBL Bluetooth speaker, and neither of them include a hypnotic pixel art display. The Max comes in a wide range of colours, as long as you’re after Black, Red or White. If you’re looking to add a little cool retro chic to your home or office and need a simple audio solution check out the Tivoo Max.

Reference: Divoom Website