Review: TP-LINK Bluetooth Music Receiver HA100
Bluetooth speaker of high frequency range and surround sound system may cost as twice that of normal Home Theater. But if you already own one then buying another Bluetooth speaker wouldn't be worthy at all. As you will end up having two speakers, which isn't good (depending on the budget you have.) So, to fix that issue, what you need is a Bluetooth Music Receiver. As the name suggests, Bluetooth Music Receiver is a device which connects with your main speakers and allows you to play any song via Bluetooth connected device. We recently got our hands on one of those devices made by TP-LINK, a popular name in networking industry. The device is named TP-LINK HA100 Bluetooth Music Receiver.
The HA100 works fine and can be connected to audio system, your old boom box, or the Hi-Fi. Starting with the in-box contents there are two cables, Bluetooth receiver itself, and power supply unit alongwith USB A to micro USB cable for connecting to the power supply. There are two types of cables in the package which are RCA (phono) to 3.5mm cable, 3.5mm to 3.5mm, Quick start Guide and NFC Tag.
The Bluetooth receiver looks quite attractive and compact, so you won’t be messing up to find a place to keep it. Top is the glossy one with the TP Link printed to its head alongwith Bluetooth symbol and NFC. It has the Blue colored LED indicator that gives the indication of input power and tells if it is ready to use. Unit is made somewhat sloppy which tapers to its front that gives dynamics look to it. At the Raised back edge of the unit there are 2 ports of input while the bottom of the device has a rubbery finish to enhance the grip over the surface where it is kept. Build of the device is quite sturdy and the cables provided seems to be of good quality, but the device can easily break if dropped from the shelf or similar height.
Connecting it with various types of audio devices requires the physically cable connection to the music system which you want to be wireless. You can connect it with any device through RCA cable or 3.5mm jacks. And for further more compatibility you can even buy extension cables with proper connection points.
The next step is to pair the Receiver with your Phone or Computer or whatever device that have Bluetooth connectivity. The receiver comes with Bluetooth 4 and is also backward compatible if you have devices that have older versions of Bluetooth, you can connect them too. Furthermore it has NFC support too. As said by the TP- Link the receiver has 20m range with line of sight. And during our testing phase it managed proper connection upto +/- 20m, but we faced some problems when there were obstructions like walls.
Connection strength is good as well as the output seems nice. But when we first tried it, there was some distortion, the sound quality was not that good. But after a few hours it starting responding well. The should quality improved, (still wasn't that impressive) as we changed our device. We tested it with more than 5 smartphones and played music tracks of high treble as well as deep base. While some musics played fined, but some were very hard to listen.
TP-LINK HA100 Bluetooth Music Receiver can remember 10 devices which are connected to it, so you need not to pair every time you turn on the device.
Overall the TP-LINK HA100 Bluetooth Music Receiver is fine. On the plus side it has good looks, good range, low price tag and medium sound quality. On the negative side, the overall design of this device looks very identical to the old Belkin Bluetooth Music receiver, which is priced at Rs. 2,281. But later Belkin launched another Bluetooth Music speaker with attractive design and the price tag of Rs. 2,294. So, if you are looking for an alternative, than you can even give Belkin a try.
