Review: Addresses some shortfalls of the Fire. Alas, it also introduces some shortfalls of its own
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 13, 2012
Summary: The Matchstick address what is for me the biggest shortfall of the Fire: sound quality. The docking system provides MUCH better sound than the built-in speakers, and bundles that with some useful features. However, these pluses are countered by a remote with limited functionality and a balky on/off switch.Main review: I was getting really frustrated trying to find a docking system for my Fire. I'd see all these great systems but they were only for the iPod, iPhone or iPad. I have been using an Altec Lansing iM227 Orbit portable speaker, but that didn't provide the functionality I wanted So, I was really looking forward to trying out the Matchstick when I was offered a system by the manufacturer to review.This is a docking station for the Fire that provides dual speakers. The dock rotates so you can use the Fire in portrait or landscape mode. It charges the Fire when it is docked.There's a lot to like about this. The overall design is nice. Nothing fancy, with lines that blend well with the clean design of the Fire. Unfortunately, the speakers are covered in a rather cheap feeling fabric. I like that it's a simple black-on-black color scheme, but better quality cloth would have been nice.The power cord has a manageable "wall wart" on the end that is not too bad to deal with. The power cord could have been a bit longer - it's about 4.5 feet, which can be a problem if you want to use this on a shelf.The dock charges the Fire while it is in place, but you can also run the Matchstick off of a battery. Battery power is a nice touch since it allows for portability. The catch is that you have to buy the battery separately -- it is a proprietary design. While I don't begrudge anyone from making a profit, it would have been nice if you could use standard size rechargeable batteries such as Eneloops. A battery pack was not included in my review model, so I can't speak to the battery capabilities.The Fire slides into the dock and connects with the Matchstick for power and audio. There is a button on the Matchstick that allows you to turn the Fire on and off. It's a simple plastic peg that presses against the Fire's power button. I like the simplicity of the approach, but the execution could have been better. The peg is a wee bit too short (or perhaps just misaligned) so that you have to press REALLY hard to get it to turn the Fire on or off. Most times I found it easier to pop the Fire out the doc and press the power button myself. VERY annoying!I was really looking forward to the remote since I often use the Fire at my desk, and it would be great to be able to control the Fire without touching it since it's out of easy reach. But, I found that the remote was too basic to be of much help.On the plus side the remote is small -- about 1/4 thick and about 1.5 by 3.5 inches. The buttons allow for bass up/down, treble up/down, volume, mute and power. You can also use it to reset the bass/treble to "normal" and change input source (more on that later).What is sorely missing is a track skip and a pause. So, the remote turns out to have very little use since I have to touch the screen to pause, change tracks, etc. Since the remote does not take the place of those key needs, you end up wondering why it's there at all. After a short while I stopped using it and just touched the screen or used the volume controls on the docking station.The speakers perform very well at "soft-normal" levels (such as watching a movie at your desk at work), and are quite respectable at "loud-normal" volume (e.g., loud enough to make it difficult to converse with someone next to you, but not so loud that you can't hear the phone ring). It's better suited to reproducing dialog than music.Excellent bass considering that it uses two 3-inch full-range speakers, but it gets boomy quickly at loud volumes. The spec's say 16 watts but this guy does not like to get pushed much when it comes to volume. It will get real ugly real quick.But that's OK. The speakers are not designed to be audiophile quality or provide for room-filling sound for a large party. They are meant to produce better sound than what you get out of the Fire, and it does that admirably. Will your 16 year old son call them "wimpy"? Probably.Still, they are a VAST improvement over the internal speakers and are much better than any of the single-speaker options I've tried (such as the Altec Lansing, the iHome and others). They won't compare at all to the quality of sound from some of the better multimedia speakers in the $70+ range (such as the GigaWorks T20 or T40), but that's the price you pay to gain the convenience of a dock.There is an aux port on the back of the Matchstick that you can use to plug in a MP3 player (or anything else that will work with a 3.5 inch plug). Very nice feature since I have some music on various devices that I have not moved to the Fire. They also include a M/M 3.5 inch cable. Works well, although the port is hard to access. You'll find it easier to leave the M/M cable attached.In summary, there are some clear strengths to this. It would be a 5-star product if it were priced in the $60 range, but at the $100'ish point some of the misses (especially the power button) are not acceptable. 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 since the power button is such an annoying flaw.