Multiroom speakers are all the rage these days. It seems that every brand has their own “All In One” system capable of wifi streaming and Bluetooth connectivity. Triangle is a well-known French speaker brand known for their superb build quality and has been around for over 35 years and has now decided to throw their hat into the ring with the AIO 3. Our resident youth and gadget-head Harry Smith takes a look at this £499 connected speaker.

The AIO 3 has launched alongside the AIO C (pictured below) that brings the functionality of the AIO 3 to any speaker setup, but it is the AIO 3 we are testing here. Triangle’s music streamer is on sale for £499 which puts it in competition with other affordable music streamers.

CONSTRUCTION

It definitely looks the part; the top and bottom sides are constructed from brushed aluminium that is cold to the touch and the rest of the unit is draped in a woven fabric courtesy of the Scandinavian brand Gabriel.

The design is very minimal, there are only 4 buttons on the front and one LED indicator. The volume indicator is embedded underneath the fabric so as not to be intrusive.

The cabinet measures 7.67 x 14.17 x 5.9” making it rather compact and it weighs in at 11.24 lbs.

Underneath the aluminium and fabric is a wooden cabinet similar to a traditional speaker.

The AIO 3 is available in four different fabric finishes (lime green, slate black, granite grey and arctic blue) and two different metal finishes (Gold Champagne aluminium and Silver aluminium) The finishes are rather muted but I don’t see this as a negative as their natural look means that they can blend in anywhere in the home without being boring.

All in all, the look and feel of Triangle’s new all in one is very clean and sleek look.

I’m a great fan of how the AIO 3 looks and it would be at home in any modern living room or bedroom. 

The included remote on the other hand is a bit of a disappointment. Its plastic build feels cheap in comparison to the rest of the speaker and the buttons feel mushy and don’t lend any sense of purpose when controlling the AIO 3. The need to point the remote directly at the infrared sensor on the speaker is a little impractical. I feel that not using Bluetooth to communicate between the controller and the speaker is a bit of a missed opportunity but I can understand why as it saves on battery life. I would compare the remote to the one that you get included with a £25 Amazon Fire TV Stick and considering that the AIO 3 costs 20 times as much, a lot more could have been done in that department. It’s a bit of a shame that none of the design language or materials of the speaker carried over to the remote. Ergonomically there is nothing wrong with the remote, but I was left a little let down when comparing it to the speaker.

Thankfully when controlling the speaker, I relied mostly on my smartphone using the well-designed triangle AIO app or Spotify/TIDAL over Bluetooth. The remote is the only let down in terms of build quality and the rest of the AIO 3 definitely makes up for it.

SETUP & FUNCTIONALITY

The AIO 3 is a very versatile bit of kit and has a variety of inputs – you can play music over your wifi network thanks to the AIO android and iPhone app, connect via Bluetooth, or connect via a 3.5mm jack. Switching between the sources once they are set up is a breeze and you are able to cycle through them with the remote or by using the input button on the speaker (the LED indicator tells you which source you are using). Connecting via Bluetooth is also made easier thanks to an NFC pairing chip.

Setting up the AIO 3 was a rather simple affair, however, my first time was unsuccessful because my wifi router did not support the 2.4 GHz bandwidth. After getting a new router the setup process took less than a couple of minutes. Although I only had one AIO 3, you are able to control up to 10 speakers dotted around your house from within the app. (If using wifi and not Ethernet you are limited to 5 speakers)

The app is very well designed and grants the user plenty of control and choice when it comes to streaming music. All the streaming services are available to use straight from within the Triangle app. (Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, Qobuz and TuneIn for digital radio stations). You are also able to play music stored on your mobile device or access files stored on a NAS drive connected to the same network. I only experienced a couple of crashes from the app over the weeks I used the AIO 3.

SOUND QUALITY

For the purposes of the review, I used the speaker from within the app along with Tidal and Spotify. I also tested the sound quality over the 3.5mm jack and Bluetooth.

The AIO 3 is a great allrounder and shines with most genres of music. It is able to fill a room with ease and can get to being very loud, which was quite surprising considering the small size of the unit. It delivers a very pleasing sound that is extremely listenable and doesn’t distort at higher volumes. The ability to control the levels of bass and treble are a nice touch and allows the user to tune it to their own personal preference.

Hip-hop definitely sounded great on the AIO 3, on “Winners Circle” by Anderson Paak, the funky bass guitar riff and unique lyrical work took centre stage, while the kick drum provided a great punch. Across the whole album “Ventura”, the speaker performed very well and was able to stand up to a lot of the heavier parts which was very impressive considering the size of the speaker.

“Brianstorm” by Arctic Monkeys was another highlight as it can sound a bit hectic on some systems that aren’t able to provide great separation. The non-stop loud distorted guitar riffs and relentless fast drumming didn’t melt into one and I was able to make out the intricacies of every instrument. “The Way You Used To” by Queens Of The Stone Age was similar in that the speed and weight of the track didn’t overwhelm the AIO 3.

On “Your Song” by Elton John, I was able to hear every instrument’s part in its entirety. The acoustic guitar and Elton’s signature piano played great off the classical rhythm section that builds throughout the track

Electronic music was at home on the AIO 3. “F for You” by Disclosure brought echoey looping vocals and heavy bass to the table. Disclosure’s signature laidback house sound was great on the AIO 3.

I found myself listening to album after album on the AIO 3. I would definitely recommend purchasing a TIDAL HiFi subscription along with it as it was able to showcase the “Master Tracks” and I could easily tell the difference when using Spotify along with the AIO 3.

I only experienced skipping very occasionally when using it over wifi and the problem was non-existent when using an ethernet connection.

The AIO 3 performed very well over Bluetooth thanks to its use of Qualcomm’s apt X technology.

CONCLUSION

The AIO 3 is a fantastic compromise for someone who doesn’t have space for a traditional setup. It is able to fill a room with music and the multiroom functionality is very well implemented. If your main source of music is from streaming apps it is easy to recommend the AIO 3 as it brings a certain level of class and style to the table without compromising on sound quality. I would go as far as to recommend purchasing a few of them to place around the house.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: The speaker itself is very well built. I was let down by the included remote but that was my only complaint.

Sound Quality: Surprisingly loud and versatile, able to faithfully reproduce anything I threw at it.

Value For Money: I think £499 is a very reasonable price when considering the build and the fact that you don’t need to buy anything else other than a smartphone.

Pros: Able to handle anything you throw at them and also able to fill a room with ease. Very impressive considering the size. Excellent build quality. They are easy to set up and the accompanying app is very well designed.

Cons: The build quality of the remote

Price: £499

Harry Smith