At first we would like to thank Creative for offering us a sample of their Chrono Portable Splash-proof Bluetooth Speaker and FM Radio Clock for testing and reviewing.

 

 

 

About Creative:

 

“Creative is the worldwide leader in digital entertainment products. Founded in Singapore in 1981, Creative started with the vision that multimedia would revolutionize the way people interact with their PCs.

 

Famous for its Sound Blaster sound cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment with cutting-edge audio solutions, premium wireless speakers, high performance earphone products and portable media devices. The company's innovative hardware, proprietary technology, applications and services enable consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment - anytime, anywhere.

 

Since launching the phenomenally successful Sound Blaster sound cards and setting the de-facto standard for PC audio in 1989, Creative has been able to leverage on its leading-edge audio technology, a huge user base of 400 million, and strong brand name to expand into the exciting lifestyle Personal Digital Entertainment (PDE) market.

 

Creative is now well recognized as a global leader for product innovation in the audio and PDE segments, offering consumers a complete, high quality digital entertainment experience through Creative's hardware, software applications and services. Finding the perfect balance between form and function, Creative strives for every product to be a sensory feast for the eyes and ears.

 

Today, Creative is spearheading new product categories with its groundbreaking Sound BlasterAxx audio enhancement devices and solutions, highly-acclaimed Creative D5xm Signature Series of modular Bluetooth wireless speakers, Aurvana premium headsets, Sound Blaster wireless gaming headsets, and cross-platform Sound Blaster Recon3D for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC or Mac.

 

These products and solutions are marketed to consumers and system integrators through a worldwide distribution network that includes traditional marketing channels, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the Internet.

 

Moving forward, Creative's mission is to expand its leadership role in the lifestyle Personal Digital Entertainment market, using groundbreaking technology and leading-edge designs for not just the technically-savvy consumers, but for everyone who enjoys entertainment. With strong focus on user-friendly interface, multiple features and cool industrial designs, the Creative brand is synonymous with lifestyle Personal Digital Entertainment.

 

Creative's global corporate headquarters is located in Singapore, in the heart of the Asia-Pacific region. It has regional business units in the US (Milpitas, California), Europe (Dublin, Ireland) and Asia (Singapore).

 

Creative is a public listed company on the main board of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) since June 1994.”

 

Product Features:

 

Perfect Morning Companion

 

Music is good for the soul in the morning! With its built-in analog FM tuner, you can enjoy your favourite radio station or DJ right after waking up to this bedside alarm — all at your fingertips.

 

Clear Display with Adjustable Brightness

 

The Creative Chrono's clock face is large and easy to read. Users can choose between 3 different brightness settings to suit individual preferences, so the clock is not too bright in the night, or too dark in the day.

 

Splash-proof and Portable

 

The Chrono's built-in battery lets you go portable! It's also IPX5-certified; that means it's completely splash-proof. Play your favorite songs by the pool or listen to podcasts in the shower!

 

Surprisingly Deep Bass

 

Featuring a passive woofer for enhanced bass and a single in-house tuned, full-range speaker driver, the Creative Chrono delivers surprisingly powerful sound with bass you can feel.

 

Wireless Stereo Pairing

 

Get double the audio power! Pair two Creative Chrono units together wirelessly for more audio power and better stereo separation.

 

Dual Orientation Layout

 

The Creative Chrono can be laid flat for room-filling audio, or it can sit on its clock face for more focused directional audio.

 

Bluetooth Connectivity

 

The Creative Chrono isn't simply a FM radio clock; it also serves as a fully-functional Bluetooth speaker so you can enjoy songs from your smartphone or tablet wirelessly.

 

microSD and AUX-In

 

Besides FM radio connectivity and Bluetooth, the Creative Chrono also has a 3.5mm AUX-in port, and a microSD slot that supports high-quality lossless playback.

 

Customizable via Downloadable App

 

Configure the Creative Chrono with the free downloadable Sound Blaster Connect app (for iPhones and Androids). The app allows you to easily access the presets and switch between different sources of audio.

 

 

Product Specifications:

 

One of the latest Creative portable speakers is also the splash-proof Chrono, which features Bluetooth connectivity, analog input, can read off microSDHC/SDXC cards but also comes with a FM module; it is available in multiple colors and is shipped inside a compact cardboard enclosure. Right from the frontal packaging area, we do learn that the product does interact with a mobile application too, the battery is rated at 8 hours of normal use and more!

 

 

 

If we do check the side of the packaging, we will learn of the custom-tuned full-range driver capabilities, the fact that we can pair the speaker with an additional one wirelessly in order to get Stereo sound, but also here does list the box contents:

 

 

 

The interfaces are also explained on the opposite side:

 

 

 

The portable device application is available for both Android and iOS platforms:

 

 

 

The manufacturer does show the color of the product you are getting, on the top cover:

 

 

 

Inside the box, we will find the Chrono speaker, fully protected inside a transparent plastic mold, but also the documentation:

 

 

 

In more detail, we are getting a Safety and Regulatory Information leaflet, an User Guide but also a World Wide Warranty:

 

 

 

Thanks to the multitude of operating modes, the manual is quite detailed:

 

 

 

The unit is accompanied by an USB data transfer / charging cable:

 

 

 

 

Chrono presents itself with a full-range top firing driver and the plastic grill reminds us of the vintage LED alarm clocks; here we also have the Volume -/+ buttons, the Mode button, Play/Pause but also the On/Off buttons.

 

 

 

These buttons do also sport additional functions, depending on the mode we are in:

 

 

 

In the front, the unit has the LED display, with various indicators but also the obvious clock:

 

 

 

The plastic sides of the Chrono do not feature additional interfaces:

 

 

 

 

Chrono supports dual-orientation, so it can also sit on its clock face for a more focused directional audio; a rubber handle is also provided, for easy manipulation outdoors:

 

 

 

In the back, Chrono does also sport some additional interfaces:

 

 

 

Besides the hardware ports which are covered by a rubber layer, here we also have a LED light adjustment button:

 

 

 

The unit is equipped with a microSDHC slot, a micro USB port but also an analog input jack:

 

 

 

The bottom area of the casing does feature four rubber feet, but also a central passive radiator in order to help with the lower frequencies:

 

 

 

Chrono presents itself with large clock fonts, while the notification icons can be spotted on the sides; as soon as the internal battery will finish the charging procedure, the small battery icon will appear:

 

 

 

The Bluetooth mode will show the usual icon on the left:

 

 

 

Thanks to the FM module, we can start listening to nearby stations; this process does also imply that we have used the Auto Tuning (or Manual Tuning) function for storing the respective channels:

 

 

 

After the FM channel has been selected, Chrono will revert back to clock mode:

 

 

 

The SD card mode will also display a small icon in the left side of the display:

 

 

 

By using the navigation buttons, we can jump from file to file or from the current directory to the next:

 

 

 

The Aux mode does allow the user to connect any analog audio source via cable for immediate playback:

 

 

 

After installing the mobile application named Sound Blaster Connect, we will get to see the dashboard, from where we can fully control the Chrono unit:

 

 

 

By accessing the menu in the top left corner, we can access more options:

 

 

Depending on the detected inputs, the application will allow to switch between the interfaces with ease:

 

 

When working only with the Chrono, we do not have access to the full names of the songs/directories, but the Sound Blaster Connect application does give us full access to this information:

 

 

The Radio section does allow working with the detected channels, but also assign favorites:

 

 

The speaker connection process can be accessed next:

 

 

From here, we can also get the speaker MAC address:

 

 

This application does also allow the user to set alarms:

 

 

Lastly, we can access some information on the application version, but also the current Chrono firmware version:

 

 

Chrono is a very affordable portable speaker from Creative which provides good audio quality and can be pretty loud, judging by its small footprint. We did really enjoy its vintage LED alarm clock appearance, the multitude of inputs it does support (Bluetooth, analog, microSDHC), but also comes with a FM module. The frontal display comes with large LED segments and its brightness can be adjusted on multiple levels. At medium sound level, from our tests, the speaker has lasted about seven hours, after which it did need a full recharge.

 

The product can be easily used with the Sound Blaster Connect mobile software, which is available for both iOS and Android devices; from it we can playback audio content from our tablet/smartphone, work with the stored FM stations, switch between audio inputs and more. For a more immersive Stereo sound, we can add a secondary unit that will link to the first one wirelessly.

 

The product can be well used outside, splash-proof (IPX5-certified) in order to play songs near our favorite pool or why not, near the shower!

 

The black, red, blue or brown Chrono can be purchased online for about 40 Euros!

 

Creative Chrono Portable Splash-proof Bluetooth Speaker and FM Radio Clock is Recommended for:

 

 

 

We would like to thank again to Creative for making this review possible!