Review: XtremeMac Tango Air AirPlay Stereo for iPhone and iPad

How best to describe the Tango Air? XtremeMac has essentially taken its diminutive Soma wireless speaker, blown it up to several times the size, and upgraded the wireless connectivity from bluetooth to AirPlay, with a resulting significant boost in audio quality and a $299 price tag to go with it.

The two product lines share quite a bit of DNA, from the same button and battery life indicator configurations to the metal arch running across one end. Here, however, the arch is large enough to function essentially as a handle. Although this is not a portable unit and doesn’t run on battery, the handle can be used for standing the unit upright.

AirPlay only works with Apple’s iOS devices such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, but it allows for a slightly higher fidelity of wireless audio transfer than bluetooth. Tango Air sounds strong on the high and low ends, and retains that audio fidelity even when cranked to high volumes. I’ve tested slightly better-sounding competing $299 AirPlay systems, but the Tango Air comes close. And the trendy styling is such that some users may fall in love with it on looks alone.

While I wish it had play-pause and next-previous buttons on board, it does have the bonus functionality of including a USB port on the rear so you can recharge your mobile device.

Price: $299 • xtrememac.com