Review: Denon Cocoon Portable

Good things come in small, wirelessly connected packages. Unless we're talking about AirPlay speakers. For every high-quality Logitech UE Air Speaker ($350) there's a lesser model that sounds like someone stuffed sand inside a pillow and piped in some crappy Pearl Jam MP3s through a rusty can.

The Denon Cocoon Portable does not sound like a sand speaker, or Pearl Jam. It's the same price as the Pioneer A3 ($400), and it provides an array of streaming options from a number of apps on your phone or computer. Unfortunately, the Cocoon ranks toward the bottom of the AirPlay pile and carries too high a price. Unless you're particularly enamored by the wireless options, the brand, or the design, it's a definite pass.

The design is interesting: black with silver accents, a squished bean look that at least departs from the boxy shape of most speakers. Weighing 7.2 pounds and measuring 13.8 inches long and 5.3 inches deep, the box is portable enough for day trips, but not so light that it will slip off the back of your entertainment center. A grip on the back makes it easy to carry.

There's a small tray that pops out, revealing a 30-pin iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch connector. (Denon says it has no plans to release a model with a Lightning port.) In about two seconds, you can place your (old) iOS device on the connector and play music. There's a 3.5mm input for Android phones or any other 3.5mm source.

There's a battery, so you can disconnect from a power source and tote the Cocoon around for mobile listening. In my testing, the thing lasted only about three hours after a full charge.

Along the top of the device are touch-sensitive buttons for volume, play/pause, and presets. On the front, a text display shows the current track, the battery level, the Wi-Fi connection strength, or just a clock. The included remote slots into the back of the speaker for storage.

Since the Cocoon is primarily intended to be a wireless speaker, you'll want to take the time to connect the device to the phones and computers on your home network. The easiest method is to connect your iOS device and press the Netlink button. The Cocoon then imports your network settings from your phone, which takes a few minutes. After it's connected, you can stream from iTunes on your computer, access your network folders using DLNA, or play music from mobile devices.

The other setup option is to connect to the device over Wi-Fi using your computer, then use Denon's browser-based interface to plug in your network settings. For the non-geek, this method is more confusing, but if you want to buy a networked wireless speaker, you're probably willing to put up with the hassle. There's also a network connection for Ethernet in case you don't want to use Wi-Fi.

Denon makes a Cocoon app for Android and iOS. Oddly, the iOS app is more limited – you can't adjust the preset internet radio stations, for example – though the most recent update in mid-March improved things a little bit. Denon partnered with vTuner for the Cocoon app on Android devices, and it works perfectly for internet radio. The apps can adjust the volume, choose a DLNA server to play songs from a network drive, or switch the input to the 3.5mm input jack. You can also use the Android app to set it up as an alarm clock. The app provides good flexibility and is easy to use, but on iOS, it might be easier just to use Apple's Remote app, or to toss audio streams to the Cocoon from directly within another app using AirPlay.

Unfortunately, the Cocoon doesn't exactly wrap you in a cocoon of sound. In some ways, it's more like a glorified clock radio with a lot of bass. For my first sound test, I played an entire album by the band Iceage. The lead track, called "Ecstasy," is supposed to sound like crashing waves with an onslaught of punked-up guitars. Even though the Denon has two 25-watt speakers, Iceage sounded muddy and overly distorted at higher volumes – not much like the band intended and almost unlistenable. Just about every band sounded distorted, from Alberta Cross to Alt-J.

The Cocoon just doesn't measure up to the other players on the market. Recently, when I tested the Pioneer A3, I played dozens of Sigor Ros songs. The A3 worked OK for mid-volume ambient rock songs with high-range vocals, and provided an adequate amount of bass. Cranked to room-filling volumes, however, the A3 became just another average AirPlay speaker.

The Cocoon sounds even worse. Logitech's UE products all sound better, and even the Beats by Dre Pill ($200) sounded better on several tracks. For $400, you're basically getting the added flexibility of being able to play music from multiple wireless sources, but the audio quality suffers. There are much better choices out there for everyday music listening.

WIRED Flexible streaming options: AirPlay, DLNA, and internet radio. Easy setup. Handy rear grip and stow-away slot for the remote. Android app is great, especially for switching between sources and radio stations.

TIRED Sound is sub-par compared to other AirPlay speakers. Battery only lasts a few hours. Too pricey.