A quirky Bluetooth speaker with mediocre sound
I’ve been PCMag’s home entertainment expert for over 10 years, covering both TVs and everything you might want to connect to them. I’ve reviewed more than a thousand different consumer electronics products including headphones, speakers, TVs, and every major game system and VR headset of the last decade. I’m an ISF-certified TV calibrator and a THX-certified home theater professional, and I’m here to help you understand 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and even 8K (and to reassure you that you don’t need to worry about 8K at all for at least a few more years).
The colorful Polaroid P2 Player Bluetooth speaker looks cool and can fill a room with sound, but it doesn't offer the clean audio performance or rugged design of similarly priced competitors.
Most people know Polaroid for its instant film cameras, but amid two decades of post-bankruptcy corporate shuffling, it's reaching out beyond that identity. The latest project from the modern-day Polaroid is a lineup of four Bluetooth speakers and a companion app that curates a lineup of streaming radio stations. Polaroid sent us the P2 Player ($129.99), which falls in the middle of a lineup that also includes the small, mono P1 for $59.99, the bigger stereo P3 for $189.99, and the even larger mono P4 for $289.99. The P2 Player features a pair of 1.85-inch drivers and gets quite loud for its small size. We like its fun design, but it lacks the clarity, finesse, and weatherproofing you can get from similarly priced Bluetooth speakers, such as the $129.95 JBL Flip 6 or the $179.95 JBL Charge 5, both of which work with a much more useful companion app.
The P2 looks a bit like a children’s toy, with a rounded white body, a bright grille, and colorful back accents (black, blue, red, white, or yellow models are all available). The thin rainbow strip in the middle and the rainbow fabric loop on the right side certainly give it a cheerier look than that of most Bluetooth speakers. Unless you get the black model, the only dark element on the speaker is a circular LED between the two grilles that shows the connection status, volume level, and other information. It measures 3.6 by 8.7 by 2.0 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.4 pounds, which makes it larger and heavier than the cylindrical JBL Flip 6 (2.6 by 7.0 by 2.8 inches, 1 pound).
The speaker sits on a rubber foot that runs along its bottom edge and keeps the relatively thin device stable. The top edge includes play/power, back, forward, and app-defined favorite and music buttons. It also features a large volume wheel, a Bluetooth pairing button, and an NFC panel for quickly pairing your phone with a tap. A set of lanyard holes reside on the left side of the speaker, though the rainbow tag on the right does the job just as well once you attach the included, matching fabric strap. Below the tag, a rubber door covers the USB-C port (for the included USB-C-to-USB-A charging cable), a 3.5mm input, and a reset button. No USB charger is included.
Despite what the rubber door might indicate, the P2 doesn’t have an IP rating. This is surprising because most other speakers in this size and price class offer some measure of weatherproofing. For instance, the Bose SoundLink Flex ($149), JBL Flip 6, and even the dirt-cheap JBL Go 3 ($49.95) all carry a weatherproof IP67 rating.
The P2 relies on Bluetooth 5.0 for connecting to source devices. This is an aging version of Bluetooth, but it's not surprising to see at this price. Polaroid hasn't shared what codec support is available.
According to Polaroid, the P2 Player can last up to 15 hours on a charge. This estimate depends on your listening volume, however, as playing music at high levels will reduce that time. It takes about four hours to recharge the speaker.
The Polaroid Music companion app (available for Android and iOS) enables a handful of additional functions for the P2. Most importantly, it allows you to use two of the buttons on the speaker to select and favorite music. You can also use the app to access several streaming radio stations that Polaroid curates, as well as to connect your Apple Music account (support for Spotify will be added at a later date). Otherwise, you can set the brightness of the display and control the volume of your phone's system sounds relative to the music.
The app doesn't offer any sort of EQ or balance settings, nor does it let you pair a second speaker for stereo listening. The latter is at least possible by pressing the Bluetooth pairing button on two speakers twice to put them in stereo pairing mode. The app also requires persistent access to location data to complete the connection with the speaker. You can still access the app’s features if you refuse to give this permission or turn it off later, but a “Connect your Polaroid Player” tile remains at the top of the app interface if you don't allow perpetual access.
A speaker this small and shallow typically can’t output powerful bass. As such, with our bass test track, The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” it offers only modest low-frequency response, and emits the characteristic crunch and pop of distortion at maximum volume.
When it isn’t trying to push out sub-bass frequencies, the P2 can get surprisingly loud for its size and exhibits reasonably good balance. The opening acoustic guitar notes in Yes’ "Roundabout" benefit from a strong sense of resonance and easily fill a room. But the hint of string texture that comes through the speaker largely lacks the sort of high-frequency finesse we like to hear. When the track fully kicks in, the different elements all get plenty of attention, if not plenty of detail. The bassline, drums, guitar, and vocals all come through clearly without overwhelming each other in the mix. Again, however, the sound isn’t particularly rich or crisp.
The Crystal Method’s “Born Too Slow” shows the P2’s generally mid- and high-mid-focused signature. The riffs and vocals stand in front of the mix, while the backbeat settles a bit farther back than ideal, where it lacks the lower-frequency weight necessary to anchor the track. The higher frequencies also fail to get much attention. The ordinarily screeching elements remain present, but fail to cut through the mix like they should.
The Polaroid P2 Player looks playful, gets quite loud for its size, and isn't too pricey at $129.99. But it doesn’t offer enough detail in the highs or power in the lows to stand out in the audio department. For a bit more money, you should just get the Bose SoundLink Flex, which boasts fuller, cleaner sound, a waterproof design, and a speakerphone function. The JBL Flip 6 is another strong option that produces more powerful bass for the same price as the P2. And if you have a strict budget, the Anker Soundcore Mini ($39.99) is a good choice for a lot less money.
The colorful Polaroid P2 Player Bluetooth speaker looks cool and can fill a room with sound, but it doesn't offer the clean audio performance or rugged design of similarly priced competitors.
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I’ve been PCMag’s home entertainment expert for over 10 years, covering both TVs and everything you might want to connect to them. I’ve reviewed more than a thousand different consumer electronics products including headphones, speakers, TVs, and every major game system and VR headset of the last decade. I’m an ISF-certified TV calibrator and a THX-certified home theater professional, and I’m here to help you understand 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and even 8K (and to reassure you that you don’t need to worry about 8K at all for at least a few more years).
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