Philips S7807 Bluetooth speaker review: Great sound, rugged box

Best Prices Today: Philips S7807 Bluetooth Speaker

Philips is one of the great legacy brands in the audiovisual world, pioneering radio manufacturing in Europe before WWII and television after the war. They invented the cassette tape in 1963 and later teamed with Sony to develop the compact disc. Philips owned the Mercury and PolyGram record labels until near the end of the 20^th century and even produced a few well-regarded movies.

The company has recently been known for its success in the lighting, medical and consumer appliance businesses, but Philips hasn’t had much of a presence in the North American home entertainment market until they relaunched here in 2021.

The Philips S7807 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker

How is the S7807 speaker built?

Philips has designed a chunky rectangle that measures 11” W x 4.1” D x 4.1” H and weighs a hefty 4.18 lbs. That’s very heavy for its size, weighty enough to be used as the conk-over-the-head murder weapon in the next “Knives Out” movie.

It’s also big enough that a lot of people will have a tough time picking it up with one hand. The speaker does have a pair of posts that allow users to attach a carrying strap. There’s an IP67 waterproof rating, so the speaker should be able to survive extensive outdoor use.

What’s inside the Philips S7807 wireless Bluetooth speaker?

The speaker includes two 31mm mid-high drivers and two 71mm woofers with a two passive radiators designed for deep bass. It’s delivers a 40-watt RMS output power with a max output of 80 watts.

There’s a 5000mAh Lithium-ion battery that promises 24 hours of playback time. A full charge takes 4.5 hours.

How does the Philips S7807 wirelesss Bluetooth speaker work?

The speaker uses Bluetooth 5.2 and supports the SBC and AAC codecs. There’s a microphone built into the unit, so you can use it to take calls.

There’s a rubberized strip of raised controls across the top of the speaker that are easy to identify by touch. Four dots light up to show battery level. Plus and minus buttons control volume, there’s a button for play/pause that also answers and hangs up phone calls. There’s a Bluetooth pairing button, a button to pair the S7807 with another compatible Philips speaker and a power button.

I took the speaker out of the box, paired it with my phone straight away and figured out all of its functions before I even looked at the manual.

What comes with the Philips S7807 wireless Bluetooth speaker?

There’s a snazzy red-and-black weave shoulder strap, which should fix the carry problem for anyone whose hands aren’t big enough to get a good grip on the unit. There are also a pair of USB cables for charging, one that’s USB-C to USB-C and one that’s USB-C to USB-A.

What’s missing from the Philips S7807 wireless Bluetooth speaker?

There’s no Philips app for iOS or Android, so users can’t fiddle with the EQ or sound profile. Based on my listening tests, there’s really no need any adjustments and Philips probably figures that most of their customers aren’t interested in that level of control.

You don’t get an Aux input, nor is there a USB port that would allow you to plug in a stick drive full of music files. The S7807 is 100% a Bluetooth-only speaker.

There are no LEDs on the S7808, so the speaker won’t give you a light show that pulses in time with the music. If you really need a light show, there are plenty of speakers that offer one but remember that those lights are draining the battery every time you fire them up.

Playback

I tested the speaker with Pitchfork’s new “The 250 Best Songs of the 1990s” playlist, available on Spotify and Apple Music. While I could raise some serious complaints about a few of their choices, the playlist covers a wide selection of R&B, Hip hop, alternative rock, electronic and pop songs from the era, something that made it a perfect choice to enjoy this excellent speaker.

The low end is consistently impressive across all genres. Philips has designed a radiator that delivers the bass without any artificial processing. This speaker’s low end compares favorably to what you’d get with much larger outdoor speakers in a much smaller package. The S7807 speaker’s volume topped out at approximately 97 dB with zero distortion. That’s loud enough for any outdoor party.

I used the Apple Music playlist to get the higher-quality AAC stream and the S7807 speaker consistently revealed details in tracks like Lauryn Hill’s “Ex-Factor,” Aaliyah’s “Are You That Somebody” and TLC’s “No Scrubs” that I didn’t remember from hearing them on the radio back when they were hits.

Songs that have been consistent parts of my listening habits over the decades (Pulp’s “Common People,” Underworld’s “Born Slippy,” My Bloody Valentine’s “Only Shallow,
 DJ Shadow’s “Midnight in a Perfect World,” The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony”) come across with something approaching CD quality, far better than what we heard in the early days of Bluetooth, when everyone was just impressed that we could play back low-res files without wires. Songs I know well sounded great for casual listening. 

While the box suggests to “Pair for Stereo,” the speaker’s two mid-high drivers actually deliver a stereo effect in the single speaker unit. Of course, they’re not far apart enough to deliver obvious stereo imaging, but testing with some old Enoch Light Bossa Nova tracks recorded during the early 1960s extreme stereo era confirm the separation.

Is the Philips S7807 worth it?

The Philips S7807 Bluetooth speaker delivers incredibly big sound for its size and there’s consistent clarity and detail even at top volume. If you wanted to buy a pair to get a full stereo effect, I’d bet the results would be more impressive than what you’d get from one of those giant $500 portable speakers.

The build quality is excellent, and the unit both looks and feels like a high-end audio unit. If there’s a downside, it’s that you’re limited to Bluetooth playback because there’s no Aux input and some Android users will be disappointed that there’s no support for aptX codec.

If you’re looking for a versatile speaker that sounds great a low-to-medium volume for home use and can also crank up really high for outside events, the Philips S7807 would make an outstanding choice.

Best Prices Today: Philips S7807 Bluetooth Speaker