Making the most out of the Huawei Soundjoy

Portable Bluetooth speakers have become a staple for most. Even if you’re not the type to use one every day, you probably have one lying around somewhere just in case. And there’s no shame in that. A portable Bluetooth speaker has many places in today’s world. You can use it for work, at the gym, on your adventures — anywhere really.

The Huawei SoundJoy is one of many speakers on the market today but this device boasts a Devialet sound system and a couple of other helpful features to help you in your daily routine.

Quick review

First, a quick review. The Huawei SoundJoy is a cylindrical speaker with a fabric exterior and a rubberized bottom. You have a subtle RGB ring light on one end for a little pizzazz and its big physical buttons are hard to miss.

Now this device basically has all the characteristics you’d want for a portable Bluetooth speaker including IP67 dust and water protection, long-lasting battery life (around 2-3 days in the real world), fast charging, portable design, and a few smart features.

The Huawei Soundjoy produces surprisingly high-quality audio and wide projection for its size. The Devialet speaker system built into the Soundjoy feels fully utilized producing loud and detailed audio.

Bassheads will find joy in the low hums and heavy hits and it’s probably the best bass performance from a speaker in this price range. At almost maximum volume, however, you’ll start to hear a bit of distortion.

The preset tuning of this speaker obviously favors the lows which does occasionally drown out the vocals for some songs. Luckily, this is fixable and we’ll get to that later on in this article.

For smart features, the Huawei Soundjoy covers the basics.

Apart from being a Bluetooth speaker, the Soundjoy also comes equipped with microphones so you can use it for calls or conferences as well. It also supports voice assistants and can pick up voice commands for both your phone and the speaker itself. The speaker is also NFC-capable so you can also connect (and even transfer songs) by tapping your phone to the device.

In a Huawei ecosystem, you’ll get access to more features such as Automatic Discovery which automatically pairs the Soundjoy to other Huawei devices on your network.

For its cons, there isn’t much. Obviously, if you don’t like bass-heavy speakers then this isn’t for you as its heaviness is its best quality. If you’re specific with sound quality and tuning, you should know that options are limited and you won’t get access to an equalizer or more advanced tools like that.

And while I really like the ring light on the bottom, the novelty wears out quickly and I wish you had more options for color or movement.

But overall, as your everyday Bluetooth speaker, the Huawei Soundjoy is set up to satisfy. With hardly any complaints (except maybe the lack of cuter colors and limited IOS support), it’s more about how to make the most of your speaker to really get the best value, and here are a few tips.

Customized tuning

As mentioned, out of the box, the Huawei Soundjoy is a bass-heavy speaker that emphasizes drops and hits over vocals and tinier details. And while that is a preference for some, you can easily change that through the app.

Head over to the AI Life app available through the Huawei AppGallery. If you’ve already connected to the speaker, you should see a card for it.

There are two ways to tune your audio in the app. You can first choose a mode. There are three available — Hi-Fi, Vocal, and Devialet Mode.

Hi-Fi offers more balanced tuning where lows aren’t as heavy and pronounced. It offers a more open soundscape that’s able to feature the tinier details. Vocal, most obviously, prioritizes voice clarity. This is best used when listening to podcasts or when on a call as it does tone down the overall fullness the speaker is capable of.

Finally, we have Devialet mode which is actually the default setting and the most bass-heavy of all the modes. But I personally think it’s the best for showcasing the capabilities of this speaker.

Below the sound modes is a small virtual knob for bass adjustment. Here you can fine-tune how much more or less bass you want. Our Soundjoy is usually set on Devialet mode with +2dB bass and it works across different genres so far.

Daisy chain for bigger sound

The Huawei SoundJoy is a loud little speaker that can get even louder with a little help from friends.

If you have another Soundjoy on hand, you can link them up for bigger stereo sound. And Huawei made it fun to do, too. Simply shaking both devices at the same time will prompt them to link up.

But if you really want BIG sound, you can keep the chain going up to 100 speakers. What that sounds like I’ve yet to experience but I’m pretty sure it would be fun.

Helpful little features

Most portable Bluetooth speakers are pretty simple and the Huawei Soundjoy is no exception. But it does offer a few helpful features.

An underappreciated feature for me is the ability to program the speaker to shut down after a few minutes of inactivity. Done through the app, you can access the schedule off time feature and choose from the preset times.

And did you know that the ring light is actually an indicator?

Different colors and breathing patterns dictate what’s happening with the speaker. For example, when you see a spinning,  blinking white light, a One-Hop transfer is in process. Or when you see the light turn yellow, it means your battery level is less than 10%.

There’s also a low-power consumption mode that works to preserve battery when you’re running low.

To activate this, simply hold down the voice button (it has a microphone icon on it) for five seconds. You can exit anytime by pressing any of the buttons.

Final thoughts

Again, there’s little to complain about with the Huawei Soundjoy. I’ve personally been using it as an external speaker for my PC since it sounds a whole lot better than my monitor speakers. I can keep it plugged in, too, so it’s always charged and ready to go if ever I need to leave the house with it too.

I find it also has a more refined design compared to others in its price range without looking too boring. You’ve got great sound courtesy of Devialet and long-lasting battery life so you won’t be left soundtrack-less on your adventures.

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4 things the 2022 Honda HR-V delivers as a daily vehicle

08/24/2022

The 2022 Honda HR-V is the company’s third-generation model in the series. As such, it now comes with a new design, loads of new tech and safety features, and a choice of a turbo engine running under the hood.

We’ve had the chance to spend time with this compact crossover (top-of-the-line Turbo variant) during its Philippine launch, and you can watch our video on it below. We talked about the updates for its design, its key features, and our initial impressions of its performance.

But for this article, we’ll concentrate more on how it performed on a daily basis, and what elements and aspects stood out as our vehicle in and out of the city.

Aesthetics 

We’d like to think that while the aesthetics department might not directly affect the performance of a vehicle, it does affect overall consumer experience. As drivers, there’s that sense of pride when you personally love how your vehicle looks.

And that same pride is felt when driving the HR-V. As established in our video, the exterior is now a lot sportier than previous generations. Its new grille and fresh pair of headlights make the front facia look sleeker now.

I also like the small detail it has on the lower part of its front grille — resembling a heartbeat that more or less suggests excitement. It does make things a bit more interesting and nicely adds flair to the exterior. Yup, I’m a sucker for small details that enhance overall aesthetics.

Just like before, the rear door handles are still located at the vehicle’s C-pillar to achieve that two-door illusion. Meanwhile, its new sloping roofline is meant to make it look more like it has a coupe design.

The elevated door panels give the vehicle a more upright stance together with its 17-inch alloy wheels. After bringing it around for days, you’ll realize that it adds that proud feeling that you’re driving a vehicle that in itself looks proud — backing up my earlier point on aesthetics.

Finally, the thing that struck me the most at the rear is its full-width LED taillight since it just begs to be noticed both during daytime and especially at night. It serves a double purpose for safety and style.

Comfort and ergonomics

Comfort factor and the way the layout of its interior is arranged also play a big part, especially during long drives. And the HR-V didn’t disappoint in this aspect.

Its seats are situated high up so it’s easier to see the surroundings of the car as the driver. Taller drivers might just find their heads closer to the ceiling.

Apart from that, the seats are comfortable even when driving out of the city for hours. Fatigue has been kept to a minimum and thanks to its nicely laid out buttons and knobs, attention to ergonomics is very apparent.

I appreciate that its 8-inch infotainment touchscreen comes with a couple of physical buttons for volume and menu navigation.

I’ve always believed that navigating solely on a touchscreen will demand you to take your eyes off the road and the presence of tactile buttons helps avoid this.

Meanwhile for the passengers at the back, there’s ample space for head and leg room and is complete with AC vents and USB chargers if you need to top up your devices while on a road trip.

For hauling your things, trunk space is also adequate and the rear seats can even fold in a 60/40 partition so you can load extra lengthy cargo.

Honda Sensing

Honda has been focusing a lot of its research and technology on improving its safety features. And with the latest Honda Sensing technology that’s present in the HR-V, you get an array of safety features for your everyday drives.

You get Adaptive Cruise Control, Low Speed Follow, Lane Keep Assist, Collision Mitigation Braking, Road Departure Mitigation, Lead Car Departure Notification, and Auto High Beam.

From those, its Adaptive Cruise Control with Low Speed Follow has been really useful for long highway drives. Although it still requires you to pay attention on the road, you can relax more and enjoy the scenery while the vehicle safely maintains its speed.

Its Lead Car Departure Notification is also surprisingly helpful for those times you’re at a traffic light and didn’t notice the light turn green. A soft warning tone is heard as a reminder that the vehicle ahead of you already moved. Pretty nifty feature.

Vikka actually made a dedicated video on Honda Sensing on the Honda Civic and you can watch more about it in the video above.

It also comes with a total of four airbags.

Lastly, although not a part of Honda’s safety tech, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are both present here so they provide a seamless transition of porting over driving essentials like Waze or Spotify to the vehicle’s infotainment system — something that I believe should be standard in today’s modern vehicles.

Driving performance

For the HR-V, there are two engines available — there’s the naturally aspirated 1.5-liter VTEC engine and there’s also the 1.5-liter turbocharged VTEC engine that we have here. It outputs 175hp and 240Nm of torque and delivers power to the front wheels using a continuously variable transmission.

Needless to say, power is present whether you’re picking up speed on the highway or needing to overtake with precision. Handling is light and easily follows your lead and the vehicle feels balanced overall.

Suspension is generally soft and comfortable while remaining composed at all times and it’s got different driving modes that you can switch between depending on your current driving needs.

Driving the HR-V feels like you’re driving a vehicle with a smaller body. It doesn’t feel chunky and is very lightweight and agile enough to get out of its current spot effortlessly. This makes for a relaxed driving experience on long roads, and not as taxing when you’re stuck in traffic.

Pricing and final thoughts

The 2022 Honda HR-V starts at PhP 1,250,000 for the base S model while the V Turbo variant retails at PhP 1,598,000.

While there may be more affordable offerings available in the market today, what Honda is selling here is a complete package that comes with an exciting and confident exterior, ergonomic and comfortable interior, a suite of features and Honda’s safety tech, and an agile performance with comfortable ride experience.

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