The ION Jukebox Dock is a dock that makes your iPad, iPhone or iPod into a retro jukebox. There are several apps that allow you to browse through your music library as you would on a diner jukebox giving you an authentic jukebox experience, or at least as authentic it cam get on an iPad. It is available for $99.99. Allow me to explain why it is my favorite speaker dock so far.
Form
The looks of this dock are great. Even without it being on, it looks great! The iPad looks best on it so you can take full advantage of the space available to put a device on. When it is on, it really is bright especially in a dark room. It emits lights that slowly change as it plays and a couple lights on the head of the Jukebox are going too and the dock allows you to transfer back to the 50s with music from now. It is made out of real wood on the back and sides which helps with sound quality. The back is a light brown unpolished wood while the sides are a dark brown, nicely polished wood. The front is decals that make it look like an authentic jukebox and lights that follow the curve from bottom left, up and down to bottom right, like an arch. The lights are really cool and closely resemble that of an old jukebox. Take an old diner jukebox and add an iPad on it and that is what this is. It really is a blast from the past and a cool one at that.
Function
There are two things that this Jukebox is supposed to do and supposed to do well. That is A. play music at a high quality and B. charge your device efficiently. I can tell you that it does both extremely well. The music coming from the speakers sounds like the quality you would expect from speakers much more expensive than it. When I first pulled it, I thought it was just a toy and it wouldn’t have good quality. Boy was I wrong. This toyish-like dock packs a punch. It compares similarly or even favorably to some more expensive docks like some Bose and JBL docks and those not only sound really good but they are much more expensive. Another thing is that it charges the iPad at the same time of playing your tunes. It charges the iPad fast and I see an improvement over using other docks to charge it. In speaking of the iPad, there are many apps on the App Store that turn your iPad into a Jukebox control, which of course fit perfectly with the dock. A few I recommend are Diner Jukebox and StereoMatic as they make the experience very authentic, the app Diner Jukebox even has you touch the place where you put a quarter in to simulate you putting a quarter into the jukebox. This happens every time you open the app. The jukebox dock and an app combined make the closest resemblance to an actual jukebox you can get without actually buying one. The function of this dock is superb. The only negative I can say about it is that the lights are so bright, you have to turn it off at night when you want to sleep (should it be stored in your room) and turning it off also turns off the charging capabilities. This is not an issue for me since I can sleep with it on but for some with sensitive eyes, that may not work for you.
Conclusion
Pros
-Strong wood
-Looks well made and is well made
-Looks like a mini authentic jukebox
-Sounds similar or better to/than more expensive docks
-Charges iPad quickly
Cons
-Maybe too bright to sleep with should it be in the same room that you sleep in
Ways to improve
The only thing that should be changed is the addition of the ability to turn off the lights but not the charging ability. I think that that would be good to add. On the same token, the brightness is also a good thing for low-lit parties as it adds a lot of color to the party while providing music at the same time and even providing a conversational piece.
The ION Jukebox Dock is definitely one of the stronger things I have reviewed in terms of it’s abilities and it’s subsequent rating overall and it’s power in speaker capabilities and charging capabilities coupled with it’s authentic jukebox look make it the ideal dock and easily outweigh it’s only negative. The dock easily earns five stars from me. Great job ION, you have a stellar product here.
Thanks for reading,
Joe
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