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Wireless & Bluetooth Speakers
I tried the modern boombox design that mixes cassettes with Bluetooth – and it was like slipping back into my favorite pair of shoes
Wireless & Bluetooth Speakers
Rock ‘n’ roll will never die – and neither will this modular Bluetooth speaker with an ‘unlimited’ battery life
Wireless & Bluetooth Speakers
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Wireless & Bluetooth Speakers
This spatial audio wireless speaker is less than half the price of the Sonos Era 300, but it’s missing one crucial feature to really compete
This Bluetooth speaker is also a ‘soulful’ musical instrument that requires ‘no experience or special technique’ to play, and wants to relax your mind
Carrie Marshall
26 June 2025
Looks like a spaceship, sounds like a spa
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(Image credit: Roland)
The Roland Mood Pan is a Bluetooth speaker and music instrument
Based on traditional acoustic handpans, and it’s a MIDI trigger
It costs $659 / £544
Roland’s Mood Pan sounds like the title of a sitcom or the name of a hipster ramen shop, but it’s something much weirder: it’s a UFO-shaped electronic percussion instrument that enables you to explore “serene sonic textures” without requiring any musical ability whatsoever. It’s also a Bluetooth speaker, and MIDI trigger for electronic instruments and music creation software.
Roland has a long history of making musical hardware – its drum machines are the heartbeat of house and hip-hop, and its synths are everywhere in pop, rock and EDM. But this is a bit different, because it’s as much about enjoying the sounds as it is about playing an instrument.
It’s also really expensive, although that’s not necessarily a deal breaker: some of the most entertaining musical oddities, from keytars to Omnichords, are pretty pricey too.
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I tried the modern boombox design that mixes cassettes with Bluetooth – and it was like slipping back into my favorite pair of shoes
Rock ‘n’ roll will never die – and neither will this modular Bluetooth speaker with an ‘unlimited’ battery life
The boombox is back in a cool new Bluetooth version that still plays cassettes, now I just need to remember how to breakdance
(Image credit: Roland)
Roland Mood Pan: what’s the plan?
The Mood Pan is based on acoustic handpans, those chimey things you hear a lot in new age soundtracks and in the background when a beauty tech is about to stab you with needles, rip out your body hair, or crack your back. And like a handpan, you play it by tapping on it.
There are nine pads on top, each of which can be attached to a different musical scale and which can be configured so you’ll never play a wrong note. You can also tap the sides to create more percussive sounds, mute resonating sounds and add expression.
The big benefit over a traditional handpan, of course, is that you’re not limited to one set of sounds and one tuning. You can use the Mood Pan as a drum trigger or a singing bowl, as a gamelan or a guitar. You can use it as a serene soundtrack provider thanks to its four soundtrack modes, and you can ruin the mood completely by streaming black metal to it over Bluetooth.
It looks like a fun instrument and creative tool, but as with many acoustic handpans the big drawback is the price: at $659.99 it’s more expensive than a triggering device such as the Native Instruments Maschine or the Novation Launchpad Pro. And certainly is more expensive than most Bluetooth speakers we’ve tested. But they don’t let you noodle around with making music too, so maybe it’s well worth it.
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Carrie Marshall
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Contributor
Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than twenty books. Her latest, a love letter to music titled Small Town Joy, is on sale now. She is the singer in spectacularly obscure Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.
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I tried the modern boombox design that mixes cassettes with Bluetooth – and it was like slipping back into my favorite pair of shoes
Rock ‘n’ roll will never die – and neither will this modular Bluetooth speaker with an ‘unlimited’ battery life
The boombox is back in a cool new Bluetooth version that still plays cassettes, now I just need to remember how to breakdance
These heavyweight luxury speakers look like Doctor Who villains, but they promise a heavenly audio experience
WiiM’s new Hi-Res wireless speaker with cool circular touchscreen looks like a serious competitor to Sonos – with two big catches
These amazing stereo speakers look like they belong in Elton John’s house – and I’d take a pair too if I had Rocket Man money
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