Battery life is 15 hours – presumably each circle on the top plate counts for five hours – and recharging the battery to full takes three hours. The Bluetooth classification isn’t revealed in the specs, but we’re assuming its Bluetooth 5.0. It is recommended to avoid using or storing the product at extremes of temperature. Avoid leaving the unit in cars, on window sills, in direct sunlight etc. When it comes to classical music, the Roberts Beacon 330 performs better, sounding suitably balanced in terms of mids and lows, but it certainly isn't the kind of speaker that's aimed at a party environment. You’ll get used to it, but it is an odd interface. Trying to remember the mode the speaker is in, or having to go through the process of pressing the buttons again feels like a chore. Having a long press of the power button to put it into Bluetooth mode, and changing the Bluetooth button to EQ would seem like a simpler solution. Control the volume using the Volume Up or Down buttons on the speaker. You can press and hold the buttons to more rapidly change the volume.

Roberts clearly isn’t targeting the house-party crowd with the Beacon 330, instead seeking to please the discerning listener that likely makes up the majority of its consumer base. Even after taking this into account, I still feel the 330 would benefit from a bit of extra oomph across its EQ profiles.

Totally portable

Charging a device from the speaker will shorten the play-time available from the speaker’s battery before it needs charging. Around the rear is a USB-A port for charging a smartphone or other device, an aux port for a physical connection to another device, and the option to plug the Beacon 330 into the mains to recharge the battery. The EQ mode and USB-A charging port are exclusive to the Beacon 330, differentiating it from the Beacon 320. Roberts Beacon 330 features – Long battery life, plus EQ modes to adapt the sound The three little circles in the indicate battery status, while the bars at the bottom are there to help decipher the speaker’s EQ mode. The battery in the speaker may not have sufficient capacity in all cases to fully charge the connected device.

The volume, EQ and power off functions may be controlled by either speaker and will operate on both. Still, looking so good and feeling like a quality daily speaker ensures that the Roberts Beacon 330 will still be appealing to many. Voice assistant support would have cemented it as our new favorite addition to the smart kitchen, but it's still an attractive proposition, taking up very little space while offering a decent amount.Do not use or charge the battery if it appears to be abnormally hot, swollen, leaking or damaged in any way.

To reset your speaker use a paper clip to push the reset switch through the pin hole located underneath the speaker. Battery Life / Charge Time

The Roberts Beacon 330 is one of the most stylish Bluetooth speakers around but falls short of its competitors in some key areas

The Beacon 330 offers five EQ modes to choose from: Normal, Classic, Bass Boost, Outdoors and Speech. Press the power button – not too hard or long, or else you’ll turn the speaker off – and press either the volume “+” or “–” buttons once for Classic, twice for Bass Boost and four times for Outdoor mode. The small LED light beneath the Equalizer bar will flash a set number of times to indicate the mode the speaker is in. Of all the sound profiles available, Normal and Classic are your best bets, with Classic adding a little more size and pushing out vocals more. Outdoor makes it sound bigger but also a little less defined, while Bass Boost makes the shallow bass slightly tighter but the vocals sound reined-in. They all sound fine, but neither mode grabs your attention. Roberts says the material provides benefits to the sound for optimal acoustic transparency. At either end of the cloth are gold trims, with the logo at the bottom featured in a gleaming gold finish. Despite the use of plastic for the casing, it’s an eye-catching look.

Bluetooth: version 5.0; frequencies: 2.402 – 2.480GHz; power 0dBm; profile A2DP; codec SBC. Rechargeable battery: Lithium-ion 7.4V 2500mAh 18.5Wh (Beacon 310/320); 7.4V 3200mAh 23.68Wh (Beacon 330). The company reserves the right to amend the specification without notice. The Beacon 330 pumps out a decent sound through its 45mm neodymium driver unit, but over the course of listening to it, it’s clear there’s something… missing.The Roberts Beacon 330 comes with dual bass radiators that should bring with it "rich, powerful and clear sound" according to Roberts. In reality, it's certainly clear but we're not convinced by the power. The volume requires turning up more so than with other speakers in this price range and, even then, the energy isn't quite as potent. Five EQ options – Normal, Classic, Bass Boost, Outdoors and Speech – can be cycled through by short-pressing the power button then either the volume up or down button. When you hit the power button, a small LED reveals which mode you’re currently using via a set of distinct flashing patterns. A DAB Bluetooth radio is essentially a digital radio with the capability of using a bluetooth connection to stream to other digital devices that have music subscription services on them. When you activate the bluetooth function on your DAB radio, you will be invited to pair with another nearby device – such as a smartphone. Do that, and you can then select the music you want to play from your smartphone, using the DAB Bluetooth radio like a set of speakers. Your product or AC/DC adaptor should not be exposed to liquids, steam, sand, dripping or splashing and no objects filled with liquids, such as vases, shall be placed on the product or adaptor.