DALI Katch G2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker, Wireless, Compact, Outdoor Speaker, 30 Hours Playtime, With Fabric Dust Cap, Pressure Level 95 dB, Chilly Blue

Product Information

The Dali Katch One is a little less expensive than the Kubik One. It’s equally stylish, in a rather different way, and is intended to be a hub for all your living room audio needs. Running along the top edge are five firm, responsive buttons that govern volume, power, Bluetooth pairing and sound modes (more on those later). Four lights surround the standby button, which light up incrementally to indicate the volume level, as well as denoting the sound mode, pairing and power status.

Dali Katch One review | What Hi-Fi? Dali Katch One review | What Hi-Fi?

This soundbar will make a delightful addition to your TV set up. The crisp, dynamic audio is far beyond what you’ll get from your flat panel and this is sonically superior to all of its similarly priced rivals. Just make sure you’ve got the space and inclination to position it properly. To find out, we connect a Mac via Bluetooth, which is easily found and connects automatically each subsequent time both devices are powered on. As we increase the volume, we find the Katch G2’s room-filling sound neither loses clarity nor errs toward harshness either –no small achievement from something with such bijou proportions. In the end, though, the Dali Katch stands alone. It’s the best-sounding, best-looking portable Bluetooth speaker on the market today and deserves all the plaudits it gets, beating my former favourite, the KEF Muo, for sheer audio quality. Vocals are three-dimensional and emotive. Stream Berwyn’s Heartache & Chest Pains, and while the pensive keys are accurate across the frequencies and held dutifully within the cohesive mix as the beat comes in, vocal stylings are central, textured and nuanced.There’s no network connectivity or apps with the Katch One –this is pure audio – soHDMI ARC is likely to be your method of connection. This takes the audio straight from your TV and supports CEC so that you can still use your TV’s remote to change the volume. There’s a small Dali remote included in the box for more functionality. There are two audio profiles that cater for use in different surroundings. The Clear mode has a more neutral frequency response suitable for most listening situations, while Warm mode boosts the bass frequencies for larger rooms. I really like the AptX HD support. It seems to be dying out. I can easily tell the difference between normal Bluetooth and the AptX so one of the main reasons for choosing this speaker.

Dali Katch G2 review - What Hi-Fi? Dali Katch G2 review - What Hi-Fi?

Switch to Ghostpoet’s remarkable Shedding Skin and Dali’s aptitude is proven to go beyond the instrumental. Dali has improved on pretty much every aspect of KEF's standard; and that is not to do the Muo a disservice, only that the Katch has raised the bar so significantly in the same way KEF did before it. Indeed, the Dali Katch doesn’t have any significant weaknesses. It perhaps isn’t the bassiest of speakers. Even with its “warm” audio profile engaged, you’ll find the really low bass notes missing from its armoury. This is not the speaker for you if you’re obsessed by thumping bass. However, as I found with the renowned KEF Muo, which had a similarly lean sound profile, it’s very easy to get used to this. The depth and richness of the mids and the sweetness and sheer clarity of treble offset this speaker’s ineffectiveness down low. Dali Katch review: Price and competition What jumps out is how loud it plays. Hold down the volume “+” key and it just keeps going up and up and up. Before you know it there’s a huge, authoritative sound filling the room, with none of the chuffing or hardness you’d normally associate with a cheap Bluetooth speaker. It holds its composure with ease; the sound remains clear and focused. Safe to say that if this Dali’s sound matches its build and spec sheet, we’ll have a very competitive product.

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Our comparison speaker for testing is the five-star JBL Xtreme 3, but in direct comparison the JBL feels just a tad over-emphasised through the bass and just slightly muddier through the low end as a result. It’s a small difference, but still noteworthy. Verdict It’s worth noting that there’s no scope for further wireless daisy-chaining of multiple Dali Katch G2 speakers, which is a much-loved feature of JBL speakers thanks to their PartyBoost button.