InfinityLabClearCall - Speakerphone - Black

When I first started using this, it was great! Clear and crisp sound and my voice came through much clearer. Unfortunately a couple of months after using it, the sound will randomly cut out and I have to continuously reset the device. I can't return it, unfortunately, and ended up buying a different device instead. I'll keep it as a backup since it does work, just not consistently.

Edit 9/25/23: Just adding the note that when I bought this it was $30. I'm not sure my comments below about great value still apply at $100. I'll leave it but I wanted to make a note.I cant believe how good this thing is, regardless of the price but especially at such a great price. Awesome sound quality, more than ample volume, easy to use. My coworkers report that the microphone quality is excellent and I no longer have to speak loudly like an old timey telephone. Worth every penny.

Even at max volume, I can barely hear the person on the other end. I had to disconnect the device and switch to speakerphone, which was louder. Very disappointed.

If you're looking for a capable budget or mid-tier portable speakerphone for office use or or for a small conference room (max about 3-5 people depending on size of conference table and/or acoustics of room) then Infinitylab's ClearCall will likely meet your needs. This speakerphone has an impressive battery compared to other speakerphones in its class, is stable over bluetooth 5.0 when connected to a bluetooth 4.0+ device during Zoom or Meet meetings, and features multiple mics for simulated 360-degree positional recording.Performance over bt 5.0 with a dedicated Google Meet chromebook worked well except for a few instances of audio lag noted by meeting participants. This was likely a network issue though as verified in the Gsuite Meet audit console. We did notice though that there wasn't any audio lag instances when hardwired over usb. I was unable to find any spec sheets listing whether or not the bluetooth chip had aac codec or aptx but audio delays were rare enough that it wasn't an issue really.I noticed some sibilance coming through the speakerphone when volume is near maxing out but it sounds pleasant most of the time even when higher pitched attendees are played through it at medium volume.The microphones do a good job of picking up conference attendees' voices around a medium-sized circular desk while cancelling out the received audio even at higher volumes. There was only ever a complaint of faint audio when an attendee joined an in person conference at the outskirts of the table. The person was speaking while directed at the tv rather than the speakerphone. After getting a bit closer to the desk and speaking in the direction of the speakerphone the attendees were satisfied with the volume level (using Meet auto adjusted microphone level).I noticed on Zoom we didn't receive any complaints of echoing however on Google Meet we did receive a couple comments about a slight echo when the volume on the speakerphone was almost maxed out.Overall at this price point this speakerphone is a compelling buy for any organization looking for a budget-friendly mobile speakerphone for admin staff or for a small conferencing audio solution however don't expect this to work for larger virtual conference meetings.

This is a very nice little mic and speaker. It is super easy to set up and connect to my phone, and makes calling clearer and easier than just using the speaker function on my iphone. My husband and I often will call our parents or kids together, and we don't have to huddle around the phone to do so now, and can both talk and hear the conversations easily -- and we've been told that on the other end the sound quality is clear too. It's a very nice compact size but a big sound. I like that it also comes with a carrying case too.

InfinityLab is a relatively new label in the market that focuses on non-audio products. Created in September of 2021, don't let its young age fool you. InfinityLab is a wholly owned subsidiary of Harmon International, known for their presence in the audio realm. Harmon International is an American based company with operations in America, Europe, and Asia. In 2017, Harman International became a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, but its headquarters remain in Stamford, Connecticut. With parents and grandparent no strangers to the electronics industry, this young company has no doubt leveraged the latest technologies existing and available to them.The ClearCall is no exception and their first speakerphone covers all the basics and adds a little extra to be competitive. But lets face it, all speakerphones can do pretty much the same things, it's just a matter of how well they do it. Common functions of speakerphones include:Bluetooth connectivityWired connectionLasting BatteryFast/quick chargingActive Noise Cancellation (ANC)360° microphonequality speakersPC & Cellular Phone compatibilityEasy access function buttons (volume, mute, power, Bluetooth pairing, activate/end calls)My first speakerphone was the Kaysuda SP300 (also available on Amazon), and overall it's a pretty good speakerphone, but it did fall a tad short for my needs. For this reason, I decided to try a different speakerphone and turned to the ClearCall. In case you have not read my review on the Kaysuda, my primary reason for a speakerphone is to use in a classroom setting for an online class. The Professor is half way around the globe in Asia and class is only once a week for 2 hours. There are a total of 6 students in the class and the students are arranged in two rows of 3 with a speakerphone sitting on a table in front of the center student in the front row. The main shortcoming with the Kaysuda was the output volume, it just wasn't very loud to project over the small classroom.From a specifications perspective the ClearCall seems to check all the boxes I listed above, and I was hoping it would fare better than the Kaysuda SP300 in terms of speaker volume.Note: this review is a bit lengthy. If you don't care for the details, I've provided a pro's and con's summary at the bottom that you can skip to directly.Connectivity: The ClearCall can connect via Bluetooth or USB. The unit includes a 3 foot USB-A to USB-C cable. Wired connections typically pose no issues and there is a constant conduit for data to flow, so for purposes of this review, I'll be keeping it to Bluetooth only. Bluetooth pairing was quick and simple and posed no issues. The unit announces when it's connected to a device. But connectivity encompasses more than just the ability to be a medium; more importantly, connectivity is the ability to maintain a connection and provide real time responses. This includes things like sound clarity, fluidity, interference, and latency or audio lag. Unfortunately audio latency can be the cause of all those other connectivity issues, and audio lag can come from a variety of sources. Any system is only as good as its weakest link, and in the world of communication, there are factors that are not in your control. You may have the best equipment money can buy, but if the receiver on the other end of your call has sub-par equipment, you may still experience issues. For this reason, it will be very difficult to pinpoint the source of any issues I encounter. It may be the connection from your device to the computer, or the connection from the computer to the recipient's computer. Furthermore, it can also be the recipients connections as well. My internet speeds are 350Mbps download and 12Mbps upload and I can tell you I did experience some lag with this unit. The amount of lag varied across calls, and it ranged from 0-2 seconds. This range leads me to believe it's most likely due to the internet connection rather than the Bluetooth connection. I've also noticed that the ClearCall has full-duplex capability, allowing multiple people to speak simultaneously without cutting any one person off (i.e. you hear multiple voices over each other as if you are all in the same room speaking at the same time.)Functionality: This speakerphone has actual buttons, but all functions were covered. The buttons were backlit and clearly visible when activated. With buttons for volume, call answering, mute, Bluetooth, and power. Much like the other speakerphones, I was not able to activate the mute button. When depressed, the button lit up red, but it did not mute the microphone. It also did not mute the speaker, so for a Google Meet, which it claims to be compatible with, it does not function. There is also a battery indicator on the front face of the unit marked by four LED lights. The unit doesn't announce battery level, so you need to keep an eve on that yourself. On the back face of the unit, there are three additional ports, a USB-A, a USB-C, and a 3.5mm jack. The unit comes with a USB-A to USB-C cable and either USB port will charge the unit. Since both ports are both input and output, they can also be used to connect to other devices directly (i.e. without using Bluetooth). The ClearCall's slim profile comes with a soft sac bag to stow the unit and cable for functional portability.Battery: The unit is equipped with a Lithium-Ion battery which means it can charge fairly quick, and will have no memory effect. The lifespan of Lithium batteries is dependent on the number of cycles, and they are better at retaining their charge, so maximum capacity will diminish at a slower rate. Having no memory effect means that the batteries cycle is equal to a full charge to 100%, so if the speakerphone is at 25% and you charge it, it is a 75% charge. If you use it some more, then recharge it again when it's 50%, total charge is 125% which equates to 1.25 charge cycles, not 2. No memory effect prolongs the life of the battery greatly. While the ClearCall doesn't announce it's battery level, there are visual indicators on the front face of the unit. 4 blue LED lights provide you with an approximation of power remaining at 25% intervals. When you're down to just one blue light and it's flashing, it's time to recharge it.Active Noise Cancellation (ANC): With sister companies like JBL and parents like Harman Kardon, it is highly likely that ClearCall uses existing ANC technology whether it be Feed-forward, Feed-back, both, or some hybrid AI version. The skinny with ANC is that it produces soundwaves that effectively cancel out ambient noise within a specific frequency. For a speakerphone, wanted noise is often the people's voices which tend to be mid-range, thus low and high tones will be targeted for cancellation.The ClearCall can be used as both a headset as well as a headphone. The difference is in headset mode, the microphone is also active. The modes are clearly labelled Headset and Headphone and can easily be toggled when you access the speaker menu on your PC or Phone.Sound Quality: Connected via Bluetooth, in headphone mode, the output is loud enough to fill the room at max volume. I did experience some static with music playback. I should also point out that this unit also experienced some skips, especially if you're moving. When the unit was stationary, skips still occur, but it seemed to have settled down after 15 seconds or so. After that, skips were random and intermittent. Still a fail in my books.Call Quality: Connected via Bluetooth, for calls, the unit must be used in headset mode to activate the microphone. In headset mode ANC appears to kick in and the sound is much more clear and crisp. The cost of the more clear sound is that it's also lower in volume output when set at max volume. Expected, as ANC is designed to suppress sound. If you recall, my need for this was use in a classroom environment, and in this regard it performed marginally better (louder) than the Kaysuda SP300 in terms of speaker volume. The other half of a call is sound transmission. Feedback from the Professor was that it was much more faint with the students in the back row (for reference, the further student was about 10 away from the speakerphone.), but the sound was a little more muffled. The microphones appear to be located at the four corners of the unit.Quick Summary:Pros:Backlit button on the top face of the unitBluetooth and Wired Connectivity (USB-A & USB-C)Easy Bluetooth connection setupGood call qualityGood multimedia sound qualityActive Noise Cancellation MicrophonesQuick chargeSmall enough to be portableCons:Streaming multimedia via Bluetooth is unstable (connection is inconsistent)Short USB CableNon-functioning mute buttonmicrophone range is less than some othersNo linking capability (to additional compatible units)Overall, for my specific needs, the ClearCall by InfinityLab performed better in terms of volume output, but it performed more poorly with the microphones and how we sounded to the Professor. Sound (output) quality was better for multimedia, but the unstable connection with streaming did not provide immersive sound experience. The mics did fall a little short, but wasn't a complete bust. I think this unit would shine in small to medium sized rooms where sound is more enclosed. A classroom setting, where the room is physically larger, would definitely require multiple units linked (daisy-chained) together to ensure they don't interfere with each other, which this unit cannot support. 2 stars.