Nakamichi Punch review - a portable speaker with powerful sound for young people

Nakamichi is a young player in the portable technology market. And today the company introduces a portable speaker Punch, which clearly stands out from the rest. This is what sparked my interest in understanding the gadget and testing its capabilities.

The purpose of the column is extremely broad. Punch is a mobile speaker system for people who lead an active lifestyle, supported by their favorite musical compositions.

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Punch advantages and disadvantages

Equipment and characteristics

Review and Description of Nakamichi Punch

Nakamichi - a new player in the portable technology market. But not new to audio electronics. To date, gadgets of this form factor have gained great popularity due to the optimal dimensions, battery capacity, and musical capabilities. It is rare to find a design that is unlike others. Punch clearly stands out from the rest. This is what sparked my interest in understanding the gadget and testing its capabilities.

So, everything in order!

The purpose of the column is extremely broad. Party by the pool or on the lawn of a country house, or maybe a trip to nature or playing your favorite music at home? Indeed, the design, construction, functionality, equipment make the column universal in use. Waterproof class IPX7, shock-resistant housing, carrying strap, endow the gadget with the properties of mobile all-weather acoustics. The weight of the device is 1.7 kilograms, the dimensions are acceptable for easy carrying. The arsenal of wireless switching includes NFC and Bluetooth interfaces.

An AUX socket is provided for wired connection. The brain of the device is the Qualcomm QCC3020 processor. Li-ion battery with a capacity of 7200 mAh, is able to power the gadget for 8 hours with a volume level of 80%. A very good indicator! The charging connector is the now popular USB Type-C. There is support for the speakerphone mode for communicating on the phone or in messenger applications. Cherry on the cake - TWS mode for pairing two Punch speakers! Details are below in the text.

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Design and construction

Available in three colors: black, blue (rather turquoise) and red (burgundy). The first two came to meet me. Later you will understand why there are two copies ... I would like to note the stylish appearance. Cylinder shape with extensions at the edges. There has never been such a design in my memory.

The body is framed by a decorative and protective casing made of nylon fibers imitating fabric. Control buttons are located on the top.They are marked with rather large and expressive symbols. Pressing is easy. The central multifunctional button has a status indicator light. On the same plane, there are brackets for attaching the carrying strap.

On the back of the case, under a rubber sealed flap, there are USB-C and AUX connectors. Nearby, on the same site, there is a pairing button and an NFC tag. In the lower part of the body there is an anti-slip rubber platform with legs for flat placement.

By the way, the column can be positioned both horizontally and vertically. Sufficient stability, verified. The design is IPX7 waterproof. This means that the gadget can be under water at a depth of 1 meter, no longer than 30 minutes. The materials used and the assembly are of a high standard.

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Nakamichi Punch Control Review

Wireless pairing with a smartphone can be done in two ways:

• The first way is to turn on Bluetooth in the phone, touch the device to the NFC tag on the speaker case and confirm the pairing.
• If your smartphone does not support NFC, you can use the second method. As in the first option, turn on Bluetooth, start the search for devices, select the Punch device in the list of found devices and confirm the pairing.

In both cases, I have not experienced any difficulty in pairing the device with a smartphone. Everything happened quickly and smoothly.

For wired pairing, the AUX interface is used. With it, you can connect sound sources and a speaker with a 3.5 mm jack cable that comes with the kit. The manufacturer has taken care of all possible connections today, which is a big plus!

Punch supports devices on Android, iOS platforms and controls functions: phone calls, pause / pause mode, volume, track switching. Below is a fragment of the control description from the user manual.

Having a wonderful TWS (True Wireless Stereo) feature. This means that you can connect two speakers in stereo.

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Sound quality

The acoustics are based on the Qualcomm QCC3020 processor. Excellent reproduction of digital content, provided by the aptX and AAC codecs. The first of them makes it possible to listen to music with a quality close to that of a CD. It really is, and you can hear it!

The design uses 2 high-frequency dome drivers - 31 mm, two low-frequency cone speakers - 70 mm and a pair of passive bass radiators - 70 mm. The declared total output power of the gadget is 52 W RMS. This seems to be true. Effective placement of sound drivers allows sound to be distributed with a wide directivity pattern and creates a dense sound field. Woofers and passive radiators reproduce moderately deep and dense bass. Punch, translated from English - punch. The column lives up to its name. Percussive bass is guaranteed! In general, I liked the sound. The acoustics turned out to be omnivorous. He readily digests almost all musical genres. Reproduces quiet and loud sounds clearly, legibly. Sounds great outdoors too. Bass, high frequencies are not lost against the middle. The system is really capable of sounding a party in an open space with high quality, loudness and without distortion.

As I wrote above, the gadget has a TWS (True Wireless Stereo) mode. What does it do? The fact is that two Punch speakers, when connected in pairs, form a full-fledged stereo system! Those. one becomes the left channel and the other the right channel. The audio signal from the smartphone is transmitted synchronously to both. This way we get a loud music source with surround stereo sound both indoors and outdoors!

The sound quality through the analogue AUX interface depends directly on the DAC level of the connected device and the transmitting cable. This connection of devices is already not popular. But it is there. And this is a definite plus.

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Noise suppression

Punch uses a speech enhancement feature.The sound processor provides this capability. With the help of a microphone and a special algorithm for digital signal processing, the voice is separated from the background noise, and as a result, a decent quality of speech transmission during a telephone conversation.

Microphone quality

When an incoming call or a subscriber's number is dialed, the audio content broadcast is paused and the speaker goes into speakerphone mode. Communication through the microphone is quite comfortable. There is no background noise, crackling or reverberation. The voices of the interlocutors, as well as mine, are transmitted clearly and without distortion.

Working hours

The Punch has a 7200 mAh non-removable Li-Ion battery and provides approximately 8 hours of active use. My experience has confirmed the application. I listened to music for a couple of days, 4 hours, at about 70% volume. A USB Type-C connector is used for charging. A 60 cm cable is included. Full charge time is about 5 hours. Not fast. But at the same time, with a gentle mode for the battery. I used a 5V / 2A charger.

If there is no action for 10 minutes in pairing mode, the power is automatically turned off.

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Review results

Conclusions after meeting. In my opinion, Punch will be of interest primarily to young people, since the device has individuality and at the same time can please with excellent functionality and powerful clear sound. The appearance is original and effective. The column fits perfectly into the home interior. Weatherproof and robust body. All these features make Punch a good musical companion, regardless of party format and weather conditions. The price of 10,000 rubles, in my opinion, is adequate.

At the time of writing the review of Nakamichi PUNCH, the retail price of the gadget is almost 9900 rubles. In my opinion, the kit has every chance to seriously compete in the portable speaker market.