Libratone Reviews

I have 2 Zipp speakers and for the first couple of times, Link worked and Libratone seemed to function fine. However, link does not work anymore, app doesn’t recognize speakers and I have to add them again, only to lose them when my phone locks itself. The link issue was explained as due to the fact that I have WiFi access points instead of direct connection to router, which does not make sense. IF Libratone worked, it would be nice to have the battery percentage displayed (can’t believe they didn’t think of it...) but since it doesn’t, it really doesn’t matter.

Update Feb 3, 2020. Libratone actually worked quite well for a couple of months and I was starting to think the company is actually improving Libratone . Unfortunately, following the last app update, my speakers do not show up nor can I even add a new one. The home screen does not give option to add a new device. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling Libratone but that did not work either.

I have two Zipp speakers, which sound great and used to work ok with the this app app, but a recent update has made Libratone worthless. It no longer locates my speakers, even though I can still play to one of them through AirPlay. Libratone tells me to turn on WiFi and Bluetooth to enable it to locate devices, but both are ALREADY ON. I’ve tried force quitting, restarting the speakers, reconnecting to WiFi, but can’t seem to fix this problem. I would have loved to have supported this company by buying more of its products, but this terrible app is enough to drive me to Sonos or another competitor.

I was in love with my two zipp minis from the moment I heard them in the showroom. Sound quality is exceptional for the price. Features, connectivity, file support and everything I looked for was great. But with this new firmware update(801) which supposed to support airplay 2, everything changed. Now I feel like I've been cheated.
I can't use them as stereo through airplay! If I use soundspace, it won't show up in airplay list.
If i use them separately, they are just two mono speakers!
It's not possible to use apple Home app to join them either.

I hate it! They where bragging about "we are one of few companies that supports airplay 2" for a long time and this is the hiw they support it. By loosing a key feature without gaining any.

Total cheats

For a while after the Airplay 2 update, I was reasonably happy with these, after having them drive me crazy for over a year. Now I can never use them unless I turn both all the way off and then on again. I’ll restore them back to factory settings AGAIN and just wait for the problem to come back. I will never buy or recommend a product from this company again. 👎👎

If you’re looking for a wireless speaker, seek out another brand. I realize that if you’re reading reviews of the this app app that it may be too late, but see if you can return or exchange the product.

Compatibility with iTunes and Airplay (which is what the speakers are marketed for) will just stop working. this app offers no help or solutions and instead instructs you to seek other companies for help for their products and wipes their hands of things. I paid $700 for a useless brick, don’t you do the same... there are other options on the market.

Impossible to set up Wi-Fi speaker as app freezes every single time you try. Not in sync with OS X updates..???

Used to work last year. Now, just impossible. And needs a lot of work as well. Shouldn’t have to choose speaker every time you want to change a setting.

At present, completely useless. Not even worth one star! Too bad on a great speaker, but because of Libratone problems, would never recommend.

The speakers per se are ok although I have not compared them with the competitors. Libratone is very very disappointing. I have three this app speakers - zip 2, zip 2 mini, zip mini.

I cannot connect them to the same WiFi at the same time but only one or two of them. I Thus I cannot enjoy the claimed grouping effect of the speakers. What a waste ! I spent hours to reset the speakers, reinstall Libratone , restart my router, tried using different iPhone iPad and macbook, but none of them work.

Besides, why I need to share my location or blue tooth even though I was using WiFi. Isn’t that is privacy issue? I really don’t understand why a speaker app would ask for access right to my location! I HATE it!

I bought this so that I don’t have to connect via Bluetooth but the new update requires you to turn on Bluetooth in order to access Libratone (when my speaker is already connected to my WiFi network)!

Suggestions of changes to make, 1. have Libratone open directly to the last page opened (instead of having to select the speaker each time to adjust something simple like volume) 2. Have a list version to change the voicing and room settings (current way takes too long to slide left and right between the many settings) 3. Set a alarm/turn on feature

Why do I need to let this app track my location to to use an app that is only relevant when connected to the same WiFi network as my speakers? I didn’t need to before Libratone was recently updated.

I’ve had my Zipp speaker for 3 years and the most irritating issue for me is streaming via AirPlay has been unreliable. Consistently have to power off/on to regain connectivity. I have 2 HomePods and 2 Sonos Ones for comparison which never have any issues. Due to this problem, I’ve relegated it to my garage workout area as a Bluetooth-only speaker. App is easy enough to use and it shows connection to my WiFi network but AirPlay still doesn’t always work.

Lots of custom UI in Libratone but it’s buggy and some features are missing. Kicking the user back to the first screen every time Libratone is foregrounded is annoying. Also, the + button to add to favorites is missing.

Overall, I’d rather have an app that works well and uses standard UIKit components instead of something that’s half baked but looks unique (though to be fair, a lot of the look is borrowed from the Home app).

Has potential but isn’t a joy to use.

I got a Zipp to use as an airplay speaker. It worked fine for a while, but now I can hardly ever get an airplay connection going on the thing. So I’ve switched to using it as a BlueTooth speaker. Not ideal.

I’d like to be able to use it with my phone plugged into the speaker, but whenever I hook it up, the only way to change the volume is through Libratone . Unfortunately I can’t get the speaker to connect to Libratone any more.

The speaker does work pretty well as a Bluetooth speaker though. So I hardly ever open Libratone any more. I’d prefer to use the speaker in other ways but I have settled on the BT connection.

There is frequently disconnects between Libratone and devices. Rebooting everything will often resolve it, though sometimes it takes multiple tries. Reminds me of how frustrating iTunes Sync over Wi-Fi used to be on Windows apps. Everything should just connect, to buggy. And I wish I had access to all the devices that are shown in Libratone ! Bring the Track Air+ SE’s to the states! Or at least the Track Air’s...that doesn’t have anything to do with my rating obviously.

I’ve had a Zip speaker for 3 years and in that time Libratone has not improved. There is constant dropping of the speaker when using an IPhone 7. Updates for the phone may be the culprit. One would think Apple and the speaker maker would’ve figured this out.
Year five, and Libratone is no better at working with IPhone 7. The same issues occur when an update is pushed to the phone.

Libratone has great potential features. I love the sleep timer feature. However, playback is often interrupted, especially when streaming radio through Libratone . I constantly have to pick up my phone and reopen everything while I’m working to keep the radio playing. Libratone also takes a long time to recognize the speaker. All that with a strong WiFi signal available. Very frustrating.

When changing the volume of linked speakers there's some really glitchy behavior as the volume dial jumps around, usually to a lower volume, once you let go of the slider.

Also, why does it take around 15 seconds for my connected speaker to be recognized. I don't recall that being an issue in the past.

I just discovered that there is also an issue where even though my two linked zipp speakers are playing music from a Bluetooth connection on a different device, a call that came in on a phone that was not playing anything started ringing on the speakers as the music was still playing. Dismissing the call on the phone then also caused the music to stop playing from the other device. I have to disconnect and reconnect the speakers in order to get them to play music again.

Not only is Libratone buggy, but updating the firmware to allow Airplay 2 killed my Mini. It was fine before the update, but now it won’t keep a steady connection to WiFi anymore and when it does manage to play it is out of sync with other speakers. Did a factory reset but somehow the new firmware is still installed? I don’t understand how that is even possible. this app needs a fix quick!

I have four Zipps(1 large,3 small) distributed through out the house. Updating the firmware requires quitting Libratone between each update. Annoying more than anything.

Other notes: Airplay works only robustly from a computer. iPhones and iPads will play for awhile then disconnect. The phone/pad will think everything is fine but no sound.

I am running an EERO network, so the problem may be buried there...don’t have time for that debug. A direct link to one with Bluetooth works just fine....so no worries.

Combining the Zipps with Libratone has the same issue as the Airplay problem. Combining them from the computer works fine.

Discovery of all the Zipps takes ~minute, which feels slow considering I am usually connected to one.

Absolutely LOVE the sound of the Zipp2. Incredible clarity with real bass. Libratone needs improvement though. Lacking basic features like showing the current battery percentage and can be buggy at times. Please improve Libratone ! If Libratone were better, I would have already bought a second one.

Finally airplay 2 update! It works beautifully! I have three speakers that i can now easily link or play individually from any device I want. This weekend our WiFi went out, no problem at all to play to all three speaker Bluetooth! Was perfect. I’ve contacted customer support before and immediately got a response to my email. Thanks!

This is a lovely speaker but Libratone needs a lot of work. Here is a list of bugs that I’m experiencing: 1) app randomly exits speaker settings without any action 2) app says low battery even though speaker is fully charged and verified by my phone. 3) app says speaker is on another network which is impossible, I only have one network. Then there are improvements I would suggest: 1) how about a battery % somewhere in Libratone , that tiny battery level is illegible. 2) all of these graphics in Settings (giant clock for timer but you have to click to adjust it, weird waves image for Voicing) are useless...minimize the design and have more relevant information for the device. Looking forward to future updates.