Teenage Engineering OB-4

Teenage Engineering is an icon, they have become design legends, including using their Swedish wizardry to create the now quite recognisable Nothing design, but also the little orange fiasco better known as Rabbit R-1. Perhaps more importantly, the company itself has continuously produced robust, innovative and well-functioning audio gear in the form of synthesisers, mixers and more.

But if you're just a dirty casual with a penchant for cool gear, they also make products for you, and it's easy to start with OB-4. We're actually talking about a relatively simple Bluetooth speaker with a built-in radio, designed to not only blast Radio 2 in the kitchen on a Sunday morning, but to take with you wherever you go... so you can play Radio 2 in the park, on the beach or at the library.

Teenage Engineering knows what great gear should look like, they understand tactile design to the letter and just by scrolling through their website your brain suddenly kicks in and begins a thought experiment where the whole exercise is to justify a budding DJ career, which makes the purchase of an EP-1320 Medieval completely natural. Their products just create "desire".

The OB-4 is a little more subtle, a little more anonymous, although it's available in more colours, but it still oozes identity, character and a vibe that you just can't really get anywhere else, especially if you usually look at hugely industrial speakers from Sonos, Bose and JBL. The whole 'box' looks like some kind of radio from the 90s and measures 232.5 x 284 x 57.5 millimetres. The entire chassis is finished in one of seven colours, all of which are UV-resistant and will not fade over time. At the front you have two directional speakers and the controls are on the top, where you also have a carrying handle. It's all old school, as if Bang & Olufsen designers travelled back in time and designed an FM radio in the late 80s and sold it at a premium. It's luxurious, instantly recognisable and creates... well, desire. In fact, it's so bad that pretty much every guest we've had over at the test window has almost always noticed the OB-4 and asked about it.

In red it's quite striking, and retro-futuristic in a rather Americana kind of way (think Fallout), and perhaps most importantly, it looks good. This design is combined with a fairly intuitive user interface paradigm where you turn it up via a 'knob' but click to the output you want, from analogue out to Bluetooth to FM radio. There's no DAB here, which would have been obvious. In fact, it's one of my only complaints, but it's still pretty key, as much of the radio functionality is lost by being limited to FM stations. There's a bit of a kick from TP-7 though, as there's a motorised reel with a hall effect sensor on one side. In fact, the OD-4 records everything you've just heard, and by using this small disc as a turntable, you can turn back in a given radio broadcast or track on Spotify. It's a unique feature that only works in Teenage Engineering's favour. Furthermore, the line-in on the OD-4 is so low latency that you can actually use it as an amplifier for an instrument.

It can run for 72 hours on a single charge on radio and 40 hours on Bluetooth. That's more than respectable, especially considering how good it sounds. Inside we also find a 2+2 stereo configuration with two 38W amplifiers as well as a tweeter and a woofer, both consisting of neodymium drivers. They play in 52Hz-25kHz and have an approximate output of just under 100dB. So it's honourable, and the sound is warm, full of depth and signature. Yes, the sound is extremely directional, so it has to be in front of you to get the good experience, but it works brilliantly. There's also Bluetooth 5 LE, so it's possible to move quite far away with the sound source before it crackles or stops.

Teenage Engineering excels at not only knowing how to create desire in a potential consumer through design and build quality, they also understand how to build a great speaker. That is the essence of the OD-4. Yes, it's expensive, maybe too expensive, and the DAB band is sorely lacking, but other than that, it's one of the best speakers on the market.