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ACCESSORY GUIDE
IPAD 2 BUYERS’ GUIDE
iPad-Ready Speakers
Three types of speakers are now available for Apple’s iPads: docking speakers, purely wireless speakers,
and speakers with both docking and wireless options. Some work only with the first-generation iPad -
with revisions on the way for the iPad 2 - and some work equally well with both. Here’s what’s available.
DOCKING SPEAKERS
iHome iD9
Affordable, compact, and attractively designed, iHome’s iD9
is a perfect visual match for the original iPad: glossy black
plastic on an iPad-sized dock, capable of accommodating
bare or encased iPads, plus silver plastic that could easily pass
for aluminum from a foot or so away. Bundled with a wall
charger and loaded with a 4.5-hour rechargeable battery,
iD9 has two speakers that fire out from its sides, producing
treble- and midrange-focused sound that sounds
good even at high volumes. It’s the best budget
speaker for iPad, and an iPad 2 adapter’s coming.
$100
Altec Octiv Stage
Nicer than Jensen’s Rocker
but also pricier, Octiv Stage’s
rotating, height-adjustable
dock also works only with
bare iPad 1s, and includes an
Infrared remote. It’s
stable, and has more
balanced sound.
$150
Jensen Rocker
Designed around a really
smart concept - a speaker
with near-total flexibility -
Jensen’s Rocker has a heightadjusting
central arm with a
rotating dock for the original
iPad. Twin speakers in the
base provide midrange-focused audio that’s far louder than
what the iPad puts out on its own, and an IR remote
controls Rocker from afar. But it’s not very stable,
and only accommodates bare original iPads.
$100
JBL OnBeat
Compatible with iPods and
iPhones, too, OnBeat has a
central dock that only works
with upright iPads and iPad
2s; it won’t rotate. The sound’s
cleaner than Octiv
Stage, but less bassy.
A remote is included.
$150
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