Monocle by Native Union

There are so many speakers & headphones out there in the market.  But have you seen a monocle in there?  Your answer is as good as mine.  Native Union definitely is thinking out of the box with its newest product, Native Union Monocle.

I honestly don’t know how to make out of it because I haven’t used one.  Should I hold it up using my hand then putting the speaker on my ear?  Should I just hang it around my neck (just like how it was shown in the box) and listen to whatever comes out of the speaker?  What else can I do about it?

I was clueless on how to use the product but its uniqueness couldn’t get my attention out of it.  So there, I got myself one.

What is inside the box of the Native Union Monocle?

There are 6 colours available for the Monocle: (1) coral red (2) marine blue (3) mint (4) slate (5) brushed black diamond (6) brushed copper.  However, I’m just a super fan of red colour, thus I have chosen to have the coral red monocle.

It looked nice, even by just glancing it through the box.  The Native Union Monocle caught my attention because it’s unique!  I never thought that I could ever see a monocle in stores at this generation.  I mean monocle is an old-world accessory.  That’s why I didn’t hesitate to get one for myself.

So what’s in the box?

• The Monocle
• Bag Loop
• Nylon Micro-USB Cable
• Quick Start Guide
• Warranty Card
• Native Union Lookbook

My favourite activity whenever I purchase a gadget or accessory is opening the box, and discovering the contents inside.  Manufacturers are getting more and more crafty in packaging their products.

Monocle Specifications

• Speaker – Mono speaker
• Battery – Lithium-ion Polymer
• Charge Time – ~70 minutes
• Play Time – ~5 hours
• Talk Time – ~5 hours
• Power Supply – DC5V USB 2.0
• Operating Temperature – 0 to 45 degrees celsius

Uses of the Native Union Monocle

The Monocle is basically a speaker-handset-speakerphone accessory.

Speaker – turn the speaker mode on by rotating the knob until the white LED light comes up.  Use the button on the side to control music (click once to play or pause, double click to move to next track, triple click to go back to previous track).

The sound that came out was okay.  However, if you want better sound then you have to daisy-chain the monocle up (you can do this up to 10 monocles).  I wish I can test this but I guess it’s pretty obvious.  Like what they, “two is always better than one.”

speakerphone – I’ll probably use this feature more for the monocle because it’s just too cute and so portable!  It would definitely be a good rescue whenever I suddenly need to go on a conference call.  The Native Union monocle has a microphone, and I tested it out, my voice came out clearly on the other line 🙂

handset – this is where monocle stands out.  You will probably be blown away when you saw someone wearing the Native Union monocle when talking on the phone or listening to music.  However, for the user, this might be uncomfortable to wear especially during long periods of time.  That’s why I think this is more of a show-off type of accessory.

You can listen in each other’s music or private call by linking two or more monocles together.

How to Carry the Native Union Monocle?

According to Native Union,  we should wear the monocle our way.

As for me, I carry it with me in three ways.  One is putting the cord around my neck then just hold the monocle up to my ear if I need to answer a call.  I have to put my phone on my pocket while I walk around.

Two is just I leave it on the table and use the monocle as a speakerphone or a music speaker.  It works great that way actually.

Last, but definitely not the least, is using the bag loop included.

Now, I don’t need to open up space in my bag for a speaker.  All I need is just to use the bag loop and put the Native Union Monocle in it.  There is no more need to forget to bring the speaker because it’s already connected to my bag.  It was just too cute and so nice to bring around.

VERDICT

Overall, I see the Native Union Monocle as a fashion music accessory.  You wanna look different?  You wanna own a very unique device?  You want a speaker to carry around everyday?  Then this accessory by Native Union called Monocle is for you!

I think this speaker + handset + speakerphone has a decent sound output (may be better when daisy-chained, I only have one unit so wasn’t able to test).  However, with its price and excellent design, the Monocle is a beautiful accessory to keep.  You can get Monocle by Native Union at your favourite gadget accessory stores in the Philippines at Php 2,250.