Hi everyone!
I the happy and lucky owner of the Wireless II for a month or so and after quite a bit of use, I wanted to share to feedback on the KEF Connect App specifically because I never found much info on this, and the app is new.
The sound of the speakers is great, the bass is actually deeper than I thought, but part of the experience is how you stream music to these beautiful beasts through the app.
So, overall I know that apparently the new app is much better than the older one (I never used the two apps for the Wireless I), but in my opinion it still lacks a lot of features. Here are some points, more or less critical I must say:
My take away: why putting the effort and pain of trying to re-build an app?? Why not work with Qobuz like Tidal to have a Qobuz connect app that streams directly from the Qobuz player to the KEF? Qobuz/Tidal/etc. have years and years of app developments, user feedback and large teams - let everyone do what they are good at and don't try to re-invent the wheel!
Because of that I am considering moving to Tidal, but I like the selection and the organization less than Qobuz. Also, for once that there is a decent non-US technology company....
I might move to Bluesound, I think their app is really nice, but it's another $500 or so. I wonder if KEF understands the importance of music library management for audiophiles?
Anyway, I know it sounds a lot of negative points, but make no mistake, I don't regret the purchase. I just hope this feedback helps what to expect for future buyers. Darko says it's Sonos grade in its review, I never tried Sonos but I hope it's better than the KEF app...
I the happy and lucky owner of the Wireless II for a month or so and after quite a bit of use, I wanted to share to feedback on the KEF Connect App specifically because I never found much info on this, and the app is new.
The sound of the speakers is great, the bass is actually deeper than I thought, but part of the experience is how you stream music to these beautiful beasts through the app.
So, overall I know that apparently the new app is much better than the older one (I never used the two apps for the Wireless I), but in my opinion it still lacks a lot of features. Here are some points, more or less critical I must say:
- There is not KEF connect app for a desktop (Mac or Window) computer - for it's annoying because I like to stream from my laptop because the screen is larger (no I won't buy a tablet just for that)
- I have a Qobuz subscription: when you play from within the KEF Connect app (required to ensure hi-res), you actually don't see the quality you stream in (it only indicates FLAC, but not the resolution like in the Qobuz player) => kind of missing the point
- For Qobuz you must use the KEF connect app, there is no Qobuz connect like for Tidal
- There is no queue functionality in the KEF connect app !!! apparently it's coming in the next version (end march according to KEF support)
- To add a radio it's really not intuitive, you have to go into podcast, search for the radio name and then add as favorite to find it in the radio menu, otherwise it the radio stays empty
- the search field in the KEF app is sensitive to auto-correct (I use iOS), which is very annoying when searching albums/track/artists name that won't match the dictionary (many many!)
- You don't see which song you are at in a playlist or album
- The search field is only accessible from the main Qobuz screen in the KEF connect app, if you are deep into the navigation tree you must click several times back to access the search field
- On iOS at least, the KEF app is not recognized as a music app, which means the volume button (and all other buttons like pause, play, skip, etc. from the locked screen) don't work outside from the app. That's pretty annoying: for changing the volume you have to log into your phone, find the kef app icon, click on it and then change the volume.
- You can also use the remote, of course, but just to confirm the general feedback, it's pretty cheap and the signal does not work well unless you are 3-4 feet away and in front of the main speaker.
- The EQ is a bit a pain to adjust if you are not an expert, the instructions in the guide are not clear
My take away: why putting the effort and pain of trying to re-build an app?? Why not work with Qobuz like Tidal to have a Qobuz connect app that streams directly from the Qobuz player to the KEF? Qobuz/Tidal/etc. have years and years of app developments, user feedback and large teams - let everyone do what they are good at and don't try to re-invent the wheel!
Because of that I am considering moving to Tidal, but I like the selection and the organization less than Qobuz. Also, for once that there is a decent non-US technology company....
I might move to Bluesound, I think their app is really nice, but it's another $500 or so. I wonder if KEF understands the importance of music library management for audiophiles?
Anyway, I know it sounds a lot of negative points, but make no mistake, I don't regret the purchase. I just hope this feedback helps what to expect for future buyers. Darko says it's Sonos grade in its review, I never tried Sonos but I hope it's better than the KEF app...
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