Portable speakers are really handy whether it be indoors or outdoors. It breaks the boundaries and you can enjoy music anywhere, bedroom, balcony, terrace, lawn, and even bathrooms. 😉 Every type has its own identity be it HT, in-ear, over-ear, portable, etc. And here we have Infinity Fuze 100 by Harman which comes under portable BT speaker category.

Though, I already have a 700 bucks Photron BT speaker & was ok with its sound quality for the price range but was looking for an upgrade for a long time. I also have an Amazon Echo (click here for Echo review) which has great sound but it’s not portable. So got the Harman (JBL) Infinity Fuze 100, which as expected blew up Photron in every aspect be it quality, sound, bass, etc, but was unable to compete Echo.

Personally i prefer my JBL in earbuds & Sennheiser HD 4.40 over the ear for deep solo music playback or LG 5.1 HT system for glass breaking bass, but Infinity Fuze surely fills the gap of portability with good quality sound, on the go for multiple listeners.

INBOX CONTENTS

• Speaker
• MicroUSB cable
• Eyelet
• Owners Manual (pdf link at the end)

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SPECIFICATIONS & ABOUT THE DEVICE

• Dimensions: Dia x Height | Dia x Height | 70 mm x 82 mm
• Weight: 192g
• Output power: 4.5W
• Bluetooth: 4.2
• USB cable length: 24 inches or 2 ft
• Output power: 4.5 W
• Transducer: 43 mm
• Frequency range: 100Hz-20KHz
• SNR: 70dB
• Battery: 750 mAh

• BT Range: 60 ft (without any walls in b/w, will reduce with walls)
• Battery Backup: 6 hours approx at medium volume with deep bass mode “off” (more below)
• Charging time: 3.5 hours (at 5V,0.5A) or 2.5 hours (at 5V, 1A)

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• TOP: Power button, Volume +/-, Play/Pause, Lanyard eyelet hole
• LATERAL: Rugged mesh
• LATERAL LOWER ZONE: Charging port, AUX in (covered with sealed cap), Mic home
• BOTTOM: 4 projected mini dots for grip

PROS OF INFINITY FUZE 100

1. For the price, sound quality is impressive & top-notch. Also, it covers a great bass range.
2. Overall build quality is top class with rugged mesh for longevity & matte finish for easy holding.
3. With 192g (approx the weight of a smartphone), it’s highly portable.
4. Waterproof with an IPX7 rating. You can even submerge it in water (check the end of the video for IPX7 test).
5. In water, it floats on its own. So it’s not gonna fall to the bottom of the pool or any water body.
6. Dual-mode playback, wireless or AUX in. Wired or passive mode ensures good quality uncompressed audio as in the case of BT, audio data is compressed.
7. Dual EQ for bass boost works great. Need that extra punch, just press + & – vol button simultaneously.
8. Long battery backup, for sessions without running for the power source.
9. MicroUSB charging support ensures charge on the go via power banks too.
10. Stereo effect possible by pairing two Fuse 100, to play simultaneously.
11. It can be used as a handsfree device with built in microphone.
12. Voice assistant support is available via one press & it works well with even one microphone.

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CONS IN INFINITY FUZE 100

1. Buttons (tact type) behind soft plastic are slightly hard to press & miss proper feedback.
2. The base does not have a proper grip to prevent motion(there are four projected mini dots for that) & during playback speaker literally moves from once place to another.
3. No charger inbox (but can be charged via any mobile charger or laptop)
4. No AUX cable in the box. Mini AUX cable would be highly appreciated.
5. No NFC for one-touch pairing.
6. Charging USB cable is very small.

PERFORMANCE COMPARISON (FUSE100 vs JBL GO vs FUSE700 vs SENHEISSER)

With a frequency range of 100Hz – 20KHz & 4.5W output, almost everything is covered. Infinity Fuze 100 covers more bass range & output as compared to JBL Go or JBL Go 2 (180Hz to 20KHz & 3W) in a similar price bracket. So you can expect better sound & bass here. For comparison, Infinity 700 has a 60Hz-20kHz range while Senheisser 4.40HD (over the ear) has 18Hz to 22kHz.

Signal to Noise ratio (here its 70dB) is in an acceptable range. For JBL Go its 80dB. This parameter tells about how much noise (sounds other than actual audio, added by internal components) is there in the output (sound we finally hear from the speaker) compared to signal (actual audio) level. i.e. for Infinity 100, the level of the audio signal is at least 70 dB higher than noise. Higher the no, better it is.

Also, the transducer size is 43 mm as compared to 40 in JBL go. It is believed that bigger & heavier speakers sound better than small & lightweight ones.

Enough of numbers lets come to real-world performance. Infinity Fuze 100 did not disappoint me at any point in time and is sufficient enough to fill a big room. Even at full volume, it’s crisp and clear with thumping bass. Remember its small speaker and its bass effect just can’t be compared to bigger counterparts or HT systems.

WATERPROOF IPX7 RATING

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IPX7: X- no dust protection, 7- Immersion, up to 1 m depth (up to 30 min)

So Infinity Fuze 100 is a perfect go for pool parties, bathroom usage etc without worrying for the damage. Just that sound output may not be enough to cover the entire pool but more than enough for bathroom 😉

Just make sure that you close USB & aux port flap properly when not charging or using wired mode, else IPX7 will not work & water will damage the speaker.

Fuze plays the music till it’s fully inside water as then there’s no air for sound waves to travel. Still, you can hear light music that travels through the water medium. As soon as it is out of the water, the volume level goes up.

VOICE ASSISTANT SUPPORT

You can activate the default voice assistant of the parent device, with a double press of play/pause button on top of Infinity Fuze 100.

The dedicated microphone on Fuze 100 takes the command & its speaker performs the action.

Works well on smartphones or laptops with Google Assistant, Cortana, Siri, etc.

You can use it for all sorts of tasks supported by assistants like direct hands-free calling, weather updates, alarms, reminders, smart device control, etc.

BUTTONS & LED

BUTTONS:

• Power button (infinity symbol): on/off (press > 0.2s)
• + : volume + (press), next song (press > 2s),
• – : volume – (press), previous song (press > 2s),
• Play/pause: play (press), pause (press), bt pairing (press), call accept (press), Call reject (press > 3s), true wireless pairing (press > 3s), voice assistant (double press)& – button simultaneous press toggles dual EQ
• Play/pause & power button simultaneous long press clears pairing information

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LED (Infinity Logo on Top)

• On (White flash)
• Standby (White slow flash) BT pairing mode (White fast flash)
• BT connected (White on)
• True wireless stereo pairing mode (white fast flash)
• True wireless stereo connected (white fast flash in 1st, white on in 2nd)
• Charging (Red on)
• Charging complete (Red off)
• Low battery (20% or less, Red slow flash)

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PAIRING INFINITY FUZE 100

• By default, Fuze automatically goes into pairing mode when switched on. For manual mode, click on the play/pause button once. The blinking white LED indicates the pairing mode.

• You can pair it to any no of devices but connect only to one device at a time.
• Fuze remains in pairing mode unless it can find any of the last devices and connect to those.
• It doesn’t seem to have any priority sequence wrt which device its paired to first, in case all of the paired devices are on. In my case, it was giving preference to Windows laptop, whenever i switch it on (when BT of both smartphone & laptop was on).
• To clear pairing information, press play/pause & power button simultaneously. Logo blinks White & Red alternatively for a while.

USING AUX CABLE

AUX cable is pretty straightforward to use. Make sure to use 3 point AUX cable as i had trouble making 4 points one to work. 3 point cable worked perfectly with Infinity Fuze 100.

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I prefer AUX whenever possible as against BT, as AUX transfers uncompressed audio signal while BT transfers compressed signal (approx 4 times) and the device at the other end decompresses it. This results in loss of audio fidelity leading to worse quality as compared to AUX.

Also, various sound settings & EQ modes are available via AUX mode to get the best output from the speaker. These are generally not available in the case of BT mode.

BATTERY BACKUP

1. At full volume & deep bass mode “on”, Fuze 100 gives around 2 Hours 10 Mins of continuous playback. That’s the backup at full load.

2. For medium volume & deep bass mode “off”, Fuze 100 gives around 5 hours of continuous playback. That’s the backup at partial load.

Full volume is really loud for a normal 12×24 feet hall & you will normally use it at around 70% volume for the filling experience. So you can expect 3-4 hours continuous playback under such conditions with deep bass mode “on”.

VERDICT

Although its a no match for my LG Home Theatre system, for the portability it offers along with support for the voice assistant, Infinity Fuze 100 is a go.

Remember, everything goes by the Brand you select (Bose, Sennheiser, Sony, Harman (JBL) etc). Go for cheap quality non branded ones & expect the same. Infinity Fuze 100 by Harman delivers nice experience in the lower mid-range segment.

Another factor is price, which also matters a lot. Quality comes at a price, & is directly proportional to cost. A lot of people complain about quality (distortion, noise, cranking at higher volumes etc) after spending less on these devices. So it’s better to shell out more to have a better experience. Rest, the sky is the limit.

MANUAL OR GUIDE TO INFINITY FUZE 100

Harman Website Link
Google Drive Link

PURCHASE LINK: Infinity Fuze 100 by Harman (Amazon or Harman Store)