Belkin Thunderstorm Handheld Theater for Apple iPad 2 and 3rd Generation

• Full range speaker system. The high efficiency speakers create deep, rich, immersive sound
• The iPad fits seamlessly in the lightweight enclosure. Smooth and optimally balanced, the surface is comfortable and easy to grip
• The free Thunder app provides extended control with three different soundscapes
• The multifold provides a variety of comfortable and convenient viewing and listening angles. And, of course, protects your iPad screen when not in use
• Air channels are integrated into Thunderstorm's main panel, allowing bass frequencies to come alive
• Perfect for music and web video, great for movies, and games will absolutely explode off the screen

I have an iPad 3 and just purchased the Belkin Thunderstorm. This surround sound device for the belkin thunderstorm is unbelievable. Music and movies come to life. I highly recommend this product!

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This unit has great sound for movies and gaming, from such a small package, however, with mono broadcast, such as tv news etc, it sounds a little muffled. The volume is great, and the app lets you adjust the sound seperation, really does a great job. Now what I dont like, and I understand this is Apple's fault, is that it is in-convienent to charge your ipad, you have to remove the ipad from the Thunderstorm . Because of this, I may return the Thunderstorm. Just doesnt make sence that you have to remove to charge. And I would have prefered a usb charging cable, instead you get a big bulky charger.

Update 2-15-2013

Since I first reviewed the Thunderstorm, which was yesterday, Belkin has responded to inform me that indeed the ipad can be charged thru the case using the belkin supplied charger. Now this is a company that cares about thier products, responding to a review that fast. So I have changed my review to 5 stars and will not be returning the unit, in fact I will be ordering another, for my ipad 3, thank you Belkin.

Read Best Reviews of Belkin Thunderstorm Handheld Theater for Apple iPad 2 and 3rd Generation Here

The thunderstorm audio case rocks. No hassles, instant audio! The integrated, super loud speakers can fill up a room with great sound and no need for a blue tooth speaker. The iPad never sounded this cool.

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PROS much improved sound in a sleek unified unit, adjustable settings *****

CONS cover not durable, inaccurate set-up instructions, some sound artifacts ***

These speakers make me want to start watching movies and tv on my ipad. Seriously, once I set it up and heard a bit, I started looking for available movies which I had missed. Previously I found the ipad too weak of a player to be interested in online videos, but the results with this device are impressive. I really like the way this sleek case with multiposition cover becomes part if the ipad itself, making it so much easier to use and move around than other ipad external speakers. I don't mind the extra width needed for the speakers themselves, but if you carry it around a lot, the added weight could be annoying. Two+ people could easily sit together and watch something.

These speakers also do a great job with music, letting you hear more instruments with clarity, and bass notes, than with either the poor little built-in speaker, or earbuds.

MY CAT: was alternately captivated and frightened by the meowing sounds that came out of these speakers when I played some cat videos from youtube, which shows how much better the sound quality is (previously she has never been interested in cat videos before, either online or over-the-air on our tv). I tried to find technical specs on the Belkin site about frequency response (so I could compare it to my old audiophile equipment) but I couldn't find any; however the verizonwireless site's description of this product claims it is 40-20,000 Hz, with a signal to noise ratio of 91dB.

With the (non-required) app, you can set music source to either music, cinema, or gaming, for different sound qualities, and you have three degrees of speaker separation. Apparently lots of this is done through digital signal processing with a chip and amplifier in the device. As the sound channels are more widely separated, however, some echoing appears as an artifact (which some may enjoy).

ISSUES: Overall, I am really happy with this device, however:

Regarding design, when the cover is closed, the little Belkin charging light in the speaker area is covered (I am considering punching a hole). Also, though it is "smart cover style", it doesn't have the little magnet that automatically turns the ipad on and off as you open and close the cover (I am thinking of trying to add one myself). Additionally, if you need to connect to the ipad for some other reason (e..g camera connector, moving files to a laptop), you have to take it out of the case, not that big of an issue however. Otherwise it does a great job preserving access to all the switches and ports and cameras, and it is nice that it charges the ipad itself as well as the Thunderstorm speakers. (However, I am concerned that wattage is not optimized for the ipad and may cut battery life).

ETA: After little more than a week of use, the edge of the cover has started separating. This does not affect the great sound of this product, but is quite disappointing. It still works fine as a stand, but is a bit fussier to open.

Regarding documentation, they said to install the Thunder app (implying that it is necessary), then start using it. Well, once the Thunderstorm was installed and the app was opened, all it did was direct me to a web page of support info, which only told me how to mechanically install the Thunderstorm (which I had already done). It didn't tell me how to get from the app support page to actually allowing me to change the sound settings, and there seemed to be no way beyond this window. It took me a long time to contrive a way to make this work: leave the app, start playing a video in youtube, and then restart the app which finally realized that I already has the Thunderstorm installed, then finally it let me change sound settings. But it turns out that the app itself is not required to use the device, only to change sound settings -you can just install the Thunderstorm and start listening (without the options that the app offers). (It would be nice if settings could be changed in some way within the video playing, instead of having to leave the video and fire up the app.) And, as noted above, the only place I could find technical specs were on a third-party page. Belkin needs to be more accurate and complete with information both in the box and on the website (this may have improved by the time you are reading this).

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I was very satisfied with the device. The speakers are very good and loud. I use it to show videos to a small group of nursing students (6). The sound is very good.

My only problem is the cover is not magnetized to put to iPad to sleep as the Apple cover does and sometimes I forget to put thew iPad to sleep and the battery is rundown.