Bluesound updates its wireless whole-house audio product family-- Generation 2i builds on the line withe dual-band wifi, Apple AirPlay 2 support, upgraded Bluetooth codecs and improved amplification and acoustics.
The Gen 2i product offering consists of the Pulse Flex 2i, Pulse Mini 2i, Pulse 2i, Pulse Soundbar 2i, Node 2i, Powernode 2i and Vault 2i. All feature designs identical to the previous models, other than a change in grille colour, and feature the BluOS music management system. As such the upgrades are on the inside. For instance, they support 5GHz wifi, Bluetooth 4.2 with aptX HD (resolutions up to 48KHz and 24-bit) and AirPlay 2.
The speakers handle bidirectional Bluetooth transmission, allowing users to send music data from a smartphone to both a Bluesound speaker and a headset. Meanwhile AirPlay 2 features multi-room support, and allows access to Bluesound speakers via iOS or MacOS. Apple HomeKit support brings joint voice control of compatible products via Siri. In the case of non-Apple users, the Bluesound software also includes support for Amazon Alexa.
The insides of Gen 2i Bluesound speakers also feature improvements-- the Pulse Mini 2i and Pulse 2i carry larger drivers and more powerful amplifiers (120W and 150W), while the Powernode 2i offers x2 Toslink/3.5mm optical and analog input. The Pulse Soundbar 2i gets an HDMI upgrade complete with ARC and eARC for even more flexible connectivity and installation.
A final update involves BluOS 3.0, with access to the Soundmachine music service, an easier guided setup process and the aforementioned Amazon Alexa integration.
