Grace Digital Encore+ Wireless Stereo Smart Speaker & Internet Radio with Wi-Fi + Bluetooth & 3.5" Color Display Black (GDI-WHA7501)

I'm not the type that usually takes the time to write a review for anything, but sitting here listening to my Encore + has motivated me to do this. I have had this unit running in my home office for about three months now, and I just enjoy it more and more every day.I have owned the Mondo and Mondo + units for a while now, and really enjoy both of them also. The Encore + though just takes it to another level. The audio quality is really nice and the inclusion of the Maxx 3D feature really makes the stereo separation sound wide. This is really important when the Encore + is sitting in front of you at eye level about a foot away as I am. As close as I am, there is still a very nice "sweet spot" right where it is needed.The down firing woofer produces a lot of bass for a system this size. As far as overall volume, it goes way higher than I can stand at close range and works well if you have a need to fill an area with a lot of clean sound. It can also wake up the rest of your family if you are so inclined and crank it up :-)The feature set included with the Encore + is a nice mix that covers my needs. The Chromecast ability makes it very easy to listen to music services controlled through your smart phone and opens up a lot of additional audio sources. The built-in Sirius XM ability works great and allows me to get something out of the subscription service when I am not in the car (it does require the All Access subscription). The internet radio side is still as awesome here as in the older Grace "radios". With the smart phone remote app, I find this much easier to use with the Encore + and have found many new "stations" that I enjoy. Preset 1 is MOROW.COM where I get my daily progressive rock fix :-)The latest feature I have started using is the Aux In jack with a vintage 4G iPOD that was collecting dust. This combination sounds fantastic, and breathes life into an older device as well.So what do I not like about the Encore +? The only minor gripe I have ever had with it and the Mondo + is the lack of the built-in Pandora app. As has been detailed in other reviews and answers to questions, this is not something Grace Digital did on their own but is a change in what Pandora allows them to do. As I got used to using the Chromecast feature from my smart phone, I have gotten used to the "new" way of listening to Pandora and am quite happy with it now.The last comment I will share is that Grace Digital support of their products is outstanding. They are a small company, and one of the the benefits is that the company executives making the decisions are also hands-on and involved with product support. I have seen several software update/enhancements pushed out for the Mondo+/Encore+ that add significant new features along with the occasional fix for a defect. Most impressive is that a lot of the enhancements are coming from requests made by customers. Take a look at the many answers posted by Grace Digital to questions asked here and you will see what I mean. You just don't see this level of customer involvement from a lot of other companies these days along with the transparency they have when they share product news with their customers. I find it most refreshing to see their detailed explanation of software updates that tell us the good and bad. If they know of a defect that remains, they share what they can and tell us what the next steps in getting a resolution will be along with the expected delivery date where possible.If you're sitting on the fence making a decision to go with the Encore +, go ahead and do it. You will not be disappointed. I suspect you will come to love yours as much as I do mine.UPDATE - April 2021Just wanted to share that a new firmware was released recently that adds NATIVE Pandora support back to the Plus series radios. This both surprised and delighted me as a Grace Digital customer since the radio is no longer made or sold. This says a lot about the customer support they provide, and I wanted to share this and give them the credit they deserve for doing this. There are very few companies that would have spent the money required to create an update for a product that is now obsolete, and when we see this happen we should acknowledge it with our future business.The Encore + still gets daily use and has not had any issues at all after several years. Looking forward to several more years of the same.....

Overall, the unit functions well and meets my expectations. One of the best features is that it has an integrated SiriusXM app. Almost no other streaming radios have this. Some issues and suggestions for improvement noted below.Sound Quality. I am an engineer and have been an audiophile for 35 years. I have training in acoustics and speaker/amplifier design. The sound quality of this unit is satisfactory considering its size and price, but it is certainly nowhere close to flat and of course there is no true bass extension. At default settings the mid-bass is overemphasized making male voices sound unnaturally chesty. This is a common trick to make small speakers like those in this unit seem to have some bass. But it makes voices sound unnatural and is annoying. The treble is also a bit erratic in frequency response, with noticeable sibilant "S" when spoken sentences end in "S" (i.e., such sentences end with a hissing sound). I recommend turning down the bass control to -3. I own several Tivoli products and find that they have slightly better sound quality.User Interface. The menu system is reasonably clear and actually pretty easy to use after a short learning period. I wish the standby screen brightness could be turned down a bit further as it is still al little too bright for a bedroom in my opinion. The buttons on the top of the unit need improvement. There is an undifferentiated grid of buttons for station presets, info, etc. The button layout makes no sense and is awkward to use. I guess they expect people to use the remote control, but a remote does not make much sense if you are using this as a bedside clock radio that is arm's reach away. Also, the buttons on the top of the unit must be pressed firmly straight down or they sometimes don't register the push. This gives the buttons a cheap unreliable feel.The phone app is buggy so don't count on using it. The main problem is that it is very sluggish and there is a significant delay in it being able to display your saved stations and execute commands. In addition, many of my saved stations don't appear in the displayed list, or they appear and then disappear.WiFI. The unit has two large wifi antennas on the back. These are somewhat of an eyesore. I fail to understand the necessity. This is not 2003, and wifi works quite well nowadays with modern wifi transceivers and internal antennas (see every phone, tablet, and laptop on the market). So why the two large antennas?Cabinet. Strangely, the walnut cabinet came unfinished. Thus, it looked a bit dry and "thirsty." Not a problem for me, as I applied three coats of Hope's tung oil and now it looks rich and terrific.Finally, the unit occasionally (once a week or so) freezes up and crashes. One time the alarm did not go off because the unit had crashed. [perhaps a memory leak?]. This requires a reset by unplugging the unit and plugging it back in. I'm hoping this will get corrected soon with a firmware update.