Setup & Usage
Before you power on your speaker you are going to want to download the Fabriq app for your smartphone. It is available on both iOS and Android devices. Once downloaded it will guide you through getting your speaker connected to WiFi. Once connected you will be brought to a screen that shows your speaker and allows you to control the volume. If you click the settings wheel on the speaker you can change the speaker name, setup your Alexa account, and factory reset the speaker.
If you press the menu button at the top left a menu pops up that will give you different options for playing music. If you press on My Music it will allow you to stream music from your iPhone. Unlike playing over Bluetooth you are still able to take calls, and even play music on your iPhone still. You are also not limited to the 30 foot range of most Bluetooth speakers.
Fabriq also supports other streaming services like TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Spotify, TIDAL, and Napster. Sadly, you need a Premium Spotify account to use Spotify with Fabriq over WiFi, much like other smart speakers. All of the other apps seem to work just fine with Fabriq.
Setting up Fabriq to work with Amazon Alexa is very easy. Just select Alexa from the menu, login with your Amazon details and you’ll be good to go. Now just press the microphone button on the speaker and ask it a question or give it a command. Unlike many smart speakers the Fabriq is not always listening so you don’t have to use a wake word like “Alexa”, you tell it what you would like to do. If you are a Spotify or Pandora fan you can stream music to Fabriq using Amazon Music. Just tell Fabriq, “Play G-Eazy Radio” and it will start playing music. While music is playing you can press the microphone button again and ask the weather or traffic conditions and it will give you them, then continue playing music. You can also hit the microphone button again and say “Stop” to stop playing music.
The speaker also works as a Bluetooth speaker. This is great if you plan on traveling with this speaker or say you take it to the beach with you. At these locations you most likely will not have access to a WiFi network. Lift up the main controls and press the connect button to go into Bluetooth mode. Then open the Bluetooth settings on your device and you should see “FABRIQ” in the list. Select it to connect. Connected via Bluetooth is just like any other Bluetooth speaker, and you can play Spotify on your phone and listen on Fabriq now.
So how does the speaker sound? I was actually surprised at how good the sound was considering the size of the Riff speaker. It has to be one of the better small speakers I’ve used. The sound is clear and even at high volume levels it does not distort that much. The speaker is more than loud enough for a single room so like a bedroom, kitchen, hotel room etc. You are definitely not going to be disappointed by the audio quality of the Riff.
The speaker has one more trick up its sleeve. If you lift up the controls and press the light button the light ring around the bottom of the speaker will illuminated and there are a few different effects you can choose from. Definitely not needed, but it gives the Riff a “cool factor”.
