iLoungeiLounge
  • News
    • Apple
      • AirPods Pro
      • AirPlay
      • Apps
        • Apple Music
      • iCloud
      • iTunes
      • HealthKit
      • HomeKit
      • HomePod
      • iOS 13
      • Apple Pay
      • Apple TV
      • Siri
    • Rumors
    • Humor
    • Technology
      • CES
    • Daily Deals
    • Articles
    • Web Stories
  • iPhone
    • iPhone Accessories
  • iPad
  • iPod
    • iPod Accessories
  • Apple Watch
    • Apple Watch Accessories
  • Mac
    • MacBook Air
    • MacBook Pro
  • Reviews
    • App Reviews
  • How-to
    • Ask iLounge
Font ResizerAa
iLoungeiLounge
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • News
    • Apple
    • Rumors
    • Humor
    • Technology
    • Daily Deals
    • Articles
    • Web Stories
  • iPhone
    • iPhone Accessories
  • iPad
  • iPod
    • iPod Accessories
  • Apple Watch
    • Apple Watch Accessories
  • Mac
    • MacBook Air
    • MacBook Pro
  • Reviews
    • App Reviews
  • How-to
    • Ask iLounge
Follow US

Reviews

Reviews

Review: SuperTooth Disco 4 Bluetooth Speaker

Last updated: May 14, 2021 4:51 pm UTC
By Jeremy Horwitz
Review: SuperTooth Disco 4 Bluetooth Speaker

Up until the release of Disco, SuperTooth was best known for its Bluetooth headsets and car accessories, but the company’s Bluetooth speakers have since become its flagship products. The much-improved 2012 model Disco 2 signaled the start of SuperTooth’s focus on impressive budget speakers, which it followed up with 2013’s Disco Twin and the obscure European-only Disco 3, which had slightly different color schemes and battery life than its same-shaped predecessors. Now there’s Disco 4 ($49*), the first significant redesign in years, and it’s more of a lateral release than a clear step forward for the family. [Editor’s Note: This review was edited on February 7, 2014. Please see the end of this review for updated details on pricing,]

Advertisements

Review: SuperTooth Disco 4 Bluetooth Speaker

Shaped like a larger Disco 2/Twin/3 that’s been cut in half and laid on its side, Disco 4 resembles a boxy, cropped-off megaphone thanks to its new signature design feature — a rubber top handle. As the only new material on the otherwise matte plastic and fabric-faced speaker, the handle roughly color-matches the plastic, which SuperTooth will offer in a small collection of color options. Because of the handle, Disco 4 can be grasped in one hand as the rubber top rests on your knuckles like a semi-taut strap.

Advertisements

The iPad-like weight of 1.12 pounds enables Disco 4 to feel surprisingly light given its size, although it’s hard to picture people actually holding it for extended lengths of time during music playback.

 

Review: SuperTooth Disco 4 Bluetooth Speaker

Like the last three Disco models, Disco 4 supports Bluetooth 4 — a feature that’s still rare today in Bluetooth speakers— and packs a rechargeable battery that’s rated for three to twelve hours depending on the volume of your music. That’s slightly higher than the three to ten hours promised by Disco 2 and Disco Twin, and a little below the three to fifteen hours in Disco 3, but the difference isn’t significant; each is slightly below par with most Bluetooth speakers. The runtime is offset by SuperTooth’s inclusion of both a wall adapter and micro USB charging cable that can keep the system running off a nearby outlet whenever you’re not carrying it around. Many $100 speakers pass on including the wall adapter in favor of pure USB charging, so it’s nice that Disco 4 offers users the choice.

Advertisements

Controls have been radically simplified this time out. Regardless of the hand you use to hold it, your thumb will rest near the unit’s only button — a circular power button on the back — while a single connectivity light, micro-USB charging port, and aux-in port sit alongside it. If you want to change the volume level or track, you do that on your iOS device rather than on the speaker, a change from prior Disco models. Tapping the power button can play or pause tracks, holding it down while the unit is on will turn the power off, and holding it down while the unit is off will initiate Bluetooth pairing mode.

Advertisements

Unlike Disco Twin, which included voice prompting, there are no frills in powering on or pairing this unit: you’ll hear different beeps and tones rather than verbal status acknowledgements.

 

Review: SuperTooth Disco 4 Bluetooth Speaker

Disco 4’s single biggest issue is its sonic performance, which we’d characterize as good rather than great for the price* — arguably a step down from what we previously heard in Disco 2 and Disco Twin. On a positive note, Disco 4 presents music with a somewhat more bass-heavy emphasis that users will find pleasingly warm by contrast with the crisper Disco 2 and Twin models. Unfortunately, perceived clarity suffers across the volume range, and distortion in the low end becomes quite obvious at the unit’s less than small room-filling peak amplitude. Treble performance is noticeably reduced by comparison with the earlier Disco models, and more surprisingly, stereo separation remains completely absent. This limitation began in Disco 2, but makes less sense in a wider-faced unit like Disco 4. Popping the face open, we were all but amazed to find that all of the unit’s output was coming from a right-mounted 1.8” speaker with a roughly 2” bass reflex port and 8-Watt amplifier. That’s down from 16 Watts in Disco 2, though you wouldn’t recognize the power difference from their virtually identical top output levels.

 

Review: SuperTooth Disco 4 Bluetooth Speaker

Overall, Disco 4 is a solid Bluetooth speaker system, though there have been so many impressive new $100* options over the past two years that it doesn’t stand out in the way Disco 2 did back in 2012.

Advertisements

Latest News
The Apple Watch Series 10 is $100 Off
The Apple Watch Series 10 is $100 Off
1 Min Read
AirPods Pro 3 May Debut in 2026
AirPods Pro 3 May Debut in 2026
1 Min Read
Oakley Smart Glasses Announced
Oakley Smart Glasses Announced
1 Min Read
The Apple Watch Series 10 is $100 Off
Apple Watch Ultra 3 Might Arrive Soon
1 Min Read
AirPods Pro 3 May Debut in 2026
The AirPods Pro 2 is $80 Off
1 Min Read
tvOS 26 Apple Music Sing Adds iPhone Karaoke Feature
tvOS 26 Apple Music Sing Adds iPhone Karaoke Feature
1 Min Read
Photos Tabs to Make a Comeback in iOS 26
Photos Tabs to Make a Comeback in iOS 26
1 Min Read
tvOS 26 Users to Have Automatic Sign-In for Apps
tvOS 26 Users to Have Automatic Sign-In for Apps
1 Min Read
The Beats Pill is $50 Off
The Beats Pill is $50 Off
1 Min Read
iOS 26 Users Will Have Storage Reserve Option for Software Updates
App Store Developers May Soon Offer Redemption Codes on iOS
1 Min Read
Apple Silicon Support Added to Steam Client Beta
Apple Silicon Support Added to Steam Client Beta
1 Min Read
M2 Mac Mini Gets Repair Program
M2 Mac Mini Gets Repair Program
1 Min Read

iLounge logo

iLounge is an independent resource for all things iPod, iPhone, iPad, and beyond. iPod, iPhone, iPad, iTunes, Apple TV, and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc.

This website is not affiliated with Apple Inc.
iLounge © 2001 - 2025. All Rights Reserved.
  • Contact Us
  • Submit News
  • About Us
  • Forums
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?