Philips Fidelio DS3510

Philips Fidelio DS3510

As our homes become increasingly crowded with iPhones, iPads, and iPods, there's a real need for a convenient place to charge them, and maybe even crank some tunes. The Philips Fidelio DS3510 wants to be that all-purpose speaker/charger, and it has the price ($156) and features to put it in the running. Compared with angular, sculptural competitors such as the JBL OnBeat and the Altec Lansing Octiv Stage MP450, the Fidelio's soft, bowlike form doesn't call attention to itself. It's an understated design, and for some people that's going to be a selling point. The speaker itself measures around 11 inches wide, making it suitable for use on a nightstand. A strip of illuminated controls runs across the front for adjusting volume, activating Bluetooth, or turning the device on and off. Above the controls you'll find the dock connector, which intentionally juts out and swivels slightly to accommodate any cases you may have wrapped around your precious Apple gadgets. Because the Fidelio does away with any device-specific dock fittings, it can theoretically work with just about any Apple gadget from the past five years that makes use of a standard 30-pin connection.