Cambridge Audio G2 review

With its contoured aluminium body and rounded corners, the Cambridge Audio G2 has a simple and elegant design that feels extremely well made. It’s the sort of Bluetooth speaker you wouldn’t have any qualms about displaying out on your coffee table or book shelf, whether you opt for the black or champagne finish.

The speaker grille dominates the front, with all the controls relegated to the top of the unit. The backlit soft-touch buttons control power, volume, Bluetooth pairing, switching to the auxiliary connection and taking phone calls using the built-in microphone. It had a decent amount of sensitivity and our voice was still picked up with the speaker about 1.5m away. There is also an NFC contact point on the top for quick pairing with NFC compatible devices.

The G2 measures 189x55x67mm and weighs 649g, so it’s neither the smallest nor lightest portable Bluetooth speaker we have reviewed. It’s still small enough to carry room to room or throw into a bag though. Cambridge Audio provides a soft pouch but the G2 isn’t ruggedised in any way, so we would be wary of putting it in a bag with sharp objects for fear of damaging its beautiful metal casing.

You’re able to connect the G2 wirelessly over Bluetooth, although it doesn’t support the less-lossy aptX codec we more often seen in pricier Bluetooth speakers. You can also connect wired devices using an auxiliary connection on the back, hidden away behind a rubberised flap. The cheap rubber flap is at odds with the rest of the impressively well-made G2 and we found closing the flap a bit tricky.

Behind the flap is a DC charging jack, which we were a little disappointed to see. We would have preferred to charge over Micro USB so you potentially have one less charger to carry around. There’s also a 3.5mm auxiliary jack for connecting your wired audio devices, as well as a full-size USB port that you can use to charge a smartphone or tablet. This can either deplete the G2’s internal battery or draw power directly from the mains if your G2 is plugged in. On battery power, we managed to get over nine hours of playback, which is reasonable for a speaker of this size.

Sound from the G2’s twin speaker drivers was very impressive. The two bass radiators gave the G2 a surprising amount of bass presence, with the low frequencies having some real impact. The two bass radiators contribute significantly to the weight of the G2, with the solid aluminium body not rattling or vibrating in any way.

The G2’s overall sound could be described as slightly warm in colour but this isn’t a bad thing for a portable speaker. We’re used to hearing harsh and tinny sound from speakers of this size, so it was a pleasant surprise. Mids and trebles were still handled excellent with good clarity and separation, with the sound of cymbals and guitars floating delicately above the other instruments in our test tracks.

It’s possible to pair two G2s together for more distinct stereo but we only had one speaker so were unable to test this feature. We certainly weren’t disappointed by the sound from one G2, though, so we can imagine with greater stereo separation a pair would sound fantastic. The G2 was also capable of reaching an impressive maximum volume with only a hint of distortion.

Cambridge Audio used the same audio engineers that design its larger format speakers and digital music systems and this really shows in how good the G2 sounds for a speaker of its size and price. Compared to other similarly priced speakers, such as the Jawbone Mini Jambox, its sound quality is leagues ahead.