When we reviewed the Philips Fidelio DS3020 back in July, we were very impressed with how clear and crisp the sound quality was, as well as the dynamic bass boost and overall design. Today we have Philips Fidelio DS7700, which offers a much larger speaker due to it being compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and now iPad, but will the performance match up with the DS3020? Let’s find out…

Measuring in a 310 x 110 x 40mm, the DS7700 is much larger than the DS3020, meaning that more space is required to accommodate its larger body; however, this can only be expected because it needs to be big enough so that it doesn’t tip over whilst the iPad is docked. That would be one hell of an expensive pile of technology otherwise…

Sporting a brushed aluminium back and grey mesh speaker covering the entire front, the DS7700 looks very sleek and seems to blend in wherever it is placed.

The Fidelio DS7700 actually arrives with a brushed metal plate covering the front, making the whole thing look like some sort of futuristic pod. This is presumably to protect the speaker if you wanted to store it in a cupboard or move it somewhere else. Either way, I like it.

The front of the Fidelio DS7700 features the speaker, docking station, Bluetooth and volume controls, as well as the resting plate for your device.

The rear of the speaker features both the AUX IN and 10V adapter ports. The stand for the DS7700 is also located here. You simply pull up the piece of red plastic, which will both create the stand and raise the resting plate for your iPhone, iPod or iPad.

The on / off button is located just on the rear edge and is metallic red in colour.

The DS7700 arrives with a few other accessories in the box, namely the power adapter and AUX cable, as well as some instruction booklets on how to set up the DS7700.