Apple AirPort Express Base Station review

Turning your house into a wireless network doesn’t need huge, monolithic boxes taking up all your precious space. The Apple Airport Express Base Station is smaller than a door mouse’s house and has more talent than all the contestants on Britain’s Got Talen combined. But what’s it like as a music streamer? Let’s find out…


Pros
Very small and affordable compared to the likes of the Sony NAS-SC55PKE and Philips NP1100, this offers more than just wireless audio streaming: you can use it to share a printer or boost the range of your home Wi-Fi network. It also links up with any iTunes-equipped Mac or PC and offers excellent sound quality when hooked up to an external hi-fi. Best of all, it’s compact, dirt cheap and will fit in any corner of your room.

Cons
It will only work with iTunes, and unlike other models, such as the aforementioned Sony NAS-SC55PKE, you also have to use your computer to control the music playback rather than a remote control or external screen, which limits usability a great deal. Because it’s such a versatile little beast, it also means that it’s less muso-friendly than some of its rivals out there.

In summary then…
If you use Apple’s iTunes software to organise and play back your digital music collection, this is a cheap and effective way of getting that music into another room, but it’s plagued by limitations and the fact that you can’t control playback and choose tracks without toddling back to the computer is a real killer, especially as we’re lazier than a sloth on chloroform and demand remote controls! Still, if you’re on a strict budget, you could do a lot worse than Apple’s multi-talented streamer.

Sound quality

Style

Features

Value

Overall

Like the sound of this music streamer? Get chatting about the Apple AirPort Express Base Station on the PriceRunner forums.

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