Denon Heos 1 and Heos 1 Go Pack, we've tested them

Music in any corner. The Denon Heos 1 is a compact wireless speaker that connects to your home WiFi network . A speaker with good audio quality thanks to its two woofers and a dome tweeter. But beyond its quality, the strong bet of this team lies in creating a system of piped music a la carte at home. Either only with a Denon Heos 1 or combined with more equipment, from the dedicated mobile app you can control the music of the device or access streaming content from Spotify or Deezer . In addition, we also have the option to listen to music from a pendriveor from the PC, via the DLNA connection . Denon has launched a promotion to sell the Denon Heos 1 together with the Heos 1 Go Pack , which incorporates a battery for six hours of music and support to use Bluetooth and make music playback easier on the go. The Denon Heos 1 with the "Go Pack" package (battery with Bluetooth) is available in stores for 200 euros. We have had the opportunity to try it, we tell you our impressions.

A wireless speaker for home ... and for getaways

The Denon Heos 1 plays with the versatility that its Go Pack gives us . By itself, this speaker only works when it is connected to the Internet  and its concept is clear: connect to the WiFi network and create an on-demand musical thread throughout the house. This speaker can be combined with other Heos equipment to create a complex system, or work as a single wireless device . But here comes the twist. With the Go Pack included for the same price, a base with a battery capable of giving us up to six hours of music away from the plugs is added. In addition, it incorporates a USB adapter with Bluetooth connectivityto make connection with your phone or any compatible equipment easier. Undoubtedly, an addition that can give us a lot of play when taking the speaker on a getaway or a trip.

Regarding the design itself, this team has an elegant and quite sober appearance in black with an elongated shape. The part of the grille occupies the entire front and sides. The full dimensions of the Denon Heos 1 are placed in  189 x 129 x 128 mm , with a weight of 1.9 kilos. It is a fairly manageable format that makes it easy to transport anywhere. In addition, another of the points that Denon wanted to highlight is its resistance to water, with IPX4 certification.. This means that the equipment should not be damaged in the event of it being splashed or used in a humid environment such as the bathroom. In addition, inside the pack we have a rubber cap to protect this connection from any accidental splashes.

Another interesting detail in the Denon Heos 1 design is the brand's logo on the bottom of the grille and three physical buttons on the top. These buttons are used to lower and raise the volume and to mute the speaker at any time.

Medium quality

The Denon Heos 1 loudspeaker incorporates an audio system with two woofers to cover the mids and lows and a dome tweeter for the highs. In addition, it has two Class D amplifiers so that the sound reaches every corner of the room. It is evident that this model does not reach the levels of other more powerful speakers in the Heos series or equipment such as the Sonos Play: 5 . Nonetheless, it offers a good combination of sound quality and power for a speaker of this size. As usual, some audio distortion occurs when we put it near the maximum, within the average.

Music in any corner with the dedicated app

Beyond its quality, there is no doubt that the great appeal of the Denon Heos 1 is in its ability to form a musical thread on demand in any corner of the house. To start it up, the first step we must take is download the dedicated Denon app (available on both Android and iOS) and plug the equipment into the power. Interestingly, the synchronization of this speaker with the mobile phone and with the home WiFi network is carried out through an audio cable.. With the app turned on, we connect the cable to the headphone slot and to the rear port of the speaker. The app will ask us to enter the network password and then send it to the speaker (this process may take a couple of minutes). If this is our first time using the speaker, it is also very likely that we will have to wait a few minutes for the speaker to update to the latest Denon firmware. If we do not want to carry out this process through the audio cable, the Denon Heos 1 speaker can also be directly connected via an Ethernet cable.

It is precisely through the app where we squeeze all the juice into the Denon Heos 1 . The options of this speaker always revolve around the mobile or tablet. This application has a very neat interface, which we find more attractive and intuitive than that of Sonos (although it also has fewer advanced options). The main screen of this app is "Music", with a list in two columns that shows the different services or sources from which to load music. For example, we have the option to load the music that we have stored in the mobile with the box "This phone". Or, access a music streaming service like Spotify, TuneIn, Deezer, Napster, SoundCloud, or Tidal.Denon intends to expand this list in the coming months, although we can see that with these six services we have access to the most popular platforms on the scene. In all these cases, what is done is to connect directly with the services app. Other interesting options are to create your own playlists or to access the history of the reproductions.

Denon Heos app lets you listen to music from streaming services like Spotify, TuneIn or Deezer

Next to this central panel, we have a panel on the right that shows the current playback. From here we will see a cover of the song, the total time of the piece and the elapsed seconds and a row with options. From here we can stop playback, switch between songs or repeat the playlist in a loop . Also, at the bottom there is an indicator to change the volume. A detail. On a personal level, I have missed that you can change the volume by pressing anywhere on the bar. Instead, you have to drag the small circle that marks the current volume.

Finally, the "Heos Player" panel makes sense if we have deployed several teams from the firm. In this case, the players can be associated with different rooms in the house and we can choose what is played in each place. In fact, you can easily move your players from one place to another or even group rooms to create your own universe of music at home.

Multiple music sources

One of the things that we liked the most about the Denon Heos 1 is its versatility, since it is capable of playing music from multiple sources.

In addition to WiFi connectivity  , we have already talked about the fact that Bluetooth connectivity is included with the USB adapter in the pack . This connection makes it compatible with a large number of computers, including PCs. In this case, it is enough to synchronize the speaker and we will begin to listen to the music of the equipment. Another option to work from a PC or from a NAS-type device (network hard drives) is through DLNA connectivity . There are quite a few laptops and desktops that have this connection. Of course, content playback is controlled directly from the mobile app.

The Denon Heos 1 incorporates a USB port to listen to the music that we have stored on a pendrive

The same happens with the option to listen to the music that we have on a pendrive. Once we connect the USB memory to the back of the speaker, we can explore its contents directly through the mobile. Without a doubt, a very useful and attractive addition that will give us a lot of play. The only point that we found could be improved is the obligation to have to handle these options directly from the mobile, and not include an application for Windows or Mac that works as an alternative.

Finally, the other method to listen to the music of other equipment is to connect it directly through the auxiliary port with an audio cable.

Price and reviews

The Denon Heos 1 is available for sale for 200 euros. In addition, the promotion that Denon has deployed to get this team with the Go Pack for the same price is very interesting . This pack includes a base with a battery to listen to music for six hours and a USB adapter to add Bluetooth connectivity to the speaker. Its normal cost in the market is 100 euros.

In short, a very versatile speaker that can serve as part of an on-demand piped music system if we combine it with other Heos speakers (for example the Denon Heos 3, Denon Heos 5 and Denon Heos 7) . By connecting to the home network, it is easy to access from any corner and manage music playback from your mobile. We found Denon's own app very attractive and easy to use, with quick access to the most popular services such as Spotify, Deezer or TuneIn. Also, users can use different music sources like DLNA devices. (computers, network hard drives), a USB memory physically connected to the speaker or a stereo connected by the audio cable.

All this with a medium audio quality , enough to liven up parties and enjoy music. And with an easy-to-carry design. An affordable option to build your own home audio system. Of course, if we want top-of-the-line speakers, we will have to bet on more advanced models such as the Denon Heos 3 or the Denon Heos 5 .

Data sheet

Denon Heos 1

Design 

characteristics 

Connectivity 

Denon Heos 1 Go Pack 

+ info

Denon Heos 1: 250 Price 

Denon Heos 1 Go Pack Price: 100 

Denon Heos 1 + Heos 1 Go Pack Offer: 200