iFi UP Travel

£99

Building on iFi Audio’s award-winning Hi-Fi audio technology, the company has released the UP Travel Hi-Res Bluetooth Transmitter and Receiver to elevate your audio experience from plane to car. iFi Audio know that travelling is hard enough as it is, and so the UP Travel is a nifty little audio companion designed to give a cinema feel to the films you watch on the plane, or optimise your car’s sounds system to ensure that no matter where you go or how you get there, you’ll always be accompanied by top quality audio experiences.

One of the first things I noticed about the UP Travel is that it is remarkably small and compact, making it the perfect size for throwing in your pocket or bag to take with you on the go. This design means it's easy to take with you on the plane, or on a long road trip, without it taking up any packing space at all! Plus, the compact unit is designed to remove the need for adapters and cables, offering an all-in-one transmitter and receiver that brings high-resolution sound via Bluetooth connectivity everywhere you need it. Thus, it’s a remarkably simple yet effective little gadget to have, especially if you spend a lot of time on long-haul flights or long car journeys.

One of the main benefits of the UP Travel is that it can be plugged into in-flight entertainment screens, and then you can connect your wireless headphones to the device. This means you don’t need to worry about bringing wired headphones that are compatible with the screen, and you can instead enjoy films with the comfort of your favourite wireless headphones, all thanks to the UP Travel. However, the UP Travel doesn’t just connect you to the screen for audio; it optimises the audio to the highest quality possible, so you always get great sound. However, one of my favourite things about the UP Travel is that not only does it provide great audio for you, but two pairs of headphones can be simultaneously paired to provide both you and a friend with the same top-quality audio at the same time. This also means you don’t need to be tethered to each other using a single pair of wired earphones! Aside from use in flights, the UP Travel also works when connecting to a laptop or PC to provide a top-quality wireless audio output so you can stream your favourite shows or music with the best audio possible, and without disturbing anyone else!

However, the UP Travel doesn’t just offer a transmitter function. Instead, the UP Travel is also a receiver and so can be plugged directly into your car’s AUX input to allow you to stream your favourite songs directly to your car. These will then be optimised by the UP Travel to deliver the best sound quality from your car, delivering high-resolution audio to support long road trips so you can sing car karaoke to your heart's content, supported by the top-quality audio of the UP Travel. Plus, should you get a call, the UP Travel also has a built-in microphone with noise suppression technology, which allows you to have crystal clear hands-free calls, so both ends of the line experience the same great audio quality.

To support long-haul flights or road trips, I was super glad to see that the UP Travel comes with up to 10 hours of battery life, which is ideal for most long flights or road trips. Therefore, the UP travel makes the perfect travelling companion to pop in your carry-on bag or in your pocket to optimise audio wherever you go. Plus, the UP Travel is compatible with the iFi Nexis App, which allows you to personalise the settings of the UP Travel and keep the device up to date with the latest firmware to ensure it always functions at its best.

Overall, if you travel often, whether by car or on flights, the UP Travel is essential to ensure your music is always top quality and you can stay connected and comfortable. I love that the UP Travel can be used as both a transmitter and receiver, ensuring you do not need a whole array of adapters and instead can just use this one compact device.

Pros:

• Compact pocket-sized device that is great for travelling
• Both a transmitter and receiver for a wide variety of uses
• Automatically prioritises the highest quality audio for the best sound possible
• Dual connectivity, which is great for watching films with another person

Cons:

• The UP Travel is quite pricey and is more of an investment in your audio quality, but if you travel often or are looking for a good device to replace multiple adapters and cables for superior sound quality, it’s a worthwhile investment