We’ve just been trying out Altec Lansing’s brand spanking new £170 iPhone and iPod docking station, the Octiv 650 and thought we’d share our first impressions of it. Despite its compact size, the sound packs a fair old punch, thanks to its downward-facing sub-woofer and twin speakers on the front.

What we really like is the built-in bass and treble EQ that you can adjust using the remote, meaning you can tune your music to sound just the way you want. Better still, there’s a companion app – Music Mood – that gives you access to a seven-band EQ that you can tweak to your heart’s content and then save your presets. Nice. It includes a simpler, two-band EQ as well.

Round the back is an aux in socket alongside component and composite video outputs, so you can hook this up to your TV and watch media stored on your iPhone or iPad on the big screen. When you do this, the audio will still play through the Octiv 650′s built-in speakers, which is no bad thing, seeing as they’re probably better than the ones in your TV. Annoyingly, though, for a product of this price, it doesn’t come with any video leads – you’ll have to buy these yourself.

The Octiv 650 is certified by Apple to work with the iPod and iPhone, and it goes on sale this month.

Source: Tap! Magazine