Tunai Wand Bluetooth TV Adaptor Review

A Closer Look and Performance

The Tunai WAND is a pretty compact device, and if I handed it to you, you wouldn’t be sure what it does. Sure, it has a few obvious audio inputs, but it’s a fairly innocuous looking bit of kit. Of course, that’s not a bad thing, and for something that’s meant to be plugged into the back of your TV or console, it’s easy enough to hide out of sight. Tunai’s Kickstarter does seem to suggest mounting it at the side of your TV so it has a line of sight to you. However, I doubt that’s required, and more just for “we want to show our product off.”

Slick Build Quality

The construction is pretty neat, with a brushed metal finish that gives it the look and feel of a premium quality product. Despite its compact size, it tucks in an Optical In port on the bottom. Of course, so many devices have optical support, such as consoles, Blu-Ray players, Hi-Fi systems, TVs, and so much more these days, so this is likely the best option for hooking up your devices, at least in my opinion.

More Connectivity

You have two other options for connectivity too, with a MicroUSB and Aux In allowing you a few more ways to play. However, you need the USB cable at all times, as this provides the power to the device, although it can also be used for audio over USB too, perfect if you’re hooking it up to your computer or laptop. It’s also pretty compact, so while it is designed for home or office use, it could be travelled with. Of course, you’ll still need to take the cables, but they’re standard connections, and you could use your own set or on location cables if required in some cases.

Pairing

There aren’t any buttons, screens or anything crazy like that either. This is a little strange, and since it’s pre-release, it’s not exactly equipped with an instruction book either. Fortunately, pairing a Bluetooth device turned out to be quite easy. Simply put your headphones in pairing mode, then power on the WAND and place your two devices very close to each other. You can do this for not one, but two sets of headphones. This means if you’re wanting to watch a movie with your SO or friends, without bugging others in the house, you can.

Lightshow

When you pair your devices, the lightbox at the top will flash, this means it’s still in pairing mode. Once it becomes a solid light, you know it’s paired and ready to use. However, the colour of the light changes based on your input device, as you can see below. I would like an option to turn the light off, but that’s just me. Of course, if it’s behind your TV, you’re unlikely to notice it anyway, and you’ll know the pairing is working as you’ll have audio, and won’t if it’s not.

Optical, Aux or USB?

Personally, I found the Optical to be the most useful connection, as I have Optical pass-through on my AV receiver. This means I don’t have to reach for the cables to switch from my surround sound to the WAND. Of course, your setup will vary, and I did have to provide my optical cable. However, the AUX cable may be best for most, as most devices have AUX output, and if not, a 3.5mm male to male cable will also work, allowing you to pair to virtually anything from an Xbox controller to an old iPod.