Spotify Stations is a more streamlined alternative to the main Spotify app, but before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s worth noting that at the time of writing this one is just for those in the US or Australia (though we imagine it will launch more widely over time). There’s also Wear OS support, and once you’ve identified a track you can access it on Spotify or Apple Music with a link from Shazam. Shazam can now identify music that’s played through headphones on your handset, and can even go beyond music, using visual recognition to identify posters, books and more. If you don’t want it quite that ever-present then you can instead simply set it to start listening the second you launch the app, so you don’t have to tap any additional buttons.Īnd most recently ‘Pop-Up Shazam’ was added, which lets you identify music when using other apps without having to jump back to the main Shazam app. Originally this involved launching the Shazam app and tapping a big button on its main screen, but since launch the developer has added an ‘Auto Shazam’ feature, which allows Shazam to listen for music al all times. Above that price, most amps can’t be considered “mini.Shazam is far from new, and chances are you already know about it, but it’s worth highlighting as it has been improved over the years.īut first, if you don’t know what it is: Shazam can identify music by listening through your phone’s speaker.

Price: We set a rough limit of $140, which let us include a couple of full-featured models from S.M.S.L.

Design: The popularity of the industrial-looking Lepai amps made them a must for this test, but even so we favored amps that would look okay on a living-room bookshelf.

Features: Although we did test some amps that had only a volume control, we gravitated toward models that offered nice extras such as Bluetooth support and tone controls.For example, we didn’t test both the Lepai LP-2020TI and the Lepy LP-2020A. Duplicate products: We didn’t test what appeared to be the same amp under different brand names.We figured few people would want to spend time searching for one.

Most mini amps come with a “lump in the line” power supply, but some do not, requiring you to purchase a generic power supply such as those used for standalone computer hard drives. Power supply: We tested only those amps that included a power supply.We considered amps of all power ratings because our early tests showed that even those with the weakest power ratings were adequate for typical home listening levels. Power ratings: This is the first spec most people consider when buying an amp.

Best sound amplifier app