ELAC Built a Portable Speaker for People Who Hate Portable Speakers

ARTICLE – Most portable speakers try to shout for attention with RGB lights or huge power numbers. What actually matters is whether one small box can disappear into your space and still make everything you play feel calmer, cleaner, and more intentional.

That’s the gap ELAC’s NAVA100 tries to fill. It’s the first portable from a 100-year-old hi-fi brand better known for serious speakers on stands than something you sling into a tote bag. At $229, it’s priced closer to premium lifestyle speakers than budget Bluetooth boxes. The pitch is simple: a compact block that looks like design furniture, with just enough muscle to feel like real hi-fi in a small room rather than another background-noise brick.

Price: $229
Where to buy: ELAC

What ELAC built here

ELAC has spent a century building speakers for people who care how things sound, not how loud they get. NAVA100 is the company finally admitting that those people also leave the house.

Instead of chasing the 50–80W numbers you see on mainstream Bluetooth speakers, ELAC builds around a single 3‑inch full‑range driver working with dual passive radiators inside a rigid aluminum shell. The idea is classic hi‑fi thinking in miniature: keep the driver honest, let the cabinet and radiators handle the sense of weight.

You feel that intent in the industrial design. The grille, top, and bottom are all metal. The controls are physical buttons, not capacitive strips. The whole thing reads more like a tiny piece of audio hardware than a party toy, especially in the cream Adsum collaboration finish (a limited run with the NYC-based design studio known for minimalist furniture) that’s clearly built to sit on a bookshelf or media console without looking out of place.

What actually changed versus generic Bluetooth bricks

Most sub-$250 Bluetooth speakers hit the same checklist: big wattage figure, IP rating, a battery claim you’ll never see in real life, and a plasticky chassis you won’t miss when it eventually dies.

The NAVA100 comes at that from a different angle. Acoustic design leads everything: one 3-inch driver, dual passive radiators, and a quoted 55Hz–19.6kHz response at –10dB. That’s not spec-sheet flexing. It’s ELAC promising usable bass from a box that’s only 150 × 78 × 128mm without pretending it’s a subwoofer.

Price: $229
Where to buy: ELAC

Amplifier power stays realistic. A 10W RMS amp into an 8-ohm load with 85dB/W/m sensitivity is tuned for near-field listening and small rooms, not filling a backyard. Battery claims stay honest too: ELAC quotes up to 15 hours at 25% volume or around 6 hours at full output, backed by a 7.4V pack using dual 18650 cells. That’s a more believable split than the usual “all day” claim with no qualifiers.

Connectivity rounds things out with Bluetooth 5.3 and Dual Play, which lets you run two NAVA100s as left/right channels in a wireless stereo pair. That’s a smarter spend than buying one oversized mono box for people who actually sit and listen.

In other words, ELAC dials back the spec theatre to build a box that behaves predictably in a living room or office. You’re trading headline numbers for tonal balance and a more grown-up physical presence. If you’ve heard ELAC’s desktop monitors, you’ll recognize the family sound here: warm mids, controlled bass that doesn’t boom, and treble that stays smooth instead of sharp.

How it fits into a small space

On paper, NAVA100 lands in the same ballpark as style‑forward portables from Bang & Olufsen and Audio Pro. T3 notes that its pricing puts it up against the Beosound A1 3rd Gen and Audio Pro P5, both of which quote far higher wattage but live in the same compact‑premium niche.

The interesting part is how differently ELAC uses its footprint.

On a desk, the 150mm width makes the speaker feel more like a small powered monitor than a can-shaped portable, sitting behind a laptop without blocking the screen. On a bookshelf, the all-metal shell and simple grille read more like a mini component than a travel gadget, especially in the cream Adsum finish that looks designed to live next to vinyl sleeves or design books. In a kitchen or bedroom, the absence of light shows and rubber fins means it won’t visually hijack the space.

You’re buying something that blends in and then quietly over-delivers when you turn it up, not a centerpiece shouting for attention.

Where the compromises show up

The NAVA100 isn’t trying to win every spec race, and you can feel that in a few places.

Raw loudness is the most obvious gap. Speakers like the Beosound A1 or Audio Pro P5 can simply move more air, and their quoted 55–60W systems will carry further outdoors. Battery life at party volume also tightens up: ELAC’s own numbers say you’re looking at roughly six hours when you lean on it. That’s fine for a dinner or a long work session, less ideal for a full day off-grid.

The feature list stays minimal. There’s no voice assistant, app-based EQ, or multi-room platform here. You get Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C charging, and physical controls, and that’s the list.

Those trade-offs aren’t hidden. ELAC is building a portable extension of its hi-fi line, not a smart speaker. If you want microphones, casting, or a deeper app ecosystem, you’re still in Sonos, Bose, or JBL territory.

Who should skip this

You’re probably not the target for the NAVA100 if you want a single box that can run an outdoor party by itself, or if you care more about IP ratings and ruggedization than material feel and soundstage. The same goes if you’re looking for the cheapest way to get background audio on a patio, or if you need tight integration with a voice assistant or a multi-room platform.

Better loud, rough-and-ready options exist from mainstream brands if you just want something to throw in the trunk and forget. But if you’ve ever wished your portable speaker sounded less like a portable speaker, this is where to look.

The bottom line

ELAC’s first portable is a niche object with a very clear brief:

Build a compact speaker that feels like it belongs in a hi‑fi system, looks like a design object instead of tech clutter, and trades spec sheet theatrics for believable bass and clean mids in small rooms.

Price: $229
Where to buy: ELAC

If you already like what ELAC does with its powered speakers and you want a travel-sized extension of that sound, the NAVA100 makes sense. You’re paying more than you would for a typical 10-20W Bluetooth brick, and you’re not getting a spec monster in return. You’re getting a calm, metal-cased cube that sounds more like a shrunken hi-fi speaker than a beach can.

If you just want volume per dollar, or you rarely listen in quieter spaces where tonal balance matters, one of the higher‑powered mainstream options will feel like a better use of your budget.