The Ikarao Shell S1 Is Almost the Perfect Portable Karaoke Speaker
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The Good
- Includes a touchscreen tablet
- Compact and portable
- Powerful stereo sound
- Impressive bass boost
- Two wireless microphones with long battery life
- Can play and charge at the same time
- Excellent companion app
The Bad- No practical way to cast to a TV
- No integrated YouTube app
- Limited EQ customization
Table of Contents
People have been performing karaoke with just a standard microphone and a portable speaker for many years, and gotten by fine. But Ikarao, a dedicated karaoke speaker company, is committed to taking the hobby to the next level. Their latest flagship product, the Shell S1 Karaoke, is their most affordable karaoke speaker, and is tricked out with a touchscreen tablet, two Bluetooth microphones, and powerful sound for its size.
After testing it out with a few hours of karaoke, it earns a strong recommendation. There isn't much competition in the market for this kind of device, the closest alternative being Soundcore's Rave 3S party speaker, which has a cool AI feature that turns any song into a karaoke track with the push of a button. While the Shell S1 can't match that, it's still the best option if you're looking for a portable speaker—and could get even better in the future, thanks to its tablet and app integrations.
My first impressions of the Shell S1 karaoke speaker
My expectations were somewhat low for this speaker, mainly because I had never heard of Ikarao. My preconceived notions were misplaced: Turns out the Shell S1 is a portable powerhouse that gives you everything you need for a great karaoke session. It's easy to pick up and take with you to a friend's house or outdoor gathering.
I was blown away by how loud this speaker can get—104 dB, to be exact. There is also a bass boost button on the front (along with volume control, power, Bluetooth, and a local play button to switch the input source) that really bumps low frequencies substantially.
While still portable, the speaker is weighty for its size at nearly 12 pounds, which makes sense—it jams two microphones, a tablet, and a stereo speaker into one product. Happily, Ikarao includes a shoulder strap to make carrying the S1 around easy.
The back of the speaker has all of the interface inputs and outputs, including an option for a third, wired mic viaa 3.5mm input, an AUX input, USB On-The-Go (OTG), a USB port, an HDMI so you can hook up the tablet to a TV, a type-C power inlet for charging, and an AUX out to connect to other speakers.
An excellent microphone experience
The two Bluetooth microphones are cleverly hidden under the speaker screen, and they charge automatically charge while stored. They have a range of about 32 feet, and the batteries last 20 hours. They also have convenient volume controls, a power button that also lets you swap mic effects, and a button that controls the media so you can play, pause, or skip to the next song in the queue. I was surprised by how little feedback I received when getting close to the speaker with a hot mic, even at top volume—I really had to try to get any feedback at all.
Features of the Shell S1 karaoke speaker
The Shell S1's touchscreen is an Android tablet, though it lacks access to the Google Play store. Still, by using a tablet, Ikarao can issue over-the-air software updates to improve the speaker's features over time (in fact, an update was issued during my testing).
The Shell S1 has an HDMI output that I was able to connect to my TV. However, I have a surround sound system in my living room that doesn't have an AUX connection, meaning I was stuck playing music only through the Shell S1 speaker. If the Shell S1 had the ability to cast its screen to a smart TV, it would not only make it easier to project onto a bigger screen for large parties, but it would also allow those with surround sound systems to use them for karaoke alongside the Shell S1.
Ikarao does give the option to cast to a smart TV using a third-party app pre-downloaded onto the speaker, but the experience is confusing, and I can't imagine anyone at a party managing to figure it out, especially after a drink or two.
Spotify over YouTube (uncomplimentary)
Although the first thing you might see when you fire up the screen is the YouTube logo, don't get too excited: It's not the YouTube app, but just a direct link to YouTube via a Firefox browser window. To me, this is a huge dropped ball by Ikarao. In my experience, most karaoke parties are run via YouTube, where you can find a karaoke version of almost any song imaginable, all for free. Using the web version of YouTube with a 10-inch touchscreen is far clumsier and slower than using a dedicated app. (If you're wondering, however: Yes, this means you can use the browser to do anything on the internet that a typical Android tablet lets you do.)
Instead of focusing their efforts on YouTube, Ikarao decided to include a dedicated Spotify app. This would be cool for a smart portable speaker. But this is supposed to be a karaoke speaker, and Spotify is not super karaoke-friendly. Sure, you can make it work by singing over lyrics or by chance finding an actual karaoke version of your go-to songs, but it'll be much harder to read the lyrics on the small screen.
You can also play music by plugging in a USB drive. It's not as exciting as the other options, but very much appreciated if you find yourself somewhere without wifi or just have obscure taste in music.
You can also connect your phone directly to the speaker through Bluetooth, but then there's no built-in way to follow along with lyrics, which defeats the point of a karaoke machine.
Luckily, there's another app to talk about.
The KaraFun app is a great (paid) addition
Ikarao has partnered up with KaraFun, a well-thought-out karaoke app that starts at $9.99 a month. This could explain why Ikarao decided not to include YouTube in its speaker, but it's a frustrating choice, if so: Ikarao does offer a six-month trial of KaraFun with your purchase, but after that, you'll have to start a subscription.
That said, KaraFun does make full use of the speaker's potential. It's a more seamless experience than using YouTube for karaoke, with a huge catalog of karaoke songs, a queue feature, the ability to join sessions and add songs through any phone just by scanning a QR code on the screen, and a fun feature that lets you take pictures and email them at the end of your session. But if you're not ready to add yet another monthly subscription to your budget, you'll have to make do with the other options.
The bottom line
The Shell S1 smart karaoke speaker stands out in a niche market. It's very close to being the perfect portable karaoke speaker for me, and it still has the potential to get there if Ikarao decides to add the YouTube app via an update. If that app also lets you cast YouTube to a TV, I might never give a karaoke bar another dollar.
Unfortunately, the best way to use the Shell S1 to its full potential is with the KaraFun app, which means paying $9.99 per month. If you don't mind that, the partnership works well. The speaker is powerful for its size, the bass boost is strong, and the audio quality does not falter at high volumes. The two Bluetooth microphones are of impressive quality, double as remotes, have a long battery life, automatically charge when stored, and experience little feedback. The touchscreen tablet looks good and makes the Shell S1 a truly all-in-one karaoke machine.
For the price, this is my current pick for the best portable karaoke machine.
Ikarao Shell S1 Specs
Battery Life: Up to nine hours with the screen on and 12 hours with the screen off
Connectivity: USB, AUX In/Out, HDMI, Wifi, OTG, and Bluetooth V5.4
Inputs: AUX input, microphone input, USB input
App: None
Drivers: Equipped with two 15W 3.5-inch woofers and two 10W 1-inch tweeters, covering a frequency range of 50Hz – 18kHz
Power Output: Peak power of 280 W and a maximum sound level of 104dB
Water Resistance: None
Size: 13.9 in by 6.9 in by 6.7 in (L × W × H)
Weight: 11.7 lbs
