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Bowers & Wilkins\u2019s $400\u00a0Z2<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is the apparent successor to the company\u2019s\u00a0Zeppelin Mini<\/a>, but instead of a 30-pin dock connector, the Z2 features a\u00a0Lightning-connector<\/a>\u00a0dock\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0AirPlay<\/a>\u00a0wireless streaming. Supporting the latest iPhone, iPod touch, and iPod nano models, the Z2 is available in black or white glass-filled\u00a0ABS<\/a>. (The black model is available now; the white model won\u2019t ship until June.)<\/p>\n Like the earlier Zeppelin mini, the Z2 measures 7.1 inches tall, 12.6 inches wide, and 3.9 inches deep; it weighs 5.7 pounds. The speaker looks\u00a0cool<\/em>, with a distinctively angled round top, and a pleasantly curved recessed area surrounding the Lightning dock itself. On the bottom right of the speaker sits a single LED, which glows red when the unit is asleep, glows pinkish when it\u2019s connected to Wi-Fi, and indicates other statuses during setup and troubleshooting.<\/p>\n In front of the Lightning dock sit two tiny, slightly raised, capacitative buttons for controlling the system\u2019s volume. These buttons are some of the first touch-sensitive speaker buttons I haven\u2019t hated: Because you can see\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0feel them, there\u2019s never any doubt that you\u2019re pushing in the right spot, and the buttons themselves are responsive.<\/p>\n On the back of the Z2, you\u2019ll find an ethernet port, a reset button, a 1\/8-inch (3.5mm) auxiliary-input jack (for connecting a wired audio source), and a connector for the Z2\u2019s power adapter.<\/p>\n My iPhone 5 connected to the Z2\u2019s Lightning-connector dock easily, and the phone felt secure while sitting there: While the phone does wiggle a bit, there\u2019s much less play, and the dock connector feels much less fragile, than with 30-pin connector of old.<\/p>\n Getting the Z2 on my network wasn\u2019t too painful using the free\u00a0Bowers & Wilkins Control<\/a>\u00a0app for iOS. The process isn\u2019t as elegant as with some other speakers\u2014the best can import your iOS device\u2019s Wi-Fi configuration when you connect the speaker to the device via USB. Instead, the Z2 relies on the older approach of connecting your device to an ad-hoc wireless network created by the speaker, and then using either the B&W app or your Web browser to configure the speaker’s networking settings..<\/p>\n The speaker ships with a small, black, plastic remote. That remote sports buttons for power, volume control, play\/pause, previous, next, and input selection. You\u2019ll need that last button to switch the Z2 between AirPlay, the Lightning dock, and the auxiliary input, so you don\u2019t want to lose the remote\u2014there\u2019s no way to switch the input on the speaker itself.<\/p>\n Inside the Z2 are dual (left and right) 3.5-inch full-range drivers, along with a pair of 20-Watt amplifiers. I listened to my docked iPhone 5 and to various sources streaming via AirPlay, and, like B&W\u2019s\u00a0A7 AirPlay speaker<\/a>, the Z2 sounded great. Regardless of what kind of music I played, the speaker offered exceptional clarity\u2014for both midrange and treble frequencies\u2014and fine bass presence. Bass performance, though, is the Z2\u2019s weakest spot thanks to the system\u2019s compact size and small drivers. There\u2019s a bass port on the back of the speaker, but there\u2019s no bass driver or subwoofer\u2014the result is that bass is merely present, not powerful. That said, the Z2 generates big, loud, impressive sound.<\/p>\n