If you ever wanted to own a karaoke system but can’t spare to pay over $800 for one that you’re not sure you will use frequently? You can start small with the new JazPiper Pico T200, which retails for S$249 for Shopee. And it is also a portable karaoke system meaning you can take around to your friends and family houses as well.
Unboxing
In the box, you’ll find the following:
- JazPiper Pico T200
- Wireless microphone x2
- USB-C charging cable
- Remote control
- HDMI cable
- Line out cable
- User manual
Design and build quality
JazPiper Pico T200 has a boxy shape and is made entirely from plastic. The design isn’t too impressive, it looks slightly dated with the way the different elements are added on the front. There is a small screen to show status, and some buttons along with a volume knob. There are also two cutouts for you to dock the microphones only; no charging is done as they are powered by AA batteries x2 each. The JazPiper Pico T200 measures 33.0cm (L) * 15.5cm (D) * 16.0cm (H).
You’re unlikely to use any of the controls on the JazPiper Pico T200 itself as the remote does everything. If you’re thinking of hiding the JazPiper Pico T200 away from plain site when using – you cannot do that unless you don’t intend to use the remote at all. The remote seems to be infrared so it requires you to point at the karaoke box for any inputs to be channelled across.
User experience
The JazPiper Pico T200 runs on Android OS, so the karaoke feature is actually an app in a Android TV box if you will. This means you can install other apps. But given the speed of the UI isn’t that pleasing to use with the remote, I’d stick to using the JazPiper Pico T200 mainly as a karaoke box.
You’d need to connect the JazPiper Pico T200 to your Wi-Fi for the songs to be streamed accordingly. The overall singing experience with the JazPiper Pico T200 is good, quite visually representative of what you’ll get in karaoke lounges. The MTVs are identical and the sync between the lyrics overlay and singing is good.
The speed between going from one song to another is decent, about 2-3 seconds. Though I have experienced occasions where I waited up to 10 seconds for the song to skip. It is hit and miss, but thankfully it is not something I face often my during my time of testing. You have a quick look at a short demo of the karaoke use below:
Audio output
By default the JazPiper Pico T200 will produce audio from your TV if it is connected via HDMI. The speakers on the karaoke box itself will also produce audio. So you have two areas where audio is being played out of. You can mute the TV or the JazPiper Pico T200 if you want the song audio to output from a single point. The JazPiper Pico T200 has 100W of peak power and can get quite loud. The bass is present and has good clarity all round. If your TV is not connected to a soundbar, the speakers of the JazPiper Pico T200 is good enough to get by.
Alternatively, you can connect the JazPiper Pico T200 to other speakers via a 3.5mm line-out cable. If your TV already connected to a soundbar via HDMI-ARC and you intend to connect the JazPiper Pico T200 to your TV, then there is no need to route another audio connection. This is because the JazPiper Pico T200 will automatically output sound to your soundbar because of the ARC connection. In my case, my LG TV is connected to my Sonos Beam via HDMI-ARC. And simply connecting the JazPiper Pico T200 to my TV using another HDMI port, the audio comes out from both my Sonos Beam as well as the speakers on the karaoke box.
As for the microphone, its audio will always output from the JazPiper Pico T200 speakers when it is on HDMI audio connection. So if you’re connecting the JazPiper Pico T200 to your TV, you’ll likely end up with a setup where you use the TV/soundbar speakers for the song audio and speakers on the karaoke box for the microphone output. There are separate volume controls for the speaker and the microphone out which help with the mixing.
Searching of songs
How you search songs on when singing karaoke can make or break your experience. There are two ways you can search – (1) using the remote control to navigate the karaoke app, or (2) scan the QR code to access a website to add songs via your smartphone. The software of the JazPiper Pico T200 is not the smoothest and fastest, so I found myself using the QR code option as typing on my phone is just way faster than trying to move letter by letter using the remote control. This also means that you can continue to add songs on your phone to the queue without interrupting the person singing.
The search bar supports searches either by “Song” or by the “Singer”. Like in Teo Heng, the search function supports search by initials which is very helpful when looking up mandarin singers. For example, if you want to sing songs by 周杰伦 (Jay Chou/ zhou jie lun), you can simply type “ZJL” which will show all the singers with the “ZJL” initials. This way of searching also works for songs.
JazPiper Pico T200 offers multiple views of their catalogue of songs – by the type of singer, type of song, etc. Personally I never go into these folders/views as it is just much faster searching on the phone or via the main search function. Speaking of catalogue of songs, JazPiper Pico T200 definitely doesn’t have as many songs as what you’d see in big chains like Teo Heng. For popular singers such as Taylor Swift and 周興哲 (Eric Chou), you do get quite a long list of songs but not all of them. For not so mainstream artistes like Fall Out Boy or All Time Low for example, there isn’t many songs available. If you mainly sing mainstream songs then the JazPiper Pico T200 should serve you just fine. The song library offered by JazPiper Pico T200 is available for lifetime use as there is no subscription required. Noma Trading did mention that you can request for songs if they are unavailable, and they can try to include in future updates.
Karaoke features
Apart from ease of searching for songs, there are also other quality of life features that add to the overall experience. Song management is one of them, JazPiper Pico T200 does well in that regard. Upon a successful search of a song, you can choose to immediately play the song, add it to the queue, or favourite into a folder. You can bump a song up to the top of the queue in your playlist as well.
What I find is really useful is the ability to favourite a song into a folder. This allows you to add your go-to karaoke songs into a folder where you can quickly pull up. I found it particularly helpful for adding mandarin songs as they can take a while to search. Also, the JazPiper Pico T200 has a ‘History’ feature so you can see the songs which you have sang in the past so that you can choose them again.
JazPiper Pico T200 has standard media controls such as skipping, replaying, and turning on/off the original singer’s voice. You can also adjust the pitch up to +/- 6 keys. You can pull out a “Control Center” of sorts which handles commonly used features such as pause/replay, etc simply by pressing any directional key on the remote.
If you are particular about the echo and reverb sound of the microphone, there is even a control panel you can pull up to adjust it.
Other features
The JazPiper Pico T200 having a built-in 2000mAh rechargeable battery which can last close to 2 hours on a full charge, is actually a big plus point. It is not too heavy to bring around. You can create a karaoke session at anyone’s house simply by bringing the JazPiper Pico T200 and a HDMI cable. If you ever run out of battery, the JazPiper Pico T200 charges conveniently via USB-C cable which almost every household would have.
Conclusion
At this point, it is good to setup some expectations. If you are expecting user experience that is similar to what flagship karaoke systems like PowerHouse KTV, then the JazPiper Pico T200 is not it. At S$249, the JazPiper Pico T200 is four times cheaper, so what it offers is a low entry to having a karaoke system at home. The UI is not the nicest, and the song library is not the largest, but the JazPiper Pico T200 has good core features such as initials searching, searching remotely on phone, and useful media and track control for an enjoyable karaoke session with friends. I find the JazPiper Pico T200 as a great low-cost, low commitment entertainment device that is great for hosting friends and family, and spending time with your loved ones.