The Sound Bender is a magnetic sound amplifier that can be attached to any iPad or tablet to increase the sound. The product was invented by Moshe Weiss, who couldn’t hear sound properly through an iPad he was gifted after losing his job. He decided to invent a type of funnel that could amplify the sound and magnetically attach to an iPad.
The product was an instant success despite the over-saturated market of third party accessories for tablets. Weiss decided to start a KickStarter campaign for his product, and managed to get $20,000 through two separate funding campaigns. He wanted to take his business to the next level, for which he needed more exposure and marketing. This why he came to Shark Tank.
The Sound Bender has a lot of great selling points, such as portability, adaptability to most iPad covers and the ability to put iPads to sleep automatically. It’s a kind of clip that attaches to iPads and projects sound outwards.
Are They Still an Active Company?
Yes, the company is active and still in business.
How Did the Shark Tank Pitch Go?
Weiss approached Shark Tank with an initial ask of $54,000 for a 26% stake in the company. He proceeded to share his successful sales, which were at 7,000 units over 6 months. Each Sound Bender was sold for $12.99 and Walgreens was already interested in his product.
The pitch was successful overall and then it was time for the Sharks to respond. Mr. Wonderful raised the point of why Weiss wouldn’t mass produce it overseas instead of producing it locally, to which Weiss cited religious reasons. This put off Mr. Wonderful, so he was the first Shark to step out. Barbara left for a similar reason, because Moshe didn’t agree to a royalty agreement with her.
Daymond made the first real offer of $54,000 for a 40% stake in the company, if Moshe could manage to get a contract with Walgreens. Robert made the same offer, without the condition of Walgreens because he thought that would take too much time in comparison. Weiss now had to choose between the two Sharks and decided to go with Daymond because he was aware that Daymond had more marketing experience.
Overall, The Sound Bender Shark Tank review was positive and Weiss left with a good deal. The company is still operational and widely successful, thanks to this investment, producing the Sound Bender on a massive scale and generating between $500,000-$800,000 in revenue every year.
Our Review of The Sound Bender
We decided to try The Sound Bender out for ourselves to see how it would fare in practice.
The good news is that the product is well-designed. It’s portable so you can carry it around everywhere in your pocket. It’s a high-quality accessory that successfully amplifies the sound coming from an iPad or tablet. It’s a particularly useful product if you’re hard of hearing. It could make for a great holiday gift for anyone. It’s also surprisingly affordable.
The bad news is that some users complained that the magnetic part of the product wouldn’t stay fastened and gets loose often. It’s, difficult to carry around and it, unfortunately, doesn’t fit with every tablet cover. The sounds that are on the lower end aren’t amplified as much as sounds on the higher end.
Pros
- Affordable
- Easy-to-use
- Portable
- High-quality accessory
- Comes in a variety of colors
- Good holiday gift
Cons
- Doesn’t fit with every iPad cover
- Gets loosened easily
- Chunky design
- Doesn’t amplify low sounds
Who Is The Sound Bender for?
The Sound Bender is meant for anyone with an iPad or tablet who can’t hear very well through its speaker. It can be used by kids and adults both. And it’s an especially good investment for people who like listening to music on their iPads.
Are There Any Alternatives?
The Sound Bender is a unique accessory; while there are other audio amplifying products on the market, none function in the same way as The Sound Bender.
Aker Voice Amplifier is one voice amplifying product that could be used by customers who want to amplify sound on a larger scale. Unlike The Sound Bender though, the Aker Voice Amplifier’s is more expensive and weighs 0.67 pounds. It can be used as a microphone and connected to an MP3 system. It’s not as portable as The Sound Bender because it comes with other attached equipment as well such as a headset, charging cable, MP3 cable, microphone line and a carry bag.
However, it’s a high quality product that comes with rechargeable batteries that can last almost 15 hours. The Sound Bender, however, doesn’t require charging at all and functions without it because of the way that it’s designed. The Aker Voice Amplifier has a lot of positive reviews on Amazon, and is a durable product because of its long-lasting battery life. The sound can be amplified at a wider range than The Sound Bender, to almost 6000 square feet.
Because of the price and complexity of the product, the Aker Voice Amplifier is mainly targeted at teachers and coaches who want to make announcements. The Sound Bender is simple and affordable enough to be used by people of all ages and genders.
Our Final Thoughts
The Sound Bender is a great powerless amplifier for those who struggle to hear music on their iPads because of the speakers. It’s portable and adaptable plus it’s not expensive at all. Conventional sound amplifiers are much more expensive and heavy in comparison. It’s a unique product that any iPad or tablet user can benefit from.
