Make some mini noise!

Introduction

Another day, another cool little travel speaker. As you might expect at this time of year, devices like this start turning up quite reguarly.

And as with other travel speakers, you instantly think "surely something this small this can't deliver decent sound". But then you remember all those adages about good things coming in small packages. And if you've encountered any similar products, you probably know that they can deliver good sound.

Also included in the commendably small box are a cable with 3.5mm jacks at either end, and a USB to mini USB cable. You'll need this to charge up the internal rechargeable battery.

Operation

Pretty simple really. Charge it up via a USB cable (either the supplied one, or any other USB->mini USB lead that you have around). Plug in an audio source, using the supplied 3.5mm cable or any other cable with at least one 3.5mm jack. Switch it on, fire up some music, and prepare to be impressed.

Sound Quality

Right, let's be clear about this. It's not a KEF speaker. It's not a Mission speaker. It's not an "insert name here" speaker. It's a little speaker that's about the size of a modern mobile phone (only 47mm high and 105mm wide, with a depth of 23mm), weighs about as much as a chocolate bar and puts out around 3 watts. So don't expect reference quality audio where you can sit and stroke your chin whilst placing every single note of every single instrument in whatever piece of music you're listening to.

What you do get is pretty good performance from a mini travel sized speaker. As usual, I listened to a range of of different music and it was all perfectly acceptable. It's not going to sound as good as all that stuff you've spend hundreds of pounds on at home, but it certainly sounds as good as my current favourite travel speaker the X-Mini II (aka the electric satsuma). Spoken word material (podcasts, radio comedy shows) also sounds fine.

Conclusion

A superb bit of kit at a very competitive price (you can currently buy it for 13 pounds online - just search for it). Like I said, it's not going to astound you with its faithful reproduction of musical works. But it will allow you to listen to your music, films, laptop or whatever else whilst you're away from your normal speaker systems. If you'll be off camping next summer, this will come in very handy. Couple it with something like the Freeloader Pro solar charger or the Varta V-Man power pack and you'll have music for a long while.

The claimed battery life is 3 hours. I've been using it for at least 4 times that without recharging yet, sometimes driving it at what sounds like the maximum volume too. As ever, your mileage may vary, buit don't be put off by the seemingly small claimed battery life - it should last much longer in normal use.

The one tiny fly in the ointment is that you can only charge it via USB. But with so many adapters available nowadays (you can get a USB car lighter socket adapter for just 3 pounds, and a mains one for 6-7 pounds), that's not so much of an issue as there are so many gadgets that charge via USB (phones, GPS, SatNav, etc.). If you don't already have such an adapter, it's certainly going to come in handy if you travel a lot. And then you can charge these speakers up too! As they last around 10-11 hours on a full charge, that should be enough for a weekend away.

A cracking little speaker. Recommended for anyone who wants a little bit of sound when on the go! And it would make a great little present or stocking filler!