- High quality playback for its size
- Decent amount of bass
- Produces high volumes
- Nice and cheap
- Cable is too thin and delicate
I wanted portability, and I wanted bass. Not possible, right? It turns out that I was wrong! After reading about this miniature speaker, I decided to take the plunge and purchase it for an equally small price of $22.
The packaging is top notch, easy to open and looks particularly nice for such a cheap product. Once I removed the X-Mini from its pretty home, I plugged it straight into my Cowon D2 and rapidly pumped the volume to 100%. Expecting to hear distortion and crackling, I was very amazed to see it cope with stunning clarity. Suffice to say, I was in awe! The quality of playback isn't as good as a decent set of canalphones (such as my CX500s) but for $22 this is great for portable sound with bass.
Crackling and distortion kicked in once I played the louder songs in my collection, which then resulted to the lowering of the volume to about 80%. Considering the Cowon D2 has such a high volume output, and the X-Mini is amplified, the output remained rich and loud.
The rechargeable battery inside the X-Mini is handy for trips, and is charged via USB. From a dead battery, charging takes about 2.5 hours. The battery lasts between 4-8 hours, depending on volume. The X-mini itself has the choice of low and high volume settings.
The cable which receives the sound and power is a mutation of a standard USB cable. It would seem that the data lanes on the USB are used for the sound signal, while the power lanes are reserved for charging the internal battery. The sound input is a standard 3.5mm jack. The cable is retractable which is nice, however I'm quite concerned about the quality of said cable. The cable is very thin, so much that I feel the need to take extra care when handling it. Quite a pity since the product is an otherwise high quality device.
Overall, I'm quite pleased with this purchase. My only gripe is the cable - perhaps they could have saved money on the pretty packaging and invested on the cable instead.