Gadget review: X-Mini Bluetooth Speakers

By Grant Paterson
Published on Friday 10 February 2012 12:47

Deciding on which mobile speakers to chose for laptop or smartphone can be a bit daunting. Every well-established company has a portable solution and it’s difficult to clarify which one is best.

Enter fledgling Chinese company Xmi Pte Ltd with their X-Mini speakers. Don’t be put off by the unfamiliar brand or that they weren’t born out of a Swedish sound lab.

These cute little speaker-balls are more than able to contend with the big boys. In fact they punch a bass bashing hole like a sonic grenade straight out of Star Wars.

Speaking from experience, portable speakers tend not to be the best. They suffer from travel speaker syndrome: lack of portability (ironic I know), batteries exhausted before the third album, and dire sound - the puny bass laughable - until now.

X-Mini’s claim ‘Music Beyond Size’ is truth. These hand held audio balls are remarkably loud, clear and bassy. In fact, these are the best set of portables I’ve ever heard.

They’re genuinely small enough to fit into your pocket or beach bag and easily placed on any surface for best positioning.

The flag-ship KAI Capsule Speaker model from the wireless range is Bluetooth equipped with dongle to connect to other devices. They can be daisy-chained to add more X-Mini’s if you want to host a beach party. Just don’t blame me if the neighbours are less than happy with your booming beats.

For anyone considering podcasting or conference calling there is a in-built mic, which is decent. The standard 3.5mm mini jack is available for conventional connections.

The rechargeable Lithium Ion battery (usb charging cable included) is good for 8 hours, long enough for any party.

I threw a host of music genres through these speakers and was impressed. Good for pop, dance, electronic and jazz, these handled everything nicely although rockers may find the mid-range struggles with heavy bursts of thrash metal.

That said AC/DC’s Highway to Hell sounded suitably rocking and Bombay Bicycle Club shone in such a way that I was convinced they are a festival must.

Perfect then as a portable system for your hotel room or for that beach party or if you need a present for a teenager you need to notch up some kudos with.

The X-mini speaker system isn’t incredible but they’re good, very good – far better than you’d expect from something so small and practical - not to mention cool.

• The X-Mini Bluetooth Speakers are priced at £69 and available online

• Follow @scotsmantech on Twitter

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Lochinvar

Friday, February 10, 2012 at 01:09 PM

Erm...aye...great....but how much are they and where can you buy them?

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