When I first saw these cute little speakers arrive for tests, I dismissed them as just another “Chinese” product that just looks good and delivers nothing when it comes to sheer sound quality. Boy, was I wrong. I first saw these beauties being displayed at the Mumbai Gizmomeet where my fellow geek Annkur had them on display. Back then, I was more interested in “superior” gadgets like the Apple iPad and a bunch of Android powered smartphones and my own i8910 Omnia HD which our fellow Gizmomeet attendees had bought. So much so, I didn’t even pass a glance on these speakers.
It wasn’t until I was told by Annkur “You are reviewing these” that I really took some time out too take a glance at these beauties. I randomly picked up two of these XMini models for review and quickly bought them home. That was the beginning of a long time love affair that still continues till date.
Now for some introduction about the brand XMini. X-Mini speakers are made by this company that calls themselves XMi PTE Ltd. This is a Singapore based tech firm that has over the past few years managed to carve a niche for themselves in the highly competitive portable speakers’ arena. The company claims that its range of X-Mini speakers “is revolutionary in the world of portable audio technology” – and trust me, they are serious about that tag!
Both our speakers reviewed today look very diminutive and doesn’t look anything apart from cute. In fact, the last thing you would expect from them is to be loud. With all these preconceived notions in mind, you are in for a (loud) shock when you connect it to any 3.5mm jack laden device. We have two of the XMini models for review today – the X-Mini V1.1 and the X-Mini Happy.
X Mini V1.1
The Xmini V 1.1 happens to be the smallest member of the family. It weighs just 57.4g and has a single magnetically shielded driver that measures just 36mm. It offers over 6 hours of playback time (we actually managed to run it continuously for 6 hours) and uses an internal battery to meet its power requirements. The speaker is accompanied with a USB charging cable as well. It can be charged within an hour using an USB port.
Plug in to your laptop/phone and be prepared for a big surprise. The Speaker offers far better sound quality than any standalone laptop. While the X-Mini 1.1 is definitely loud, it also offers great sound quality even at lower volumes. The USP of the speaker is the ability to produce enormous amount of bass that belies its size. This is made possible by a patented technology using which the Speakers can be extended upwards like an accordion.
This expandable ‘vacuum’ mimics the resonance of a sub-woofer and endows the speaker a crisp and full-bodied sound. This accordion like vacuum can be “closed” when you are at low volumes, do not require much bass or when you need the speakers to be contact. The 1.1 has very basic controls that includes a power button, a volume jack a 3.5mm jack and of course, the USB connector to charge the speakers.
X-Mini Happy
As for the XMini Happy, this is a larger model compared to the 1.1. The Happy being a higher end model, gets an inbuilt memory card slot using which it can access your songs from the card and play it back for you. There are playback control buttons using which you can skip to the next and previous track and pause playback. To increase and decrease volume, press down and the right, down and left respectively. That’s pretty much it when it comes to audio controls The Happy also packs in a pair of in-ear earphones that you can connect to the 3.5 mm jack ON the speaker for silent listening. This port can also be used to connect it to another Xmini speaker in a set up that Xmini calls “Buddy Jack”. We managed to play back the Happy for well over 8 hours on a single charge before it died. That’s more than enough for a days outing. Be sure to power the speakers off when not in use because that drains the battery out much faster.
Both the speakers – the 1.1 and the Happy are great products and a must buy if you are a kind of person who would like to have your music played out loud and clear at places where you can’t carry full-fledged speakers. These are uber compact and the bass from these once again, is unbelievable.
The only cons we can think of is the problem of excessive vibration that these speakers face when the bass gets too much. We would like XMi to supply some kind of stands for these speakers that can absorb these vibrations and would enable us to listen to music without having to hold them in the hands (that’s what I do to prevent the vibrations!). The other issue we face on the Happy is the lack of a display to have a look at the songs list. But then, this being a speaker, we can excuse that one for sure. Surely, if you can live with your iPod Shuffle with no display, the Happy and the V 1.1 is pretty much faultless.
What is the price of these devices? If possible, can you mention the retails stores having it. I am from Bangalore.
Working to get the India prices. Thx