Posts Tagged iPod speaker
Memorex PurePlay Portable iPod/iPhone Speaker
When my kids commandeer a product I’ve been sent to review, and it goes missing for days, that means the item is usually a winner for the tween set. Indeed, the Memorex PurePlay speaker for amplifying music on iPods or iPhones is a huge hit in my house, namely because it is so portable. My children have used it to blast their music (Katy Perry, anyone?) in their rooms, in the basement, on the front porch, on the side patio… I don’t think they’ve realized it can also work on 4 AAA batteries, otherwise, they’d be using outside, across the yard on the swingset and trampoline, too.
The PurePlay portable speaker has a clamshell design — close it up, and it’s not much bigger than a women’s small clutch purse that might hold lipstick, compact, a mirror and a hotel key. When shut, the speakers are nicely protected. When open, you simply insert your iPod or iTouch (or use the line-in jack for other audio devices), and it becomes a decent speaker. I think it’s plenty good and loud enough; honestly, I’m not a technological expert on music speakers, but for my family’s needs, the sound is perfectly fine.
You can continue to use your iPod/iTouch controls to skip ahead, pause or play the music, and control the volume of the music. Or, you can use or use the buttons on the PurePlay speaker.
The bottom surface of the PurePlay speaker is rubber that doesn’t scratch surfaces. I like that the entire unit is unobtrusive and subtle. That is, it’s classy enough to set on an office desk or a kitchen counter. (I have it in solid black — which goes with anything; it also comes in white and hot pink.) The unit is small enough — about 8.5 by 3.5 by 1.5 inches when shut — to toss in a tote bag to bring to the beach or city park (again, it does run on batteries). It only charges iPhones/iPods when it’s plugged into an electrical outlet in the wall.
The manufacturer’s retail price is $69.99, but I found it on Amazon.com for $59. You can also find the Memorex PurePlay speaker at stores like Kmart and Best Buy.
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Posted by Kara in General Gear, Kids and Family on June 21st, 2011
Foxl: Little Speakers with Big, Big Sound
Even though I’m very much a nerdy, tech kind of gal, I’m old enough (yeah, I’m a geezer) to still be blown away by the magic of technology. I don’t take it for granted. Soundmatter’s extremely portable Foxl speaker unit left me amazed by both the functional coolness and the quality of sound they produce. All that great sound coming from that little block of hardware? And look, no wires! Wow.
The first thing I noticed when I unpacked the Foxl speaker unit was how heavy it was for such a small gadget. My nerdy mate said something about magnets and wires and good speaker quality; I just though, huh, it’s heftier than you’d expect such a tiny block of hardware to be. This isn’t to say it’s too much to carry around, rather that I noticed right away that the unit is kind of dense. It’s 9.5 ounces, to be exact, a little over half a pound.
In the box, there’s a stuff bag, a little square of sticky mat (to keep your unit from dancing away), and a bunch of plug adapters. There’s also a USB charger cable and a headphone jack — you can plug the speakers directly into any standard mini-jack. I plugged the unit in, waited for it to charge, and collected some iThings to test out the Bluetooth connectivity — once the battery is fully charged, you can use the speaker unit with no wires at all.
My iPhone found the speakers right away. In case you’re not clear how these things work, you set the connection from your playback device, not from the speaker unit. On my Apple gadgets, this is in Settings>General>Bluetooth. On my Windows netbook, the Bluetooth menu is in the sys-tray (the little box in the lower right corner). In the Bluetooth menu, you’ll see the Foxl — selecting it “pairs” the speakers with your playback device. You’ll know the speaker unit and (for example) your phone are connected because the light on the front of the speaker unit flashes green. Every device pairs differently — you may need to check the documentation that came with your phone, netbook, whatever, to get the connection set properly.
Once the pairing is complete, you’re good to go. Find an audio file and play it back. You’ll be amazed. I was stunned at how bright, clear, and full the sound was. I tried a few things — playing podcasts (my phone is stuffed with them), listening to ripped CDs from my music library, streaming my local NPR affiliate… I especially enjoyed the combination of the Pandora app on my phone with the Foxl speakers, and again, I was truly surprised by the sound quality. I also used the speakers while watching a movie on my Mac… wow. Don’t take my word for it, though, check the reviews page on the Soundmatters site.
The Foxl unit does work as a speaker/mic for your phone, too. The Bluetooth button on the front of the speaker unit can be used to answer and hang up calls — or you can use the phone itself. The device automatically overrides any other playback and gives priority to your phone call.
You’ll need to be aware of distance — if you move the speaker unit too far away from the transmitting device, the signal degrades or the connection drops. It’s no problem to restore it, just know that proximity matters. You also need to keep a clear line between the speaker and the transmitter, the signal dropped when I walked around a corner into the next room. If you switch devices — I went from my phone to my iPad, you may need to “unpair” the first device, or simply turn the Bluetooth off on the the device you’re no longer using.
There are travelers who simply must have their music with them wherever they go. This isn’t a substitute for headphones (manners, people, manners) but if you’re in place where it’s cool to have music playing, the Foxl speaker unit is freaking fantastic. I love the idea of listening to radio theater (a personal favorite) in the tent at night when we’re camping. It’s great for music at BBqs and picnics. It’s way better than 90% of those hotel clock radios where you dock your phone at night. And it’s small — it fits in your hand. (Dimensions from the specs: 143 x 55 x 35 mm or 5.6 x 2.2 x 1.4 inches.) Audiophile travelers will love it, as will anyone who just wants bigger brighter sound from their devices without giving up much space.
There are two Foxl units available, only one has Bluetooth connectivity. I’d go for that one and avoid the wires. You can get them directly from Soundmatters or, check Amazon for the latest prices.
Posted by Pam in General Gear on June 3rd, 2011
Better than BF: iMainGo2 Speaker Case Giveaway
Here’s a deal that’s better than Black Friday and you won’t have to stay up all night waiting in line.
Practical Travel Gear will give one lucky reader a free iMainGo2 Speaker Case (see my earlier review). It’s a case with built-in speakers to carry your iPod or other portable music player.
It’s a given that the built-in speakers on MP3 players sound awful. The iMainGo2 not only provides a carrying case for music players, but gives them a surprisingly-good sound in a small package.
So here’s how it works. Check out our earlier review, then leave a comment below on this post or on our Facebook page. We’ll pick one of the comments at random to receive the free speaker case.
The deadline for comments is Sunday, December 5, 2010, at 12 noon CST. Entries without a valid e-mail address will be disqualified, since that’s how we’ll contact the winner. One entry per household, please.
Good luck!
Update: Congratulations to one of our Canadian readers, Sarah Topps, winner of the latest speakers from iMainGo2.
Posted by JohnG in Business Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on November 22nd, 2010
Sounds Good: iMainGo2 Speaker Case
If you believe good things come in small packages, the iMainGo2 speaker case for the iPhone and portable music players proves the point.
Portable Sound Laboratories did a superb job designing a great-sounding and reasonably-priced speaker system that works with Apple’s iPhone, all iPods and Microsoft’s Zune (second generation and later). It’s ideal for taking on the road and playing your favorite tunes in a hotel room, on the beach or at the campsite.
The small speakers are built into a padded case and setup is simple.
For my iPod Touch, I just plugged in the audio cable, strapped it into the case, turned on the built-in amplifier, zipped the case shut and enjoyed the music.
The iMainGo2 is powered by four AAA batteries. Be careful when installing the batteries. If they’re not installed properly, it can cause all kinds of havoc such as distorted sound or even battery overheating or rupture.
A plastic screen on the front of the iMainGo2 allows use of the touch controls for choosing music, skipping tracks and adjusting the volume.
Another nice feature is an alarm switch. If your iPod includes a wake-up alarm, the case switches to a battery-saving mode until the alarm activates with music or video.
Of course, none of this really matters if it doesn’t sound good. And the iMainGo2 does not disappoint.
The small, titanium speakers deliver a rich sound that can easily fill an average room. The bass response is impressive and there’s no tinny sound common in smaller speakers. The iMainGo2 allows for comfortable listening for hours. And you won’t have to make frequent battery changes. A set of batteries will last up to 30 hours.
Side by side with other portable speakers I reviewed earlier, the X-mini Capsule and Max II models, the sound of the iMainGo2 wasn’t quite as bright on high-end frequencies. But the iMainGo’s sound was still clear and not muddy. (My colleague, Tim, also reviewed the iHome IM7 travel speaker.)
Many MP3 players include equalizers that can adjust the bass and treble response to your own preferences.
The retail price of the iMainGo2, $39.95, is a pleasant surprise. I could easily see a portable speaker set that sounds this good costing more. It’s available from Amazon and other retailers.
Besides being ideal for iPhones, iPods and most Zunes, these portable speakers will also work with many other cell phones and could even be connected to a laptop or portable gaming system.
The iMainGo2 does add some bulk to sleek iPhones and iPods. It’s about the size of a paperback book. In a way, the size reminds me of a portable transistor radio I listened to as a kid in the ’60s. I know, I’m dating myself.
But a transistor set listening to AM radio never came close to sounding as good as an MP3 player and the iMainGo2. That’s progress.
Posted by JohnG in Business Gear, General Gear on April 19th, 2010
Cy*Fi iPod Speaker: Wireless That Works
Whenever I hear the words “wireless” and “speaker” together, two bad visions come to mind. One is the set of Advent wireless stereo speakers in my daughter’s playroom: if you even look at them funny, they lose the signal and sound like crap. The other vision is a party I was at a few years ago where the host spent half the night moving around a set of those all-weather wireless speakers like you see in the Skymall catalog because the sound kept cutting out or getting distorted.
Fortunately this cy*fi speaker is a different story: it promises “CD-quality” sound while broadcasting tunes from your iPod and my skepticism was dashed as soon as I fired it up. When I compared the sound on this nifty 4-ounce device to a couple heavier ones that plug in, the cy*fi actually sounded better, even when the transmitter was on the other side of the room or I was moving around the room with my iPod.
Now some would say that for a $200 list price ($180 for the Bluetooth version), it damn well better sound good, but cool technology that does what it’s supposed to comes at a price. They get this down to 4 ounces with a sci-fi-looking plastic housing (get it, “cy fi”?), plus a small built-in rechargeable battery. The speaker battery, which outlasted the music player itself, charges up when plugged into a docking station. The transmitter attaches to your non-Shuffle iPod—or in the case of the Bluetooth version your phone or other device.
Two included attachments are meant to let you take this with you on the move. One is for attaching the device to your bike, the other to the strap of a backpack or other bag. I tried this one bike ride and got a lot of funny/annoyed looks, and I wouldn’t make it a habit, but if you insist on having music while you cycle it is far safer than wearing earbuds. You can still hear the ambulance bearing down on you or the other cyclist shouting “on your left!”
The annoyances with this are minor ones. The device and transmitter keep flashing while in use, which kind of destroys the mood in a dark bedroom if you know what I mean. The buttons allow you to change the volume and track on the speaker, but they’re kind of hard to push and they disable the volume control on your player. The proprietary charging dock is a hurdle for travelers who want to pack light. As with most electronics manufacturers shipping container loads from China, the device comes in an unrecyclable plastic blister pack that requires care to keep from slicing a finger.
All in all though, this would make for a great travel speaker. I loved being able to place it anywhere in a room, accessing all my playlists and getting great sound. Plus it’s weather resistant enough that you don’t have to worry about moisture. It is light and compact enough to squeeze into any bag, though hopefully in version #2 they’ll streamline the bulky charging dock.
The cy*fi wireless speaker comes in three color combinations. It’s not widely available at retail yet, so get it direct at the mycyfi.com site.
Posted by Tim L. in General Gear, Travel Light on May 27th, 2009
