Posts Tagged portable speaker
WOWee One Speaker: Big Sound for the Road
Two things I don’t leave home without are my MP3 player and a good set of earbuds. But take out the earbuds and portable audio often leaves a lot to be desired.
The WOWee One portable speaker changes the game, though, by turning a desk or just about any other flat surface into a thumping subwoofer. And the small size makes it ideal for travelers.
The WOWee One connects to a music player with a standard audio cable. It includes a regular speaker that will easily outperform anything built in to an MP3 player or cell phone.
But the pocket-sized WOWee One also has a bass speaker that vibrates and sends lower frequencies through a Gel Audio pad, turning whatever it sits on into a subwoofer of sorts. The sound is impressive.
Half the fun is moving it to different objects to hear which ones sound better. The speaker works best on solid and flat surfaces with hollow spaces under them, such as desks or tables. Or try it on a wall, cooler or cardboard box.
Surprisingly, one of the best-sounding surfaces I found was a cookie tin I had sitting in the office. The tin is about half full of chocolate chip cookies—maybe just the right mix of cookies improves the sound! A cardboard box also worked well.
This speaker could also be connected to a cell phone for conference calls or to a laptop for business presentations.
The WOWee One is simple to operate. It includes an audio cable and a USB cable for recharging the battery that powers the bass speaker. A full charge lasts up to 20 hours and the speaker can play and charge at the same time. It weighs a mere seven ounces and measures 4.7″ x 2.4″ x 1″.
Just a couple of other notes—the WOWee One does not provide stereo separation like common computer or bookshelf speakers that can be placed apart from each other. But it still sounds great with the wide frequency response and thumping bass. The gel pad at the bottom does pick up dust and dirt, but that wipes off easily.
The WOWee One retails for $79.99 and is available from Amazon. The price is reasonable compared to other portable speakers on the market.
After listening for awhile, it’s not hard to see how the WOWee speaker got its name. And the WOWee One’s small size and light weight make it ideal for travelers who take their favorite tunes on the road.
Posted by JohnG in Business Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on July 26th, 2010
Holiday Tunes to Go: Sony Ericsson MS410 Portable Speaker a Sound Investment
If someone on your gift list carries a Sony Ericsson Walkman or other compatible cell phone, better sound is a snap with the MS410 snap-on speaker stand.
The small stereo speaker—just a little over four inches wide—works with more than 50 phones in the Sony Ericsson line. And for something so small, the sound is surprisingly good.
Music never sounds good on a cell phone’s built-in speaker. Phone speakers always sound tinny, with no discernable bass.
The MS410 speaker made Gwen Stefani sound much better on the W518a Walkman phone I tested it with. Realistically, you’ll never get concert-hall quality out of a four-inch speaker set. Nor will it match the sound of a good set of earbuds such as the Shure SE530PTH or the V-MODA Vibe II earbud-microphone combo we reviewed earlier.
But the MS410 does give decent stereo separation and greatly-improved frequency response compared to the phone’s built-in speaker. Set in on a table and there’s plenty of volume to be heard throughout a room.
The speaker stand plugs in to the charging port on the phone and doesn’t require any batteries of its own. As another benefit, it will hold the phone upright for watching videos.
The MS410 also includes a built-in FM antenna for phones equipped with radios. The antenna sensitivity leaves a bit to be desired. I was able to pick up local stations fine. But any station more than a few miles away couldn’t be heard. Reception will vary, depending on where the phone is used.
The list price is $39.99.
If you’re looking for a gift that’s simple to use, easy to carry on the road and not too hard on the budget, check out the Sony Ericsson MS410 portable speaker. You’ll hear the difference.
Get the Sony Ericsson MS410 Multimedia Speaker System at Buy.com
Related reviews: X-mini speaker and iHome mini speaker
Posted by JohnG in Business Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on December 13th, 2009
