Review: XMI X-Mini II portable speakers

The perfect travel speakers should be as small and bulk free as possible, but should also not compromise on the sound quality. All too often they fall down on one of these elements: to get beyond a tinny, bass-less sound you usually need something bigger than can comfortably be stored in a bag.

The X-Mini II address these issues in an innovative way. For portability they are round – about the size of a snooker ball – and with no sticking out parts and pretty solid build quality can happily fall to the bottom of a bag, taking up minimal space. For sound quality it comes with the Bass Expansion System. A quick swivel of the top party of the speaker and it opens up concertina style; the extra 15mm of height delivering improved bass performance.

It works, too. When closed the speakers are tinny and unimpressive, acceptable for short video clips on a smartphone or laptop but not for listening to music or watching a full length film. When open there is a noticeable effect on the bass, giving a deeper and richer sound.

And there is a second trick as well, because the X-Mini II speakers can be daisy-chained to further enhance their output. You can in theory at as many sets together as you wish; we tested a couple together and it did indeed double up the sound in both volume and quality.

The X-Mini II speakers feature an internal battery that recharges via a miniUSB connection, and a handy cable is provided that will connect one of the models to an audio device (or another speaker) and a USB port at the same time.

You don’t need to carry the cable with you everywhere, though, as each device also has its own short retractable lead with 3.5mm plug on the end. The battery takes around four hours to charge completely and promises around 11 hours of continuous use. Our tests confirmed that was about right.

The X-Mini II is a great idea for a set of travel speakers, and if friends also have one you can get a significant performance boost for no extra cost. The audio quality is impressive for their purpose – never crystal clear and not overly loud with just one unit in use – but given the compact size, low price and convenience factors are definitely worth looking into.

Web: www.xm-i.com
Price: £20 each

Verdict: 7/10

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