X-mini 2nd Generation

The sound system on notebooks is generally not up to the expectation of the consumers. Sometimes it makes you wonder why the manufacturers even bother putting them there. I have been putting up with my notebook speakers for a while until yesterday when I saw this article in the Straits Times on an entrepreneur in Singapore.

Listed as the one of the fifty faces to watch in 2010, Ryan Lee, the CEO and founder of XM-I, which is the company behind the miniature speaker series X-mini. After reading the news, I thought of ending my misery of listening to the mediocore sound quality on my notebook and I headed off to get myself one of those X-mini capsule speakers. I went looking around, researched on-line and compared with the likes of Altec Lansing, Creative and Philips but I finally decided on the X-mini 2nd Generation.

The X-mini is value for money and does not break your piggy bank. On the cover of the box, one will not miss the warning sign in red - "Warning Unbelieveably Loud". Although I doubt that one can become deaf from listening to the speakers, it is still a catchy sell phrase nevertheless.

The package comes with the X-mini capsule speaker, pouch and a cable that has both a USB adapter and also the 3.5 mm stereo plug which connects to the X-mini via a mini USB adapter. The X-mini capsule by itself looks unique and it is no wonder that this product is a reddot design award winner 2008. If you have buddies with X-minis, you can even link them in series via the "buddy jack" that can be found at the bottom of the X-mini. Now imagine have tens of these speakers lined up in various colours!

I tested the X-mini and found it to be reasonably loud and with sound quality which satisfies my normal application, i.e. listening to music. I think this is a fair deal for the amount I paid and I do not think this speaker will ever replace the high end music reproduction quality from high end speakers with the likes of JBL, etc. but rather, it provides you with the convenience in the ease of use and it serves its own market niche of portable speakers well.

Overall, I feel that the X-mini, with its eye-catching design, does serve the purpose of being a portable speaker of a decent sound quality.

Get yours today. X-Mini II Capsule Speaker.