So, against my common sense, I decided to add the Logitech Mini Boombox to already long list of things-that-I-will-only-use-once-a-year. It’s a mini speaker that can be connected to your phones, tablets, or laptops, via either 3.5mm stereo jack, or bluetooth. It’s a stereo speaker, but since the left and right channel are packed so close together, I barely hear the separation between the channels. Aside from the on/off switch, the control buttons all are touch sensitive button, placed right on top of the speaker.
Honestly, for a mini portable speaker, there are probably a lot of better deals out there. What’s special about the Mini Boombox, is that when it’s connected via bluetooth, it will also act as a speakerphone. You need to shell more than USD100 for similar function on competing brand. And it’s quite good at that
Aside from a minor hiccup in pairing (which actually affect all headset-type gadget), the Mini boombox is fully Ubuntu compatible. Meaning you need switch between modes manually on the sound applet, depending on which application that you’re going to use it with. Pairing it with my GNex and iPod Touch 4G is a breeze.
Pros:
- small, lightweight, and quite sturdy. I can see myself carrying one in my backpack
- it gets pretty loud
- Acceptable speakerphone performance. You can actually place it somewhere around your desk, and the microphone will still be able to receive your voice
- Supports pseudo multi-pairing. I can pair the headset profile to the GNex, and A2DP to the iPod Touch
Cons:
- Since the left and right channel are so close together, the quality is almost mono-ish.
- Cranking out the volume to more than 60% resulted in unacceptable sound quality
- The touch button is a hit or miss. Sometime it works right away, sometime you need to give it a couple of tries
- Uses mini-usb for charging. My phone, portable wifi modems, bluetooth headsets and a slew of other stuff that I own are already using micro-usb. This means additional cable to carry with.
- Speakerphone functionality is only available in bluetooth mode