Another set of portable speakers, another "i"

Dec 17, 2008 13:11 GMT  ·  By

A new portable speaker system has seen the light of day and most likely some more will until you will have finished reading this article. Nothing fancy about the “iSpeaker Portable Speaker System,” save for its straightforward convenience and the somewhat nice design. The iSpeaker comes with no folding design, no bellows, and it mostly does not sport anything to make someone go “wow!” at the first sight of it and fork out the green.

Now, don't get the wrong idea that someone might try to downplay the iSpeaker. It's just that it seems to have nothing to make it stand out from the gazillions of other portable speakers out there. And, of course, the already worn “i” in its name doesn't help things get any better either.

Things are as simple as they get, when it comes down to these speakers: a small grey ABS case (10.5 x 4.8 cm) containing two drivers, a rechargeable Li-Ion battery, and some ports. What may make one raise an eyebrow at this product is not the altogether hefty (for such a small device) 2 x 2W RMS power, but the frequency range the online retailers claim it boasts.

Namely, the retailer specifies a 50 Hz bottom end, which means no-nonsense bass. Usually, for a driver this small (36 mm) to be able to deliver such an LF response, it should be a high-class unit selling for more than some poor pennies. Yet, until further proof, you could play along and say that the iSpeaker will deliver 4 W of sound power, ranging from 50 Hz to 20 kHz, in 4 Ohms impedance and with a 90 dB sensitivity.

The iSpeaker comes with an LED power indicator, a mini USB charging port, an on/off switch (is this a feature, actually?), and the classic 3.5mm stereo input jack that will let you hook almost any electronic music source to the speakers. The price of $20.99 is quite OK, too bad that we don't know what “long time playing” stands for.

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The iSpeaker, another portable speaker
The LED power indicator is a useful feature
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