Customer Reviews

JLab USB Laptop Speakers - Portable, Compact, Travel Notebook Speaker for PC and Mac - B-Flex Hi-Fi Stereo USB Laptop Speaker - Cotton Candy Pink

5 star:		(140)
4 star:		(59)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

Great sound from a little package. This is the tiniest unit and you would never guess but it has a huge sound for it's size. I have an Acer laptop which I love. It's performance is practically flawless --- Except the speakers, which are the worst. You can barely hear music from them. So I purchased these speakers for a boost in sound and they work great. I think they're priced a little high, but they do have a tremendous sound for the size. Very portable and easy to take along.I would recommend them for the traveler. There a great addition for a laptop with low sound performance and very portable.

After reading several dozen consumer reviews describing laptop speakers I puchased this one. You simply plug it into your laptop, or USB hub, swivel the gooseneck to position the speaker where you want, and you've got an excellent speaker that fits in a small laptop utility bag.

The only complaint I have is that there is no quick volume control; once you've plugged it into your USB port, it overrides the laptop's volume control "knob". You have to open the volume icon in your Control Panel every time you want to adjust the speaker volume, which can be too slow when you're being blasted by a loud video.

This is not to say that there is anything wrong with the volume modulation in the speaker itself, just that there seems to be a wide volume range across items I view--YouTube, email messages with videos from friends, etc.

If this speaker had a volume control knob it would be perfect!

After several weeks of light, mid-volume use, the speaker stopped working on my Dell Latitude D500 and I began receiving error messages noting a "device malfunction". After trading emails with J-Lab customer service, I was instructed to return the speaker by mail (at my expense) for a refund. The refund I received was 80% of the original purchase price because, according to J-Lab, the device was still "working" upon receipt. The representative handling the return acknowledged that there has, in fact, been a history of compatibility issues with Dell laptops-- in other words, a "working" speaker may not always operate correctly when connected to a Dell laptop. Is trying this speaker on your Dell worth the risk of paying two sets of shipping charges, losing 20% of the purchase price, and spending time emailing representatives and repacking/mailing the device? If not, maybe it's worth considering alternatives.

I really thought the reviews for this item were probably a little over-blown, but the speakers have proven me wrong. As someone who primarily uses their laptop on the go, I have been looking for a set of small, easily transportable, decent sounding speakers. These fit into all three categories. I am pleasantly surprised by the fullness of the sound that they put out. If you're strictly an audiophile, you'd be better off investing in a good set of Bose headphones, but if you need something to quickly and efficeintly plug and play so other people can hear what is on your laptop, then you won't find a better buy for your money.

Let's face it, laptop speakers are terrible. We can all agree on that! But is this small USB laptop speaker system really the solution? Yes and no. On the plus side, the USB plug is easy to use - just plug and play! It works on both Mac and PCs. (I have a Mac.) The flexible gooseneck allows for quick directional adjustment and it's sturdy enough to easily support the speaker unit.

Also on the plus side, the speakers generate a hefty sound level. At the max volume setting on my computer, these little speakers were loud enough to be heard several feet away. If you want to use your laptop to play something for someone else, this is the way to go.

However, on the minus side... the sound quality is harsh and tinny, and there is very little bottom end. There are USB speakers available for the same price that have reasonably smooth high end and decent bottom end response (at least they give you an idea of what's happening in the bass), however they lack the convenience of this product. My overall assesment: this product is a good idea that hasn't been realized well. The gooseneck is sturdy enough to support a larger speaker unit that would allow for reasonable sound reproduction. The product feels and sounds more like a toy than an actual speaker. I doubt that I'll be using it for much.

I travel a lot, sometimes for 3+ weeks a time, and ALWAYS carry on my luggage. As a result, I am continually trying to find ways to minimize bulk and weight, particularly of the electronics. With a laptop, phone, camera, IPOD, and their chargers, there is little room left for speakers. And the speakers on my near UMPC sized laptop are not good.

The B-Flex is a wonderful answer to this problem. Speakers are a great way to amplify laptop sound in the confines of a hotel room, and they take up approximately the same amount of suitcase space a a computer mouse. AMAZINGLY good quality--especially considering the size and price. I have tried many options and these are BY FAR the best of the small speakers.

This product performed well out of the box. It's best to plug into your laptop before you turn it on. This will enable you to utilize your volume controls for your laptop. I tried plugging it in after my laptop was already turned on and this prevented me from using my volume controls. Rebooted...no problem. You get great sound from a small package.

We bought this speaker for our Gateway M505 Media Laptop on a recent trip. The M505 has reasonable speakers for a laptop, but their volume level isn't quite strong enough for us to be happy--we'd always find ourselves straining to hear dialogue from movies.

From reading the reviews I honestly thought this would solve our problem in a nifty self-contained USB-powered fashion.

For us it didn't.

We found the speakers to be nearly identical to the M505 speakers, and while the B-Flex did give us the tiniest improvement in volume, it wasn't enough to really give us adequate volume, or the "big sound" many reviewers have mentioned. Also, there is no way a speaker the size of these can give the kind of frequency response any level of audiophile would be happy with.

So, who should try out this speaker? If you have standard tinny sounding laptop speakers (the almost nonexistent kind), these will be a big improvement. Also you will like the fact that it is USB powered so no batteries, no cords are needed.

However, having said that, I really think the bottom line is, to get truly better sound, you need to use a powered speaker. I think some of the JBL's may be the way to go.

For cost of these guys, unless you catch them on sale, my advice is to keep looking. We had to return ours. (Thanks to Amazon a really fair & generous return policy).

The built-in speakers on laptops stink.
This speaker is the first light, portable speaker to give your audio a bigger blast. Plus, the real beauty is it's powered by your computer's USB port. AMAZING - NO WIRES GOING TO A POWER OUTLET. I work in the media business, so i'm constantly screening stuff off my laptop. I bought one, but my clients kept borrowing it - so we decided to give them away this year as a holiday present. One of the best gifts ever! Love this thing.

I own a 2007 MacBook and ever since I bought it I have been bemoaning the fact that the speakers can't project worth crap. I did buy a pair of standard small speakers for computer or stereo use----the kind you have to also plug into a wall to get power----but was frustrated by how un-portable they were. One day I was browsing around on Amazon and I found these speakers and thought they would be the perfect solution to all my lame-speaker-problems. However, being the poor starving college student that I was, I didn't buy them. This Christmas (after two years of living with my computer's original speakers), I received them as a gift and I cannot believe I lived for so long before without them. They are exactly what I imagined them to be! I should have bought them for myself when I first found them and sacrificed that really cute jacket I wanted to buy instead ;).

The sound quality is very impressive for such small speakers. The fact they plug directly into the USB port is definitely the #1 point in their favor. Obviously, if you are wanting to blast music loud enough for a party, you should probably use larger speakers but for personal laptop use it doesn't get much better than this. Everyone I have shown them to has also been amazed by how well they work. If you have lame speakers and you want to improve the quality of your sound-life, I say don't hesitate and get these now!