Customer Reviews

iHome iHM7 Rechargeable Mini Speaker for iPod (Black)

5 star:		(85)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I had to give this product 5 stars mainly due to the size and sound quality. It is very small, much smaller than expected or how it appears on the website. The rubberized matt finish seems durable and feels good to the touch! Very well built little unit. As far as sound goes, it really packs a punch for a unit this small. I have other good quality mini speakers that are louder, but also much larger and 4 times the price. This unit only charges with a USB port, no AC adapter included(and no input for one either.) However the charge from the USB seems to last a good amount of time. We have listened to it for about 4 hours straight, at near full volume, then again the next day for about the same amount of time and it still seems to have a good charge. Great for vacations, especially if you have a portable USB charger or laptop... or can use the USB charging stations at some malls and airports. Length of charge still undetermined as this unit is still fairly new to me and I gave it to my fiancee. Distortion at the highest volume is there, however when you step back a few feet it is much less noticable and sounds more clear... or you can just turn it down slighty. Fairly clear sound and a nice little bass effect to boot(especially for the size.) I have very expensive taste in audio systems and this in no way will ever compete with a system or even a decent boom box. But for portability and travel, this tiny unit is excellent.

I love this little thing!! My daughter and I use laptop computers which for some reason have lousy gain on movies in particular. I've tried a variety of plug-in speakers for the laptop but they have various problems. They're too large, they have to be plugged into the wall, they're designed to sit on a desk, it's always something.

These little suckers are awesome! I bought them elsewhere and spent more but still think they're worth the money. Info:
* they have more volume than you'd expect for something so small
* they have better quality sound than you'd expect
* There's an included small cord (with a little velcro wrapper to keep it wound up neatly) that plugs into the unit (on your laptop or iPod, or anything else!) headset jack.
* It's a Y cord and another branch is USB, which you can plug into a USB port to charge the unit, so you don't need an electrical plug or to 'wait' while it charges before using it. (The 'home' side of that cord is 'mini'-USB like most small electronics.)
* You can use the speaker closed or open.
* There is a hang-cord loop (like wearable electronics have so you can wear an iPod around your neck or hang it on a hook for example) on it.
* It comes with a small drawstring bag the unit and cord fit fine in.
* There is a tiny cord that is part of it, very short, and it fits into the bottom so it's neatly out of the way. You can plug this cord into a second little X-Mini and have TWO speakers at once in series. So we EACH have this for our laptop and then if we're watching a movie together, we take one to the other PC and plug it into that speaker and have twice the volume, VERY cool.

Seriously it is about darn time that speaker tech was packaged well enough to allow decent non-headphone sound in a small, light, convenient package that didn't require any drivers, any power plug, etc.

I was trying to think of some 'cons' for the 'other side' of this review. I'm having a hard time. Wait, I'm thinking...
* It's not waterproof.
* It's not wireless.
* It will not Phone Home to other planets.
Can't think of much else.

I love this product for giving presentations to a small group with a laptop. If the facility doesn't have a built-in sound system, I just hook up one or two of these for a reasonable boost.

I use them at home with my laptop, too. That way I can listen to videos over the noise of washing dishes or chopping vegetables.

This speaker is loud enough, and very portable!
Two things that they should improve in this speaker:
1. Bass- The bass is a little weak.
2. The cable should go on the bottom of the speaker (like X-mini II).

I have both, X-mini II and ihome.
X-mini II has a very impressive bass, and the cable is built-in.
If you don't give attention to bass go with ihome, otherwise spend some more to buy X-mini II, it will worth the money.

Length:: 0:26 Mins

this is a great little speaker! very portable, great sound, and great price. It's exactly what I was looking for.

I bought this item to compare it with X mini II capsule speaker X-Mini II Capsule Speakerand ended very disappointed, the treble and bass relation is not good and makes it sound like a cheap radio. It's louder than X mini II but the quality just doesn't fit my ears.

I've been searching for a small yet powerful speaker to go on my long weekend bike rides. I was not satisfied with bike speakers on the market. But I fell in love with the iHome iHM7B.

Likes:
- I hate batteries, this speaker can be recharged with USB port
- Don't let the size fool you, sounds strong and stable
- Size: it's compact, the size of a fist

How I use it on a bike:
I just pop it in my bike "bento box" with my iPod shuffle attached and voila.

For around $20 bucks, you can't go wrong.

Enjoy!

Let me preface this review by saying that I'm no audiophile and this little speaker isn't meant for those who are.

I bought the speaker in purple because it was priced the lowest of the options available and got it for well under 20 dollars, so be sure to check all the options when shopping. There was a 3 dollar or so difference between the colors when I was looking at them.

It was easy to use straight out of the package, hooking it up without the instructions was simple. The sound is pretty good for such a small speaker and extending it by twisting it does improve the bass response.

I'm using it both on my laptop with iTunes and for watching TV shows and for playing music on my Kindle. The sound is much better from my laptop, I presume because I have a pretty good sound card on my mobile workstation.

It eliminates the tinny sound from the speakers on both devices. If I were looking for true stereo, I would have purchased the version with two speakers, but for one alone, it's not bad at all. I haven't had to turn it anywhere near all the way up, and to watch TV on my laptop with its speakers, I used to have to do so. I have no idea how loud it gets, but on only 3 bars of sound from my laptop, I could hear it in another room (I have a roommate so I keep it fairly quiet).

The battery life seems to be quite good. I have used it as long as 3 hours without having to recharge it and I assume it would last even longer than that. I just plug it into a USB port to charge it for 30 minutes or so and so far I have only charged it a couple of times.

I did have one slight problem, the sound sometimes distorted during the first days when I attempted to have it charge while I listened to it, but since I stopped doing that it's been working just fine.

I can close my fist around the speaker when it's not extended and I have a small hand, so it's SMALL. The enclosed drawstring bag allows me to put the cords and the speaker in it and toss it into my purse, making it easy to carry around.

The depth of sound can't compare to my Bose earbuds, but it was 1/5th of the price, so in that sense I'm not comparing apples and apples.

I would buy it again.

This item does everything it claims in the description. Just be careful that the device you are hooking it up to has its own volume control. Unfortunately, I wanted to use this in the car, but the monitor can not adjust its the volume output level (this was always done on the headphones I have), so this speaker only works at what sounds like full volume in the car. The majority of people get this for an iPod or laptop, and I recommend it for that, but if you use it for another device like me just make sure to check if that device can adjust the volume for the speaker.

I saw this item while after-Christmas shopping, and it was on sale for $10. I got a few, and I could not be happier. The sound is easily 5-7 times louder than my HP laptop speakers, and far better quality. Also, the unit is tiny, so it easily fits in pocket/purse/laptop case, etc.

-Rechargeable battery means no ac power is necessary, and no spare batteries
-Expanding design makes it portable and boosts sound quality
-Rugged, durable construction
-Extremely good value
-Includes small carry bag
-Can be attached to a lanyard (not included)
-Comes in several colors

Conversely, the are a few issues:

-The speaker emits a faint static buzz while charging. You won't notice if you are listening to music, but with movies/anything with breaks in sound, you can hear it.
-The speaker emits a loud static buzz when fully charged. Not a big deal, simply unplug the charge USB, and the sound goes away. For these reasons i recommend charging the unit prior to, not during, use.
-There is no AC charger, only a USB. The receives input from a mini-USB port, so I tried charging mine with a Verizon cell phone charge cable, which seems to work fine.
-Distortion in sound at high volumes.
-Slightly limited bass response.

All in all, buy this speaker. You won't miss the $20 that you spend, and the unit is excellent for the price. The few issues I experienced were all easily remedied, and my friends all thought I had spent several times as much money. Very worth it.