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Back about 2005-2010 when mini Bluetooth speakers used to be the new toy everyone wanted (and you paid the price to be an early adopter) I was really into the fad and couldn’t stop looking for the perfect one. As a result I ended up with more of them than most dealers, speakers of every possible shape and gimmick. Some of them were knock your socks off impressive, including some so small I could stuff them in my carry on when I traveled so I could have music in my hotel rooms.
These days there are a handful left from the major brands. One of them I was curious about was this series from Cambridge SoundWorks, a company I’ve known and respected since I worked directly with their founder Henry Kloss back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Unlike the early days of Bluetooth mini speakers this little speaker was only nineteen bucks, probably the lowest I’ve ever paid for any speaker. I had mixed expectations. But I chose it both for its size and its shape, I was looking for a small personal speaker to put on the base of my desktop monitor to be able to listen to content at low volume without using my high-end Boston Acoustics system.
The small size is truly impressive as is the surprisingly nice look and feel of the speaker. It is heavier than similar no name speakers and you almost have to wonder how they can sell it for such a low price. It comes with a micro USB charging cable and also a mini audio cable. The power switch is easily reached near the top of the back of the speaker where the audio input and charging port are also located behind a rubber flap. The rest of the controls are on the right side of the wedge.
The speaker will pair easily with newer Bluetooth devices but it seems it is not 100% compatible with all of the many standards. For example it would not pair with my desktop computer without downloading an updated Bluetooth driver.
The most important thing you probably want to know is how does it sound. I’m sorry to say that with almost 20,000 review written already, many of them high energy endorsements, I’m not as impressed. I have definitely heard better from similar sized, and even smaller, speakers. It’s not bad, but it’s not knock your socks off impressive. And it’s definitely not a speaker that you would choose if there were more than one or two listeners or for use outdoors.
There are a couple of things to be aware of that I liked – one is that if you use the audio cable the speaker won’t shut off automatically after a few minutes like many other brands do, but it will shut off after 15 minutes of non-playing when used in the Bluetooth mode. Interestingly, if you pair it with an Echo device the power stays on all the time in battery mode so you would probably want to keep it plugged in to a power source if that’s your plan.
I also like that you only hear the pairing sound once the first time unlike many other brands that make a loud sound whenever they are powered on or when pairing is successful. For me that is a deal breaker.
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