Okay Geek Farm
t3ch Review - iHome X-mini Capsule speakers (iHM77BC)
Ricardo Trejo
Product: iHome X-mini Capsule Speakers (iHM77BC)
What it says it does: Separate and extend for surprising portable stereo sound.
My Experience: I, like many people, have had the experience shared above; I usually resort to cupping my hand over the speaker of my iPhone just so everyone can hear what I’m trying to show them. No more, says iHome. The X-Mini capsule speakers, otherwise now known as the iHM77BC’s, are two separate speakers that can be joined together to form a capsule like shape… thing, hence the name. The design is super cool, as the speakers are coated with a matte finish and are magnetic on the bottom to help couple them when they’re not in use. When separated either one of the two speakers can be connected to any device that has a 3.5mm jack, so iPhones (all models), iPods, MP3 players, laptops, etc. The speakers come packaged with a carrying case and an intimidating wire that has all kinds of jacks and USB cables attached to it; it’s pretty wild.
So how did end up working? Quite well really. I tried the speakers on a first generation iPhone, an iPhone 3GS, and a netbook, but before I did any of those I had to charge up the rechargeable batteries on the device. I charged them via the USB connection for a good 4 hours before trying them out for real. There’s a small LED light on the side that turns red when it’s charging, and it goes blue when they’re in normal operation use. Once I hooked them up to the iPhones they performed beautifully. Both speakers can be unscrewed (uncollapsed - choose which word you like best) to provide a richer, louder sound - or they can be closed shut to give a more condensed and controlled audio experience. Volume is controlled through the playing audio device but when set to a decent sound level these puppies can really surprise you. And when hooked up to my netbook I got the same results - smooth and loud sound that anyone I was sharing with could hear.
I really like the speakers but I do have to say I have one major gripe: the wires. Alright, so the capsule speakers are not marketed as being wireless, so I can’t blame them for that, but it still looks so much like a mess when you’re utilizing both speakers on let’s say an iPhone that I just couldn’t stand it. But then again, I’m a minimalist, so I can’t take stuff that doesn’t belong. So to help better explain this, the wire that the speakers come with has a USB connection on one side, two mini USB connections, and a 3.5mm audio jack. This would be no problem if the wire made sense, but it’s such a convoluted disaster that I couldn’t believe they hadn’t come up with a better solution for this.
Other than the one issue I had with the strange wire it’s a great audio solution for that moment comes when you want to play some music for a group at a small social event, or maybe even just to pass the time when you’re by your lonesome and there’s no one around. One thing to note that I failed to mention earlier is that both speakers don’t need to be plugged in at the same time. If you only want to use one speaker then you only have to connect one, and you got yourself some nice portable, sufficient audio.
Pro’s: small and portable, design is awesome, nice volume range
Con’s: too many wires
Price: $42.09 - 49.99
Where to buy it: ThinkGeek, Amazon
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