Home > Consumer Reviews > INSTEN Folding Stereo Speaker - Black

OK, so you want to play your two hundred dollar iPod to someone on the move. These little speakers will surprise you, as you take them out of your pack, unfold the unique design, plug in your iPod (or whatever sound device, it has a standard mini-plug), and bang! you have a sound system. So, it doesn't rival the quality of my 34 speaker six amp system at home. But it is surprising how well these little guys do sound. A steal at six bucks. Everyone I've used them on has been very impressed. A plus is that they are amplified speakers, so you don't get the "barely there" sound of passive speakers out of an iPod. They run off a standard USB port for power, I use my iPod power adapter, which was a mistake, as I have to decide which batteries to run down if I use it for music at night (I sleep better with music playing). I would suggest going ahead and getting the inexpensive power adapter, that way you could keep the iPod charged even as you listened to powered speakers.

Most of the time, I use them at a friend's house, and depend on the four AAA batteries that will run this puppy for some time, even at louder volume levels.

True audiophiles may put these down, but for the average person who's best sound system is in thier car, they work great. I would give it five stars, except for the lack of bundling both the USB cord and power supply, and because it really will let you down for the low frequencies. It is not a true audiophile speaker system. It is, for the price, one of the best deals on external iPod speakers. (again, it will work with any device with a standard mini-jack, I only use iPod as a term for generic MP3/CD/DVD/Laptop etc.)

These probably are better speakers than are found in most laptop computers, so they are a good choice for that use as well. The cord is a bit short, even for an iPod, it just barely stretches out enough to get to the top of the iPod. This is because of the ingenious storage system: the cable wraps around the battery/amplifier case and locks in place with a small tab on the jack.

I've seen the same speakers in systems that cost five times what this one does, which was $5.88 plus tax and shipping, so it came to around ten bucks in the end.

What it isn't: A high end audio system.

What it is: An impressive device that is a great design for portable audio. Sounds bigger than it is, you probably won't have to turn it all the way up. Rugged enough to be tossed about in a backpack. (I do sometimes wish it weren't as chunky folded up, but this design easily protects the speakers. Too big to carry in a pocket, you'll need some kind of bag to carry these everywhere, like I do. You'll hear more on the standard iPod earbuds, but at least you can share your music, and most people I play it for couldn't tell a high end audio system from a tin can, so for the money, it's really all you need.

I also like this product because it's black instead of that nasty Apple White. My iPod and protective cover are also black, so it matched my system unlike the more accessible white unit (sold under a different name).

Bottom line: Great little speakers at a bargain basement price.

You won't believe how much power this little plastic fold-up speaker has! I just purchased a second one for my office. My ipod has to sit in the holder upside down (because the cable has to connects at the top, not the bottom) but I love this little speaker. You can fold it up and drop it in your bag an take it anywhere.

I wasn't expecting much, to be honest, but when I plugged this into my usb on my work computer and listened, the sound was very good. Admittedly I cannot crank it really loud at my desk, but for office use, I can hear it clearly and someone else over the cubicle wall does not hear it at all.
It folds up nicely and precisely, compact enough to fit in my lunchbox.

Now, the downside is that it doesn't come with an ac adapter, even though it needs one if you don't have a usb port handy. The BIGGEST annoyance though is that even though it says ipod nano, and its the right color, there's no way it was designed for it. In order to plug in your nano it has to sit upside down in a slot 4 times bigger than it needs to be...so in other words, your nano is very loose. For sitting on my work desk, its no biggie, but if you were thinking it was going to look like the cool ad for it, it won't.

These speakers are GREAT. I use them with my Zune. They are convenient and sound quality is awesome. They were shipped to me in record time. Hats off to INSTEN. Steven Rodrigues

I've been searching for a portable sound system for my IPOD (video) since Christmas. I've been leaning towards the JBL on stage II but I haven't purchased just yet due to the price ($130 last I looked). In the meantime I wanted something to listen to my music other than the headphones and therefore I gave this INSTEN a shot after reading the reviews. I am very pleased with them. So pleased the JBL's are on hold longer than I thought! They are very small, about 7.5" wide (fully opened) x 2.5" tall but the sound is actually very clean. I like to give a set of speakers a good test and over the years I have used music from Van Halen's 1984 cd. Not only because I am a huge fan of VH, but I have found that the songs off 1984 give a set of speakers a good workout. It has a ton of twangy highs mixed with some really good bass along with some keyboards and guitars. 2 songs in particular are "Hot for Teacher" & "House of pain". While I was not expecting as much out of these speakers as a pair of home theater speakers, they still sound very good! After playing the songs with the ipod volume at max and the speakers at full volume, the vocals sound great, bass sounds decent however it tends to loose a lot of the cymbal or high hat. But hey, what do you you want for $13! Bottom line is they sound very good and clear at low or high volumes. Being the audio enthusiast I am, I still can't believe the sound from these tiny speakers. They fold up nice and can fit literally in my cargo pants pocket. It runs nicely on my USB ports of my computers with easy hookup in just seconds. Plug in the USB cable, plug in the other cord into the headphone jack, turn em' on and turn it up. It's that easy. They also run on 4 AAA batteries which is nice as well. This set is perfect for those of you that work in an office, travel a lot or go camping. While they're not a JBL or POLK product, at $13 with S&H in my opinion they are very acceptable and sound very good and make a great purchase or gift!