Home > Consumer Reviews > iHome Rechargeable Mini Speaker

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.

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!

It's so cute, you almost want to give it a name (I call mine "Otis"). For such a small speaker, it's got a whole lotta power! It's slightly lacking in bass undertones, but that's just a minor consideration. Please note that it does not expand to the fullness of it's package photo. (I emailed the company to ask about this and never got a response, but my neighbor has one and it too doesn't fully expand. Though I doubt this makes any difference in the output.) I use it for my netbook and my MP3 player. It's so easily to disconnect from one device and plug into another. I have another MP3 mini-speaker system that is larger and has two speakers, but comes nowhere near the volume and fullness of sound as the iHome Mini. Plus that one requires batteries, has to be unfolded, the headphone/speaker jack'a cord unwound, and placed in a particular position so it doesn't fall over. That the iHome re-charges while playing is a big plus, but on my netbook, I get some sort of interference... I plan to experiment with putting the USB plug in a different slot that isn't next to the headphone/speaker jack to see if that makes a difference. For the price, I think you'll be satisfied. (Just don't name yours "Otis" as it might get confusing.) ;-)