Home > Consumer Reviews > Philips SBP1100/00 Portable Speaker System

Frankly you'd expect better from a quality brand like Philips. The box claims 'powerful speaker drivers for rich, clear sound', but even on top volume my MP3 player and laptop sound was rendered ridiculously quiet. A pretty useless product which, at a stretch, might improve the sound quality from an older computer, but as a MP3 player's speakers is just good news for the neighbours who will only be disturbed if you're upset enough to throw them against the wall.

The box for these claims "Powerful speaker drivers for rich, clear sound" - er, NOT TRUE. I plugged them into my laptop and, even on top volume, the sound was drowned out by a TV two rooms away. They are basically very cute to look at, but totally rubbish in terms of sound - I'll be returning them to where they came from as unfit for purpose.

These speakers from Philips are ideally quite good - they're small enough to stow away in a bag, there's no need for extra cables and they look pretty cool too. The only problem is with the volume. There's no individual volume button on them, though I spent ages lookng because they are so quiet. Even at full volume on my iPod (which would be deafening on any other speakers), it gave the same amount of sound as headphones would. Another problem seems to be that the central domes on the speakers dent easily, which could damage them later. Great idea, just needs tweaking!

This Portable Speaker System belongs to the Philips brand, a brand I've grown to trust over the years. They look rather neat, and are advertised as being "powerful and compact," so imagine my surprise (and disappointment) when I purchased them only to discover how poor they really are.

Firstly, I tried them with my MP3 player, and when I got such poor (and quiet) sound quality, I thought the problem must be with my MP3 player itself and not the speakers. After all, my player is a few years old and isn't exactly the best money can buy. So remaining hopeful, I decided to hook them up to my laptop (which was actually the main reason for buying them.) What did I discover? The sound quality was still poor (and quiet). Even at their highest volume setting, the speakers are extremely quiet. So much so, that an average person speaking in the room is enough to completely drown out their sound. Not only that, but you can hear crackling, and static through them, something I really didn't expect from a item from Philips. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting to be able to blast out my Ozzy Osbourne albums to such a degree that the noise makes my neighbours plates vibrate in their kitchen cupboard. But I was expecting better than this. I was expecting to be able to hear, and more importantly, be able to make out the sound.

The chances are I'm being too kind by awarding this product two stars, but as I said they are rather neat and I really do like their design. It's just a real shame that's the only positive thing I can say about them. Philips should be ashamed by putting their name to such a sub-standard product. Yes the speakers were only seven pounds (price when purchased) but they really are just hopeless and try as I may, I can find no real reason to recommend them to you. If you're looking for speakers spend a few pounds more and get a set better than this one.

My whole reason for buying them was the fact they didn't require batteries and they were so cheap (i think i paid £7 for them in a shop) so i didn't have much to lose. With my Creative Zen Touch, they are loud enough to drown out a conversation in an average sized living room. They are very musical, having a range similar to that of normal speakers.

These are not powered speakers, as another reviewer has mentioned, they are passive and take all their power from the source. You cannot expect house-party type volumes from them.

I have tried these with my laptop and yes they are terrible, but that is probably down to the output on the sound card. I have tried them with an iRiver and Ipod and the output has been good also.

I agree the wording on the side of the box is misleading (for which i have docked a star), but as my title says, with the right source, they really are very good considering they don't require any additional power.