During my trip in Guatemala I was contacted by X-mini for a review on their X-mini HAPPY speaker. Without thinking it twice I said yes because I already knew how these little speakers perform and how good they are. Funny enough, I was contacted just after I returned from my stay at a remote eco-lodge in Semuc Champey, where a few of my travel companions took out their X-mini speakers, plugged in their iPhones, and that was all we needed to have some good music and dance in the middle of nowhere, with no electricity.
So, what is the X-mini?
The X-mini is an ultra-portable, self-powered speaker system that is able to deliver impressive sound quality compared to its size and other portable speaker in the market. It has a patented Bass Xpansion System, which allows you to twist and extend the speaker to deliver a deeper bass to enrich the sound.
The latest X-mini speaker, X-mini HAPPY, doubles up as an MP3 Player and a card reader. It has the same features an sound quality of its predecesors but it now incorporates a memory card to allow you to use it as an independent mp3 player, instead of having to connect it to an external iPod or mp3 player.
How does it perform…
The first time I heard the speakers I was surprised by how loud they sound. You can only wonder how is it possible to have so much sound from such a small speaker, and how good is the sound quality. It has up to 5 hours of battery life, which can be charged by USB through your computer.
Basically, the X-mini HAPPY can work as some sort of iPod Shuffle. It can support up to 8GB High Capacity memory card –enough space to hold a decent playlist– and you can go through your songs (skip, play, back, pause) with its small button on the side.
What I love about it…
First and foremost the ratio of size and sound quality. It fits everywhere, even in my pocket (which I actually used to carry it while at the beach in Puerto Rico), so it won’t take much of the precious real estate space inside your backpack.
Also, I love the “buddy-jack” feature. If you have more than one X-mini, you can connect them in chain to have a louder stereo sound. While in Semuc Champey, the Australian guys and the Swedish girls I met and traveled with, each had their own X-mini. What they did was to connect three of them in chain, and the last one to an iPod… the rest was plain good music, good and loud sound, and a good time drinking, dancing, chatting, and everything in between.
On a separate but related note; X-mini donates 10% of all sales profits to Children International. So by buying a speaker you’re also helping to provide basic healthcare and education to underprivileged children in third world countries.
What I don’t like…
I pretty much like the way the X-mini happy performs. My only comment would be that when you turn on the speaker, it blasts the music at almost its loudest volume. But that’s just a minor thing.
I’m really happy with my X-mini HAPPY, and now I carry it with me when I travel since it takes no space. Like they say, good things come in small packages.
Check out X-mini’s site to see all their different speakers.
Giveaway!
Want to have your own X-mini HAPPY? Here’s your chance to have one!
To participate in the giveaway you must do the following:
1) Comment below saying where or when in your previous trips would you have loved to use an X-mini.
2) And, like the X-mini Australia Facebook page and GloboTreks Facebook page, if you haven’t already.
The winner will be selected randomly by X-mini on May 20th.
T’is an amazing little thing… I’d take it everywhere seeing as I always carry a back pack with me.
Pretty cool, eh! Best of luck to you… let’s hope you win it!
I would loved to have an X-Mini in my last camping trip. BTW I will leave camping again in two weeks. I would love to take it with me.
The X-mini works perfect for a camping trip. It’s easy to carry and has enough battery life to last for a few hours of music. Let’s see if your next camping trip includes the X-mini HAPPY!
I would LOVE to win one! Whenever I travel I’m always stuck with the lousy built-in iPod speaker since I don’t want to be bogged down with anything too big. The X-mini HAPPY looks like it’s just the right size. I’ll be going to Florida soon and it would be great for my carry-on luggage.
I think the same… I don’t like to carry bulky stuff when traveling, but this speaker takes almost no space.
Good luck!
love pumping off the chain travel beats, but usually end up buying some crappy speakers from a market. they only last a few seconds, then implode when you go for volume 11. these ones look pretty trick!
haha… I’ve had that experience too with crappy speakers… These ones have hold pretty good.
When I was in South Africa I woke up a hour (430AM) earlier than I was supposed to. Not being able to get back into bed I decided to go down to the lobby I was staying in and dance, right there in the middle of it. Having some music to dance to would have been nice. The X-Mini would have been perfect.
Ah, I remember that post… pretty cool!
Now that’s really cool!
I would basically have liked to have a X-Mini in all my trips, including last one: a scuba diving liveaboard in Egypt. What a dream it would have been lying on the top deck at night to look at the stars and having some good music to listen…
Now that’s a good place to have an X-mini…
Would have loved it on our last trip to the Philippines… the wedding reception finished pretty early and the X-Mini would have let us keep the party going in our hotel room!
It definitely could have worked there. It just reminded me of the time I mentioned here in the post, when the speakers were all we had to party in the middle of the night.
That’s awesome! I had never heard of these but these would be awesome for home or travel! Honestly, I can’t tell you how many places I would have loved to use this or would love to use this in the future – especially with kids! My two little ones love to dance and sing with music and love to boogey so this would be so much fun for a family!
Your kids will love it! When in Puerto Rico I showed it to my nephews and they went crazy with it! I almost returned to NYC without it since they were plotting to take it away from me… lol
Really cool! We would totally have used these in Iceland. The no people around, no sound was really nice at first, but then kind of got creepy! Speakers would have totally solved that problem
I totally get you… moments of quiet and solitude are nice… but then it gets to a point when it gets boring and even creepy… lol
I’m pleased I read your article Norbert – my son especially struggles with some cheap portable speakers that just squeak and rattle! Will check out their website – hopefully they may have some in duty free for my next trip away!!
John, this speaker are really good and of good quality. Let’s see if you can win it!
Last year while sailing down the Nile on a felucca we stopped and the Bedouins made a fire and played music for us. At the end of the evening when they retired to bed we were not yet ready to do so and had an impromptu sing-a-long of hit 80′s tunes. I’m pretty sure that the X-Mini speakers would have provided a lot more to it as we sung Boyz II Men at the top of our lungs!
Thanks for the review, fantastic!
Hey Julie! Wow… I haven’t hear a Boyz II Men song in years!! (but after reading this I have one of their songs stuck in my head… ugh) lol I’m sure the X-mini would have helped there!