From the democratizing Redmi Buds S, to the Google Assistant-capable Mi Smart Speaker, the quality belies the price. In a time of connected-everything, the Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker sounds like a rather boring release from the brand. You can see that the speaker has been built to a cost, but the plastic-coated material should be easy enough to wipe clean if you drop a beverage on it. Xiaomi includes a pre-installed fabric hand loop, but there’s enough clearance at the anchor point to attach a carabiner instead if you prefer.
As it stands, a long press of the volume plus and play button toggles the equalizer setting. Xiaomi hasn’t published the list of supported codecs, but the speaker defaulted to SBC across devices. The Xiaomi Mi Portable Bluetooth speaker offers surprisingly pleasant sound quality, given its affordable price. Cranking up some Travis Scott was an enjoyable experience though bass did crackle just a bit at the highest volume level.
Despite the bass and treble emphasis, vocals do not get drowned out and the speaker should make a fun addition to any party. Talking about volume levels, the speaker goes astonishingly loud and this came in very handy while listening to podcasts and audiobooks across my apartment. Double pressing the power button activates the voice assistant on your phone and you can then use the speaker to perform any and all functions. With close to seven hours of music listening, the speaker still reported a 60% charge, and Xiaomi’s claims should hold true.
Xiaomi’s speaker meets and exceeds the competition, both in terms of audio quality and feature set. Not only does the speaker deliver on sound quality but backs it up with features like an IP rating, long battery life, as well as stereo pairing. The Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker gets a resounding recommendation, especially if your budget won’t stretch to more expensive options. Unless you have very specific needs like the ability to slot in a microSD card — a niche feature afforded by a few no-name alternatives — you shouldn’t even look at other options.
Xiaomi Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker review
1. volume 332.82cm³ Volume is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by the product’s chassis or, in simpler terms, the space the product occupies. 4. weather-sealed (splashproof) ✔ Xiaomi Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker The device is protected with extra seals to prevent failures caused by dust, raindrops, and water splashes.
Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker (16W) Review: To buy or not?
It’s the monsoon season in India, and one feature you hope to have in most of your gadgets at this time of the year is moisture resistance. In fact, all the products we have reviewed so far this month have had some degree of ingress protection, and the device we have for you today is no different- the Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker from Xiaomi. This rectangular Bluetooth 5.0 speaker with rounded edges has a rugged build and a good finish. You get a USB-C charging port, a 3.5mm AUX input on the side under a rubber flap along with a lanyard cable to carry it around. There is another button that lets you pair this speaker with one more of its kind wirelessly for stereo output and extra power. This audio product has a fairly powerful sound output and can get surprisingly loud for a mid-sized room. Don’t expect it to rock your furniture, but there is noticeable warmth in the lows, and you can feel a bit of thump in the bass. The company doesn’t specify a Bluetooth range in the specification sheet, but it worked perfectly fine without any signal drop when I kept the source and the speaker 10 meter apart without any obstruction in between. As mentioned earlier, the Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker has a 2,600mAh Lithium ion battery, which the company claims can last for 13 hours when listening at 50% volume.
The call quality is pretty decent as long as you stay within a couple of feet from this device when speaking. Pressing play and volume up buttons simultaneously switches between Normal and Deep Bass equalizer presets. As for alternatives, you have the Soundcore Motion Q with 16W RMS output, IPX7 rating and slightly better sound than this Mi speaker.
Long story short, the Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker is a solid option under Rs. Our rating Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker (16W) Review Our Rating Review: The Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker ticks a lot of boxes and offers good sound and battery backup at a reasonable price.
Good Stuff: Sturdy build Punchy sound output Playback and volume controls present on the speaker IPX7 water resistant Good battery backup; up to 12 hours Option to pair two of these speakers for stereo sound USB Type-C charging port Bad Stuff: A bit on the heavier side, weight-wise Sounds harsh beyond 80% volume level Dual EQ modes is just a gimmick Buy on Amazon
Xiaomi Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker: Xiaomi Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker review: An affordable option
Top Features Solid build quality Acceptable sound Good battery life Be it smartphones, true wireless earbuds, TVs or Bluetooth speakers, Xiaomi has been seeing To keep itself ahead of the competition, Xiaomi has launched several new products across the portfolio and the Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker is one of them. Double pressing the power button activates the voice assistant. Given it’s an IPX7 rated speaker, it is good to see Xiaomi paying close attention to such important details. Xiaomi has packed two 8W drivers that claim to offer deep bass, loud and clear sound output.
At times, in the song O Sanam by Lucky Ali, the mids, treble and bass were well pronounced. But in the song Genda Phool by Badshah, the vocals were surprisingly suppressed by the bass most of the time.
by Ketty Perry, Criminal by Britney Spears, Dynamite by Taio Cruz, Willow by Taylor Swift and Shallow by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Now, Shallow and Willow sounded really brilliant with the speaker, however, with other songs we faced a similar problem. It produces some deep bass, though it can sound a little artificial at times given you are listening at full volume. Mi Bluetooth speaker also comes with built-in microphones for taking calls and in our test, it worked fine.
Mi Portable Bluetooth speaker is feature-packed with reasonable sound quality and battery life.
Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker (16W) Review: Loud, Yet Affordable
There also aren’t a lot of big brands in the affordable part of this market anymore, with options from JBL, Boat, Anker Soundcore, and Sony dominating online listings and offline store shelves. Although you can position the Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker (16W) vertically, it’s ideally placed horizontally on a table-top and has rubber grips at the bottom to sit securely.
The buttons are easy to press, and don’t leave any room for water to slip into the sensitive electrical components of the Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker (16W). There’s a USB Type-C port for charging under a tight rubber flap on the right side, along with a 3.5mm socket for auxiliary connectivity.
The Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker (16W) has a rated output of 16W, split between two identical 8W full-range drivers. Design isn’t the only similarity between the Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker (16W) and its more affordable sibling, the Mi Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker; the larger device has the same punchy, driven sonic signature, but is of course a fair bit louder thanks to two drivers putting out 8W of sound each. When listening to Waiting by Oliver Heldens at my work desk, I had the speaker at around the 30-40 percent volume level, and this made for decent sound at a short distance. While the thump in the low-end of this dance track was audible even at low volumes, it didn’t quite have as much drive; instead, the speaker tended to highlight the mid-range impressively, which made for a detailed and enjoyable sound in the vocals.
I couldn’t hear much difference between the normal and ‘deep bass’ equaliser modes; the former sounded a bit cleaner, with the latter giving the lows a slight bump. That’s the core difference between a product like this and more expensive options such as the UE Boom 3 which sound good even at high volumes. Charging is through a USB Type-C port, and there’s also 3.5mm auxiliary connectivity on the Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker (16W) It also helps that the speaker is IPX7 rated for water resistance, and offers good battery life for a device of its size and capabilities.
Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker (16W) Review: Bang for your buck
Xiaomi is primarily known for its value-for-money smartphones across price segments, but the company also has an augmenting lineup of affordable audio products. The speaker seems to offer a fair amount of features for its price, including IPX7 water resistance, 13 hours of battery life, and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. Encased in fabric, the Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker (16W) feels extremely robust and well-built. If you short press this button when the speaker is on, it will read out its current battery percentage, which we found pretty handy. Double-pressing the power button also activates voice assistant on the connected device, so you can give commands to call, text, play music, and more. At the bottom, the speaker features two rubber grips that help it sit securely on a flat surface and not move about too much.
While the speaker definitely has a bass-forward sound profile, we were pleasantly surprised to see that it didn’t mar the quality of the mids too much. In rock tracks, cymbals and hi-hats can sound slightly jarring to the ear, especially if the volume is too loud.
Overall though, the Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker (16W) sounds good for the price point and you won’t have much to complain about.
With a compelling price tag of Rs 2,499, the Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker (16W) offers good sound quality, ample bass response, and decent battery life. You also get access to a fair number of features such as IPX7 rating, dual EQ modes, stereo wireless pairing, USB-C charging, and voice assistant.
Xiaomi Mi Portable Bluetooth speaker (16W) review: light on wallet, big on sound
A fine example of the same is the brand’s all-new Mi Portable Bluetooth speaker which retails for just Rs 2,499 in India, albeit punches way above its weight. To that note, the Mi Portable Bluetooth speaker comes outfitted with a woven mesh-like fabric and can be easily mistaken for the Ultimate Ears Boom 2. I’d also like to point out that despite its modest MRP, Xiaomi has managed to squeeze in IPX7 certification and correspondingly, the Mi Portable Bluetooth speaker should be able to power your pool parties easily. The strip comprises a slew of buttons that allow users to do everything from putting the Bluetooth speaker in pairing mode, to variating the volume levels and jumping from one track to the next. The buttons offer ample tactility and the rubberised strip hasn’t deteriorated or chipped over my longish stint with the speaker either, which is fantastic. Well, to no one’s surprise, the Mi Portable Bluetooth speaker offers a bass-forward sound signature and consequently, the unit puts a greater emphasis on the low-end in any given soundtrack.
That said, the highs don’t sound as energetic as I would’ve hoped for and although the speaker can get quite loud, I would advise you against maxing out the volume levels as the audio gets quite muddy.
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