Jawbone Mini Jambox (Wireless Bluetooth Speaker)

Parth Patel No comments

When shopping for a portable Bluetooth speaker, we rightly focus on features, price and sound quality. But how about a little style? For those who want to make a visual statement as well as a sonic one, the Jawbone Mini Jambox catches the eye and the ear. Its svelte shape makes it easy to tote around, but it doesn’t skimp on features. Even better, you can find it for less than $100.

Design :

The Mini Jambox impresses visually both with its form and color. Available in red, yellow, blue, green, purple, silver, orange and aqua, the aluminum shell also features a variety of grill patterns such as dots, scales and diamonds. I tested the blue diamond model.

At just 6.1 x 2.3 x 0.96 inches, the Mini Jambox is easily portable, though it doesn’t include any weatherproofing or ship with a case (you can buy one separately for $30). It’s longer and narrower than the 4.4 x 2.6 x 2.4-inch UE Mini Boom, making it easier to slip in a jacket pocket. While the aluminum case may look more prone to scratching than the metal grilles on the 5.9 x 2.5 x 1.2-inch Soundfreaq Pocket Kick, I tried marring the surface with my nail without any lasting effect.

Setup and Use :

I paired with the Mini Jambox easily on both iOS and Android devices. To place the speaker in pairing mode, you hold the button with two arrows down until you hear “Mini Jambox is in pairing mode.” The power light will also flash red. Find the “MINIJAMBOX” under available devices in your Bluetooth setup menu, and you’ll hear a chirp when the pairing is complete.

You can also pair more than one mobile device with the speaker at the same time. Only one device can use the speaker at any given moment, but it can be useful if you want to switch who controls the tunes without handing over your smartphone to someone else.

Audio Performance : While the size of ultraportable speakers limits their fidelity overall, the Mini Jambox delivers some of the best sound from a speaker this size.

The speaker’s balance emphasizes bass more than competing models such as the UE Mini Boom and Soundfreaq Pocket Kick. That focus helped drive the rhythm on Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk” better than the Mini Boom; the horns on that song also sounded crisp on the Jawbone. The bombastic guitar and drums on Led Zeppelin’s “Trampled Under Foot” balanced nicely with Robert Plant’s vocals. The rumbling bass during the break on the Beastie Boy’s “Shake Your Rump” produced vibration on my desk that the Pocket Kick couldn’t.