Hot on the heels of my look at the best and worst sounding portable media players, let’s take a quick look at the i.Sound portable speakers.  I am always interested in new ways to enjoy my music.  One of the frustrations I have with many portable speakers, however, is the blatantly iPod-centric design.  They typically feature an iPod connection which is stylishly designed into the speaker, making the iPod and speaker look like each is a natural extension of the other.  But what if you do not have an iPod?  Yesterday, I found the iPod Nano to be only the third best sounding media player, behind the Zune and Sony Walkman.  So, what if you have one of them?  Well, if you are using many speakers, then you can look on the back of the speaker for what I call the “all-purpose, generic media player jack.”  This allows you to connect any media player to the back of the speaker, leaving it connected with a cable which will trail off the back of the speaker like a tail.  Functional…but not particularly stylish or even nice looking. 

Which brings me to the i.Sound Ice speakers.  Sure, like most speakers, they are marketed toward the iPod, but in the end, they work just as well and look just the same, regardless of whether you are using an iPod, Zune, or any other media player.  So, hit the jump, and we’ll take a closer look and listen.

The Ice speakers are really pretty cool.  I was a bit leery of their size.  Oftentimes, small, inexpensive or desktop speakers end up with very poor sound quality.  That did not prove to be the case with these.  I was pretty impressed by how well they recreated the sound quality of my devices.  I tested them with a few different media players, including: iPod Touch, iPod Nano, Zune, and Sony Walkman, and they all sounded fantastic. 

OK, so , each of these speakers is a clear, plastic cube.  Which really looks pretty nice.  They are connected by a this wire, about 32 inches long.  A second 32 inch wire comes off the left speaker, splitting near the end.  One end of this split ends in a 3.5 mm headphone plug, which can be plugged into the headphone jack on any device.  The other end is a USB plug.  This can be connected to your computer, or plugged into the wall with the included AC adaptor. 

I really liked the inclusion of the AC adaptor, which tends to be an afterthought on many devices.  The problem I had with it, however, was that I could never actually reach a plug.  The wires on these speakers are just way too short.  I tried to set them up on my desk at work, and found that the USB wire was too short to reach from the top of my desk to the USB plug on my computer, let alone all the way to the AC adaptor on my floor.  Additionally, since the 3.5 mm plug and USB plug are connected, your media player needs to be right on top of the outlet. 

It would have been nice if these speakers  could be powered with a battery.  This would have solved the problem of not being able to reach the AC plug or USB on your computer.  It also would have made them even more portable by not requiring you to be right near an outlet or computer in order to power them.

I also would have liked longer cables.  The cable connecting the two speakers, like I said, is only 32 inches.  That is really pretty short if you want to use them on a desk.  In fact, it is pretty hard to put them anywhere other than right next to each other.  Which sort of defeats the point of having two speakers.  They should have either combined them into a single speaker, or included a longer cable between the two speakers (60 inches is generally pretty standard.)

One thing I really like about these speakers is the light.  As you can see from the photos, when you plug them in, they glow with a blue light from the inside, which really makes these clear cubes look pretty cool.  I have to admit that at first glance, I did think they would be able to connect via Bluetooth (just a reaction to anything that lights up blue) but the fact that they did not was really no big deal.

The final piece of the puzzle here is the case.  The speakers come in a nice, hardshell case, which neatly stores the speakers, cables, and AC adaptor.  It even has a pocket in which you can toss your iPod, Zune, or other portable media player.  It is a bit bulky, but really very nice.

Overall, I really liked these speakers.  They look and sound great.  The blue light, which sounded like it could have been a bit cheesy ended up working really well.  I also loved the fact that they worked just as well with any media player, rather than making anything that was not made by Apple a media player afterthought. 

What I Liked:

• Attractive
• Sounds great
• Portability with a nice case

What Needs Improvement:

• Wires are too short
• No battery power, must be plugged into an AC adaptor or USB

Where to Buy: i.Sound

Price: $49.99

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Related posts:

1. DevoTec Solar Sound Wireless Speaker Review
2. Review: USB Fever, MP3/PC Small Sound Box
3. Review: Listen To The Sound Of Music With The Boxwave Stereo Converter/Adaptor for Sprint Mogul
4. Review: The “Gomadic Car and Wall Charger Retractable Hot Sync Compact Kit”…The Only Thing Not Portable Is Its Name.
5. Check out Sony’s new Xross Fade and S-AIRPLAY sound systems