iHome Rechargeable Portable Mini Speaker for Kindle Fire

Bought the iK63 from the iHome website when I got my kindle fire. I had expected to create a portable home theater setup to stream movies while visiting my Mom's house with the ability to have some nice sounds with it. The Kindle Fire looks amazing streaming movies but the Fire's speakers are just so-so.

When I got the iK63 I immediately plugged it in to watch MI:3; the speaker sounded great, but 20min in it faded from the factory charge on the battery. To recharge the Li battery, it came with a micro-B to USB that plugs into the back of the speaker. Hmmm...that meant not plugging it in to use the battery of the Fire. I used the Fire's USB to AC adapter to recharge it, but that meant not charging my Fire. I really wish iHome would have packaged a AC adapter that had 2 usb ports for charging the speaker and the fire at the same time. It is also only 1 speaker and when you plug it in, the Fire's speakers turn off; making it a mono setup. The instructions suggest getting a 2nd speaker and you can daisy chain them to go back to a stereo setup; but I said, hell with that. Not gonna pay $60+ for stereo speakers that I will have to recharge each speaker individually, along with my fire. In defense of the product, the speaker did sound much better than the onboard speaker of the Fire. It just did not fulfill my wants and was too much of a hassle to deal with.

Back to using my Sennheiser HD 202 II Professional Headphones (Black).

got the speaker the other day, worked fine, nice sound. did everything i wanted it to do. watched a whole movie and was on factory change and didn't need to charge it. So far very happy with it. i like the look of it. my music sounds great on it, watched a movie and listen to a whole album on it and didn't need to charge it. like i said, so far it's been great. i will update if things change. all in all its a great little speaker.

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I bought this when on Gold Box sale, it's a bit pricey at the regular price. However, the build quality is good and this little speaker delivers.

Now your expectations must be realistic. It is a single speaker (mono) in a very small size. It is very lightweight and portable. It looks nice. It has an audio out which is rare. So some nice touches, especially at this price. (Note you can chain two speakers for "simulated" stereo, but a single speaker is mono. Not a big deal for casual listening, but something to be aware of, especially as the specs in the product description are not clear on this.)

So how does it sound? Well, surprisingly good for its size and being a single speaker. These new small drivers are now showing up in lots of systems like this and they deliver pretty amazing sound for their size. In this case the amp has been "tweaked" for added bass response. Overall, it sounds good for casual, personal listening at normal volume levels. At very high volumes (and it can get surprisingly loud) it sounds a bit harsh to me, but at normal levels, fine. The bass response is adequate for music and the vocals (mid-range) and highs are there. This won't challenge your good stereo/audio system, but it will be pleasant for use with your Kindle Fire, ipod, mp3 player or other portable device (it will work with anything that has a 3.5mm headphone/audio output). So thumbs up for its intended purpose.

It comes with a special combined micro USB and audio cable for charging the internal battery and hooking up to the audio out of your device. I would have preferred a separate audio in jack and separate USB for charging, but that's a minor nit pick. (It would allow greater flexibility in use and most people aren't going to use the audio out provided anyway, so there's room for it. But again, not a big deal.) It has nice rubber feet on the bottom, a blue/red LED light on front for charging and power status, and an on/off switch in back.

I tried this out with my laptop/notebook and it worked very well. It's actually even better, as there the combined USB cable and audio cable makes more sense. However, you can also get stereo speakers for around the same price for laptops and their large size is not as much of an issue for this purpose. Still, this very compact lightweight speaker is an attractive option if you're really traveling light.

This is a solid, good value in a very light weight portable speaker. Perfect for it's intended purpose. It will be great for movies/video, audio books and music on the go.

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(Tip: Plug this in and charge the battery for 4 hours or so before use (or even overnight) to get maximum time from the internal battery in later use.)

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As far as quality goes, this little honey works exactly as advertised which is why I'm giving it five stars. However, when it comes to portability, I find earphones or ear buds much more convenient. When it comes to better sound, a Kindle Fire can be hooked up to any sound system with RCA input jacks using a 1/8" stereo plug to 2 RCA plug cable like this one, which I find much more convenient than constantly having to recharge the speaker. Frankly, if you don't have a problem with headphones or ear buds, you have a sound system with RCA input jacks, and you don't do a lot of travelling, then you may not have much use for this product. Verdict: This powered mini-speaker is a real humdinger, but it doesn't really fit my needs, so I decided I wanted my money back. Your mileage may vary.

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First, I need to state that I have an LG Portable Speaker that is absolutely fantastic but is, sadly, not longer made. So I have not rated this in comparison with that speaker but in comparison with other speakers of this class that are currently on the market. Of those speakers, this one is definitely the best I've found for sound quality and size. And I listen to a lot of audio, both with radio & podcast apps and audiobooks on my Kindle. I've also used this for my laptop when I didn't want to mess with the stereo computer speakers. My hearing isn't that great so I need a bit more volume, especially if I'm moving around while I'm listening.

PROS:

~Excellent sound for its size and portability. Don't expect sound quality like the sound system you have hooked up to your TV. This speaker is designed for portability.

~Small enough to put in a tote bag, car console, etc.; so yes, it's very portable.

~Great battery life--I'm still waiting to recharge the battery. Granted, I don't use this speaker every day but I do use it for 50 minutes or so several times a week and have done so for several weeks now and it's still going on the first charge.

~Has a nice base so speaker will sit firmly on a surface without tipping or rolling over.

~Nice looking--classy.

CONS:

~Manually on/off. If you forget to shut it off when you're done listening, you will have to recharge it before using it again. Trust me--I've done that plenty with my LG speaker. You can't really use the speaker at bedtime or you'll have recharge it first thing to have ready for next time.

~No volume control on the unit; volume must be controlled from device or application source.

Both of these "CONS" are pretty much the norm for speakers this size. There is a trade-off.

If you need more volume from your Kindle or portable player, this should do it.