Review: X-mini II vs. X-mini Capsule

With more and more mobile phones being used as MP3 players, the need for a way to listen to your music without compromising on audio quality is growing. Most phones have a built in loud speaker which is okay for answering the odd phone call while you’ve got your hands full, but the quality of the audio is never anything special. If you prefer to enjoy your music through a set of headphones, you can take your pick of high quality headphones from companies such as Skullcandy, Shure, Sennheiser & Etymotic – but what if you want to be able to play your music out loud?

Over the last few months we’ve seen an increase in the number of small portable speakers that are designed for use with mobile phones and laptops. Two of the most popular ones are made by X-Mini and they are the X-mini II & the X-minimax Capsule. At first glance they’re both very similar, so I decided to try them out and see just how good they are.

X-mini II

The X-mini II Speaker is a compact single speaker that’s not much bigger than a golf ball (when closed). It has a short 3.5mm audio cable built into it’s base and includes a longer audio/charging cable that connects to a mini USB port on the side of the speaker. It has an inbuilt battery that can last for up to 11 hours on a single charge.

Controls on the X-mini are minimal – a discrete on/off switch and a small volume dial are located on the base of the speaker.

Connecting it to your phone is just a case of plugging the 3.5mm audio jack into your phone or MP3 player. If your phone doesn’t have a 3.5mm audio socket, you can use an audio adapter to convert your phone’s proprietary connection to a standard 3.5mm jack.

Using the built in cable does restrict where you can put the speaker as it is only 9cm long, so if you want a bit of distance between your phone and the speaker (to reduce the risk of interference) then you’ll need to use the Audio/Charging cable that’s included with the X-mini II.

As the name suggests, the cable performs 2 functions – firstly it charges the speaker using a USB port on a PC or laptop and secondly it acts as a longer audio cable.  You can also use the longer cable to ‘daisy chain’ the speakers so that you can have your music playing from as many speakers as you want – the only downside is of course that you’ll need to buy more speakers.

X-minimax Capsule

The X-minimax Capsule speakers are slightly smaller than the X-mini II and have a magnetic base that allows you to stick them together when they’re not in use. One slight disadvantage you have with these is that there isn’t a built in audio cable so you’ll need to make sure you carry the audio cables around with you or you won’t be able to use them. X-mini do include a storage bag for the capsule that should help you to keep them all together.

Unlike the X-mini II,  there isn’t a volume control on the speakers, just an on/off switch so you’ll need to adjust the volume level on your phone or MP3 player.

Two cables are included with the Capsule – a short 3.5mm to Mini USB cable for when you want to use just one speaker and a longer twin charging/audio cable for when you want to use both speakers.

As with the X-mini II, the cable performs 2 functions – firstly it charges the speaker using a USB port on a PC or laptop and secondly it acts as a longer audio cable. The capsule speakers can’t be ‘daisy chained’  in the same way as the X-mini II as they don’t have a 3.5mm line in socket.

Sound Quality

To test the speakers out I connected them to both a laptop and an iPhone. I connected each set of speakers to my laptop using the built in cable and played back a variety of music, from bass heavy dance tunes through to strong vocal numbers as well as a few scenes from movies.

First up was the X-mini 2. When I briefly tried these in the office they sounded a little bit muffled, but with so much background noise it wasn’t a true reflection so instead I tried them out at home. I’ve always thought that the speakers on my laptop weren’t too bad. The audio always seemed clear regardless of whether I was listening to music or watching films, but after using the X-mini II it’s made me realise that the built in speakers on my laptop aren’t really anything special.

Sounds from the X-mini II were clear and sharp and the bass was more powerful too. The X-mini II has an extendable ‘vacuum’ that is designed to act like a sub woofer and increase the bass – which it does, but even with it closed, the bass is still good. Vocal tracks were crisp & clear and you could hear every breathe that the singer took. Dance tracks were good, although if you like to feel the room shake from the bass you’ll probably want to opt for something a little more powerful.

For films it’s a definite improvement over the laptops own speakers, I was only using one X-mini II though so didn’t really get to enjoy any stereo effects, but I’m sure that when you ‘daisy chain’ them you’ll get the full effects. Action scenes were good, a fairly decent rumble during on screen explosions and no distortion either.

I had the volume on my laptop set to maximum and the speaker had no problem in playing back the audio. It didn’t crackle or start to sound tinny like other speakers I’ve tried – even when the volume on the speaker itself was turned to maximum. Although it was on full, I didn’t find it particularly deafening and it only just managed to fill the room with sound so if you’r planning on using these for a house party you’ll probably want to get a second one. If it’s just for casual listening around the house or as alternatives to your built in laptop speakers then you will struggle to find fault with them.

Next up was the X-minimax Capsule – looking at them, they’re like the baby brother of the X-mini 2. Each speaker is smaller, but you do get two of them and this does make a difference. As you get two different cables in with the capsule, you can chose whether to use just one or both of the speakers. I tried using just one speaker – connected to my phone it worked fine, it’s an improvement over the built in loud speaker, but wasn’t quite as good as the X-mini II. Using just one speaker with my laptop felt a little bit under powered and songs weren’t quite as clear as they could be – having said that, the audio was still slightly clearer than using the built in speaker.

Connecting the second speaker made all the difference. The sound felt more solid and powerful. I played the same songs as I did with the mini II and there isn’t a massive difference between the two. Most noticeably though was how they dealt with bass. The X-minimax Capsule isn’t as ‘bassy’ as the mini-II and I felt that they were better suited to music that you listen to rather than feel. Vocal and acoustic tracks were crisp and clear, but the dance tracks felt a bit weak. When it came to watching films they did a great job, although in action scenes the rumble during explosions was less than the X-mini II.

There aren’t any volume controls on the X-minimax Capsule, so volume had to be changed on the phone/laptop. I did find though that if you cranked the volume up to maximum, on some tracks there was a small amount of crackling and distortion. If I reduced the volume to around 85-90% on these tracks, the distortion stopped. It felt as though the capsule was louder than the X-mini II, but because some songs distorted slightly, you can’t really ever use it on full volume.

Summary

Both speakers do the job well, but for me the X-mini II stood out as the better option. Even though it’s just one speaker, it felt clearer, louder and had more bass than the X-minimax Capsule. It is a bit bigger and heavier, but it’s worth it. The fact you don’t need to carry around a bag of cables is a bonus too. If you want something louder than your phone’s loud speaker for playing your music on and don’t mind lots of cables, then the Capsule will suit you down to the ground as most phone’s won’t go loud enough to distort your music, but if you want to be able to use it as alternatives to your laptop speakers and for music from your phone/MP3 player, the the X-mini II is a better option.

My Rating:

X-Mini II Speakers 8/10
X-Minimax Capsule Speakers 7/10