Sometimes I get in on something that's a real shock, and for those who want some powerful sound on hand no matter where they go, then a great place to start your search is with the Mifa M1, which the folks at Mifa sent out for me to review.
The Mifa M1 speaker system is a Bluetooth speaker system that, for a speaker system, is extremely tiny, able to readily fit in the palm of most hands. Each Mifa M1 contains a pair of speaker drivers and a "bass radiator," which provides some impressive sound; more on that testing later. They also come with a Micro SD card reader and a USB cable, allowing them to not only readiliy recharge, but also connect to a PC or laptop for playback there. It offers around four hours of music on a single charge--though that varies depending on volume--and there's even a built-in mic to allow users to answer and take calls through the device. The device will be available on Amazon from July 2, with a suggested retail of $89.90, though Amazon will offer them up at $39.50.
As for the testing, I ran these through several audio formats. Listening to a YouTube video about recent developments at Bethesda did a wonderful job of presenting the voice front and center, and probably with more bass than the narrator actually had in real life, but the music in the background was also clear, proving that the system can handle two kinds of input at once. Impressive enough as it is, but then I started in with different kinds of music. Peter Pearson's "Hitching a Ride to Paradise", a piano-heavy bit of smooth jazz, offered fine sound with some distortion on some notes even after turning the volume down from its out of the box format. It quickly segued into an excellent experience that matched most any speaker I'd previously routed smooth jazz through. Shifting quickly to faster pieces, this time Dragonforce's "Through the Fire and Flames," showed that the speaker could keep up with both a ton of notes at once but also a lot of bass and various pitches all at once.
As for overall volume, it's not as impressive there as some I've seen--two closed doors were enough to blunt the sound even at higher volumes even with Dragonforce going full-bore--but it will deliver quality sound, if at shorter ranges. I'm also less than pleased about one point that seems to be missing: full auxiliary access. While there's a fine auxiliary tool for connecting to a laptop, and Bluetooth connectivity for many common mobile devices, the simplest auxiliary connection seems to be gone: the simple headphone jack connector. This is a bizarre omission to say the least, and leaves the Mifa M1 unable to connect to many common MP3 players or similar devices.
Still, what's here is shockingly impressive and should deliver value for those who want a lot of high-quality sound for the kind of room a pocket can offer. Highly portable and very versatile--though not as versatile as it could have been with the headphone jack addition--the M1 should offer terrific sound on the go, if not necessarily the best.
Pros: extremely tiny, high-quality sound over a range of sound inputs, good versatility thanks to its sound card and USB capabilities
Cons: not as powerful as some slightly larger portable speakers, no headphone jack input
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