Looking at the Braven 405 speaker, one of which Braven via our friends at the Max Borges Agency sent out for review, it would be easy to write this off as a feeble entry into the field. Though it doesn't have the same girth as some of its contemporaries, what it lacks in mass and density it makes up for in a surprisingly rich sound experience.

The Braven 405 speaker system is a wireless speaker system, allowing for connection via both Bluetooth and a 3.5 mm speaker jack for a more conventional wired connection. It offers a 2100 mAh battery, allowing it to serve as a recharge mechanism for mobile devices as well. It derives its power readily from a USB connection, making it easy to charge via several different platforms.

Moreover, the Braven 405 is actually waterproof. It's IP67 waterproof, which allows it to be completely submerged to a depth of one meter, or about three feet, for 30 minutes without incident. Even better, the substantial battery allows it to run for 24 hours unimpeded. It also offers a Bass Optimization technology to help cut down power use, and even has a noise-canceling microphone included to serve as a hands-free unit for smartphone calls.

All of this is at less than a pound--it runs about 9.9 ounces at last report--and is sufficiently small to fit in a pants pocket assuming you wear sufficiently large pants. Amazon has these little beauties around $79 depending on seller and color desired, as these come in several different colors according to mood.

The good news about this immediately is that it puts out plenty of power for being such a small system. If you thought the BRV-1M I covered yesterday was portable, well, this one's got it beat all hollow. Better yet, it delivers comparable sound quality; I ran this through the standard testing playlist covering most everything from metal to pop--which as music students will know is a pretty broad swath of musical stylings--and the system performed as soundly as it more rugged cousin. It's portable, it's got run time to beat the band, and it's got all of this in an attractive package that's easy to use.

There's bad news to the system, however; I don't know what sadist designed this packaging, but wow. It took several minutes just to open the package. Pulling the extra components like cables and such was even worse from the underslung compartment in the front of the box. The combination of rigid plastic packaging and tight spaces made getting this thing out of the box an ordeal.

Once it's actually out of the box, however, it's a joy forever. An impressive speaker system that delivers value through power and portability at a reasonable price, the Braven 405 is well worth looking into.

Pros: Extremely portable, high-end power, easy to use

Cons: Just TRY to get it out of the box without resorting to power tools or cursing.