Review Trekstor Portable Soundbox black
The small, easy-to-handle "box" weighs a mere 100g, measures 70x 70x 48 mm and fits into just about any notebook carrying bag. The case consists of plastic, is available in one of five colors and will run you about 20 Euro. The case exhibits a sturdy build that's very resistant to pressure and the black version that we reviewed proved itself quite easy to clean. According to TrekStor, it consumes 1 watt of power.
Taking a look around the case, we spot a mini USB port for charging the battery and a volume slider. This slider only has three positions: Off, Low and High. Adjusting the volume to a finer degree can be done via the notebook's volume control. Built into the case we find a lithium-ion battery, supposedly good for a battery life of 35 hours. We, however, did not have a chance to test this value by squeezing every last drop of energy from the battery.
Buried into its base you'll find the audio cable that fits into the typical 3.5-mm stereo-mini headphone jack on just about all notebooks. MP3 players as well as many cell phones and smartphones also have a headphone jack like this. The short cable severely limits the placement of the speaker. Notebooks with the headphone jack at the front or closer to the front on the left or right side really don't leave a good place for the "Box" to sit without getting in the way. Either the speaker is placed in front of the palm rest or where an external mouse would be.
Compared to that of the HP Mini 5101, the sound quality is almost heavenly. The speaker even represents an improvement on the sound quality of better netbooks and subnotebooks. Especially considering the presence of mids and bass—compared with the typical highs-heavy sound of many laptops—the sound quality of the speaker is a good deal more balanced. It has a high maximum volume at which distortion remains only slightly audible.
Taking some typical USB speakers (Trust SP-2750p) that come at a similar price as a basis of comparison, we quickly see the limitations of the Portable Soundbox. Of course, the single speaker can't quite replicate the stereo experience, and in other respects the sound quality doesn't reach the level of the typical USB speakers either. Due to insufficient shielding of radio interference or the lack thereof, we concluded that charging the battery causes the sound emanating from speaker to be plagued by static noise like scratching and popping. This leaves you with the options of either charging the battery or playing something, not both.
Verdict
The TrekStor Portable Soundbox is convenient, lasts a long time and is very easy to use. Unfortunately, the short audio cable makes placement of the speaker quite inconvenient—especially plugged into notebooks with the audio jack in front or at the side close to the front.
The sound quality is better than that of many netbooks and subnotebooks but compared to similarly-priced USB speakers, the Soundbox is no match.
Those looking for a speaker to connect to an MP3 player, a cell phone or a smartphone with a 3.5 mm stereo-mini port will find this to a be convenient device at a fair price.