XM-I X-Mini capsule travel speakers

By way of example, we found that listening to Schubert's D 810 string quartet on an iPod Nano proved to be a surprisingly pleasant experience while an immediate switch to Jethro Tull's Broadsword & the Beast certainly didn't have us reaching for the “off” switch either.

One slight limitation with the X-Minimax is that the speakers have no volume control of their own, so they are entirely dependent on the amount of oomph coming out of the headphones jack of the driving device.

Highly portable form-factor

While build quality is generally fine - the plastics used feeling both robust and scratch resistant - the little blue 'on' LED on the left-hand speaker packed up during our test, and two of the little rubber knobs on the bottom of one unit fell off. A dab of Super Glue fixed them right back though, and even if all three drop off the plastic ridges that surround them will still locate the two units together and provide a stable base for them on your desk.

XM-I quotes between four and six hours of battery life, which seems to be spot on - ours gave up the ghost just shy of five hours of use.

Verdict

Drawbacks? The USB-only charge facility may become an issue if you don't have your laptop to hand, and the rather short length of the tether cable linking the two speakers means you can't set them more than 40cm apart.

But, for £30, what's not to like? The design is clever, they pack down small and the sound quality isn't at all bad, especially when compared with even the best built-in laptop speakers. We think we'll keep them.