We recently reviewed a couple of Pleomax products, and today our guests are the Pleomax portable USB speakers aimed at notebook users.
Pleomax PC Speaker + USB HUB PSP-5100W
Packaging:
This is a compact box with 12 x 12 x 12 cm dimensions and quite an elegant design, something Pleomax is famous for.
You’ll find more than enough info on the box, as after all this is just a stereo speaker. On the back you’ll find the product description in 10 languages.
The speaker unit:
It’s a simple white box that’s slightly concave at the bottom, front and back, which adds to the visual style of this device. You connect it via a USB cable, with no additional power needed. Connecting is as simple as it gets – plug in and you're ready to use it.
The front features three knobs, where the largest one is for volume with the other two controling the bass and treble. Turning on the speakers is simply done by pushing on the volume knob. When the speakers are on, the volume knob has is surrounded by an orange glow which makes it look really cool.
Below the knobs you’ll find a USB hub with four USB ports. The USB hub is compatible with USB 1.1 and 2.0. Orange-colored light stripes are placed above the USB ports, and although it bothered us when they didn't switch off when the speaker is turned off via the knob, some users might actually like it.
This device has two stereo speakers rated at 3W (4Ω). The speakers are placed on the sides of of what we can only call an audio-cube, and they're covered with a grey plastic mesh.
Sound quality is quite good, considering we’re talking about a notebook audio device. Even though the speakers are rated at a mere 3W RMS, the sound is much better than your notebook can provide. Still, we don’t recommend using it when your notebook is not connected to a power outlet since it might drain your battery a lot faster than normally. It’s priced at around €20 and you can get it in two colors – PSP-5100W in white and PSP-5100B in black.
Conclusion
When we first saw this cube we were thinking – why would anyone want to buy such a thing? But when we connected it to our notebook and used it, a couple of days things changed. The sound quality is decent enough and the design is really cool, which makes buying this device so much easier.
You also get a USB hub that’ll definitely make your life easier, especially if you’re using an external keyboard and mouse on your desk. The cons are the lights above the USB ports, as they can't be turned off, as well as the potential power consumption issues, as the speaker unit draws quite a lot of power.