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.
Pleomax USB Speaker PSP-5000W
We see a similar style of packaging like the one we saw with the PSP-5100W.
In the box you’ll find the speaker unit and the user manual. As soon as you take the speaker out of the box, you’ll be amazed by its strange futuristic design. At a first glance, you could never tell that it’s a speaker, but when you look closer it becomes clear.
Just like the previous speaker, you connect it to your PC via USB as well as a standard 3.5mm audio jack. This speaker is also USB powered and that’s the only function of the USB cable in this case. The top of this speaker is a big shiny button with a couple of functions. It is used for turning the speaker on and off, but it's also used for reflecting the light from three orange lights underneath it. Altought that's not all it does, as it also acts as a reflection surface for Pleomax’s innovative Audio Lens technology that spreads the sound in all directions without loss in sound quality.
This designer speaker unit packs two speakers, one at the top and one at the bottom of its tube-like casing. The speaker at the top is a tweeter which is rated at 0.5W (4Ω), and its function is to improve the sound quality. The speaker in the bottom is rated at 3W and it also uses the Audio Lens technology, but it uses the surface underneath the speaker to to achieve the same effect.
The center of this “Sound Tube” has three rings for sound control. The central one controls the volume, and the other two controls the treble and bass. As far as sound quality goes, considering the dimensions of this gadget, we were quite impressed.
This speaker is also available in 2 colors, black and white, and it’s priced at around €10.
Conclusion
This might be a nice looking accessory for your notebook. It has surprisingly good sound quality considering the dimensions and it’s compact and easy to use. Try as we might, we couldn’t find any cons, and with a €10 price tag, it's hard to go wrong with it if you've been on the hunt for an unusual notebook speaker.