The speaker’s unique design, which features flashing lights that bounce along with the music, isn’t the only reason X-mini called its latest speaker the Clear. It also provides a crystal clear sound signature, which does a nice job of illuminating the finer moments in your favorite tracks.
The Clear’s sound is delivered by way of dual ceramic drivers encased in separate enclosures to reduce resonance, flanking a custom 70mm “woofer.” The drivers are powered by separate amplification for each driver. Other features include a touch-capacitive control panel along the top, an on-board speakerphone, and a rechargeable battery with a claimed 6 hours of playback time, which if fairly modest considering much of the Clear’s competition boasts 10-12 hours of charge-free fun.
X-mini claims a frequency response of 40Hz – 20kHz for the speaker, but it appears to trail off long before that in the low end, making us wish for a little more punch in the bass. And while the sound is brilliantly clean on higher quality tracks, it occasionally brings a bit too much bite in the upper mids on lighter productions, or thin-sounding mp3 tracks.
Still, its distinctive design and ample collection of amenities allow the Clear to rise above the fray. Those looking for something a little different this holiday season may want to put this speaker on their shopping list. The X-mini Clear is slated for release sometime in November, with pricing yet to be disclosed.
