Upgrade your notebook sound
Modern notebooks makers are constantly seeking to reduce thickness and weight, expand keyboard and trackpad surface area etc. As such, speakers are usually relegated to a downward-firing position, which is not ideal.
Put on a pair of headphones or earphones, and you can tell that notebook speakers are not the least musical. They seem to lack a certain punch in dynamic songs, are thin and doesn’t bring a sense of atmosphere in vocal ballads, and lack stereo separation and depth in any instrumental-based music.
To solve this issue, while keeping to portability — who wants to lug around 2kg speakers? — the mini-speaker category was born. This was made ubiquitous in the form of X-mini capsule speakers in 2006.
In the same sense, the portable speakers we are looking at today serve as upgrades to notebook sound. However, they fill a very special category of ultra-budget speakers. The X-Mini starts at RM250 a pair, where all of these speakers cost less than RM50.
With this context in mind, let’s start with the features of these speakers…
Edifier M1250
- Slightly angled panels with no padded feet
- USB-powered with 3.5mm plug
- About 550g total
- Measures 7cm x 17cm x 10cm (WxHxD) per speaker
- On-off switch, 3.5mm headphone port, volume knob on right speaker panel
- RM42
SonicGear Quatro 2
- Angled panels with padded feet
- USB-powered with 3.5mm plug
- About 400g total
- Measures 10cm x 19cm x 11cm (WxHxD) per speaker
- In-line wired volume control
- RM25
Logitech Z120
- Slightly angled panels with padded feet
- USB-powered with 3.5mm plug
- About 550g total
- Measures 8.5cm x 11cm x 8.5cm (WxHxD) per speaker
- Volume knob on right speaker panel
- Cable organizer behind right speaker
- RM49
Divoom Iris-02
- Very slightly angled panels with padded feet
- USB-powered with 3.5mm plug
- About 500g total
- Measures 6.9cm x 6.5cm x 8.5cm (WxHxD) per speaker
- Volume knob on top of right speaker
- RM31
Genius SP-A110
- Slightly angled panels with no padded feet
- 230V AC with 3.5mm plug
- About 550g total
- Measures 7cm x 15cm x 6.5cm (WxHxD) per speaker
- Volume knob on right speaker panel
- RM49
External Features
Connectivity
Most of these speakers are USB-powered, except for the Genius SP-A110. This makes them ideal companions to laptops and they can be additionally powered with power banks.
All the speakers get input via standard 3.5mm plugs, and being budget speakers, none of them have Bluetooth connectivity, radio, or USB/SD support.
Portability
In terms of true portability, the Divoom Iris-02 and SonicGear Quatro 2 stand out as they’re both square-ish. That makes it easier to stow them away neatly.
The Logitech Z120 comes in next with a relatively small but irregular footprint, and with a cable-organizer to keep those messy cables from tangling in your bag.
The Genius SP-A110 and Edifier M1250 are the largest of the bunch, with long rectangular bodies and long cables that could tangle up easily.
Build Quality
The Logitech Z120 stands out among the rest with a solid build quality that feels like it can take a beating. No creaks or flex can be felt even if you press down hard on it’s body.
The Genius SP-A110 and Edifier M1250 comes up next, with simple bodies, and no creaking and flexing, but their enclosures feel slightly hollow and thin.
The Divoom Iris-02 and SonicGear Quatro 2 end up bottom with slightly creaky enclosures. They’re not objectively bad — they’re considered good, just not as good as the others.
Setup
The Edifier M1250 has the best setup and accessibility owing to the convenient on-off switch, audio pass-through output, and big volume knob on the front panel of the right speaker.
The Logitech Z120 comes up next with an accessible volume knob that also serves as an on-off switch, and really sticky rubber pads that prevent the speakers from moving around.
The Divoom Iris-02 and Quatro 2 are tied next but in different ways. The Iris-02 has a top-facing volume pad, but it’s vertical angle is not ideal for desktop listening. The Quatro 2 has a great vertical angle, the best amongst all the speakers here, but the wired inline volume control is not as elegant as the others.
The Genius SP-A110 is the bottom owing to it’s combination of really slippery feet, tall body, and thick and stubborn power cable. It has fallen over multiple times, and it’s hard to get it to stay in a spot. Frustrating to say the least.
Aesthetics
The Logitech Z120 comes out on top with it’s smooth, elegant matte white surface. It’s subtly curved unibody also catches the eye compared to the other speakers. The fit and finish of the Z120 is top notch, with nothing out of place.
The Divoom Iris-02 follows with a simple, glossy body (which unfortunately is a fingerprint magnet). The fit and finish is great.
The SonicGear Quatro 2 is next with it’s handsome, pseudo-brushed-aluminium exterior. It also has a splash of colour to make your desk just that slight bit more vibrant. The fit and finish is good, but with many more visible plastic joints than the Z120 and Iris-02.
The Genius SP-A110 and Edifier M1250 are tied for the bottom. The Genius maintains a simple and boring design. The Edifier M1250 looks functional, but complex for a small speaker with a cluttered front panel and weird looking feet.
Sound
Hissing, Pops and Noise
All the units have no issue with background noise or hissing.
The units without an on-off switch (Divoom Iris-02, SonicGear Quatro 2) have the characteristic pop when you plug them into a power source even at lowest volume level.
Maximum Volume
The SonicGear Quatro 2 stand out as being capable of going the loudest, capable of filling up a room, and doing permanent hearing damage if you listen to it at an arm’s length. However, it sounds slightly shrill and distorted at maximum volume.
The Divoom Iris-02 is close second, and also sounds slightly shrill at maximum volume.
The Logitech Z120 is about 75% as loud as the Iris-02 and Quatro 2, though having a better response at maximum volume level, maintaining balance between the frequencies.
The Edifier M1250 and Genius SP-A110 have similar loudness, which is slightly less than the Z120. Their sound at maximum volume remains pretty much the same with regular listening volume.
Frequency Response
A few sine-wave sweeps from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz were done, and these were my perceptions of the speaker’s responses.
Logitech Z120 has a slight V-shaped sound with bass-lower mid and treble emphasis. Starts around 120 Hz to 14,000 Hz.
SonicGear Quatro 2 has a V-shaped sound, and has more emphasis on parts of bass and treble than the Logitech Z120. Starts around 130 Hz to 13,000 Hz.
Divoom Iris-02 has a balanced sound with a gentle roll off in the bass and treble. Starts around 100 Hz to 13,000 Hz.
Edifier M1250 has a mid-centric sound with heavy roll offs in the bass and highs. Starts around 300 Hz to 12,000 Hz.
Genius SP-A110 has an uneven frequency response, with a long roll off in the bass and treble, and peaks at 400Hz and parts of the upper mid-range and treble. Starts around 100 Hz to 12,000 Hz.
Sound Quality
The speakers were placed in an equilateral triangle and arm’s length distance from the reviewer for ideal stereo imaging. They were connected to a Macbook Pro Retina through the 3.5mm plug and powered by USB (except for the Genius SP-A110).
The OS X volume and music volume were maxed out, and the volume is controlled on the speaker to preserve maximum bit depth.
Music was downloaded and played through the Apple Music service on iTunes. The format for the songs are all 256 Kbps AAC, which is tested to be psychoacoustically transparent and similar to source quality.
Blank Space by Taylor Swift (Pop)
The Logitech Z120 stand out as having great clarity in the vocals and instruments, while maintaining a smooth treble. There’s a good amount of warmth and bass impact compared to other speakers.
The Divoom Iris-02 is close behind, with slightly better treble and vocals, but are cold sounding. The bass are more recessed and hit with less impact than the Z120.
The SonicGear Quatro 2 are great too, but are slightly harsh in the upper-mid region compared to the Z120 and Iris-02, and could be a turn-off to some with sensitive ears. If you don’t mind that, they are warmer and weightier than the Iris-02
The Edifier M1250 and Genius SP-A110 are similar sounding and are quite far behind the other 3 speakers. They sound thick, veiled and distorted, with not much bass or treble extension to talk about. Taylor Swift’s vocals sound nasal, and you can’t distinguish instruments and the background music well.
All Of Me by John Legend (R&B/Soul)
The Divoom Iris-02 performs exceptionally well with it’s vocal focused sound. John Legend’s vocals are airy and well extended, with quite decent detail compared to the other speakers. It’s one of the songs that I went “wow” as I turned it on the Iris-02.
The Logitech Z120 and SonicGear Quatro 2 sound similar here, with a slightly recessed midrange. John Legend still sounds great, just having less feeling and warmth as compared to the Iris-02.
The Genius SP-A110 sounds okay here, since the song is predominantly vocal focused.
The Edifier M1250 sounds veiled, even compared to the Genius SP-A110. It has more warmth than my Macbook speakers, but more veiled and thicker sounding at the same time.
Hotel California by Eagles, Hell Freezes Over (Rock)
Here the slight V-shaped sound of the SonicGear Quatro 2 shows it’s strength, with great stereo imaging and “bite” on the guitars. The bongos are also well portrayed and weightier compared to the other speakers (though still thin sounding).
The Divoom Iris-02 is close behind, but with a less weighty bass which doesn’t portray the bongos as well.
The Logitech Z120, while smoother, doesn’t sound as engaging or clear as the other 2 speakers. The bass is also slightly less impactful. It still does pretty well as a whole.
The Edifier M1250 and Genius SP-A110 falls flat on this song, which relies on detail and clarity in it’s introduction. On the positive side, they do sound better in the vocals compared to my Macbook’s speakers.
Grand Theft Auto IV: Soviet Connection by London Philharmonic Orchestra (Instrumental)
Again, it’s a close fight between the Logitech Z120 and SonicGear Quatro 2, with the Divoom Iris-02 close behind. The LogitechZ120 has the most balanced response, portraying the instruments with some warmth and weight. The SonicGear Quatro 2 has better bass impact, but lacks some lower-midrange and doesn’t portray the deep brass notes and textures as well. The Divoom Iris-02 lags slightly behind, with weaker bass and texture.
The Edifier M1250 sounds slightly better here, with the instruments being mid-centric. Treble and bass is still not present, but at least the sound is relatively clear.
The Genius SP-A110 is the worst with it’s compressed sound and uneven response. It’s less clear than my Macbook’s speakers.
Three Hammers by DragonForce (Metal)
The Logitech Z120 pulls ahead with great balance between the drums, electric guitars, and vocals.
The SonicGear Quatro 2 with a deeper V sound is missing out on some lower mids, which gives the song it’s atmosphere.
The Divoom Iris-02 sounds okay, but lacks engagement or atmosphere, and sounds “boring”.
The Edifier M1250 and Genius SP-A110 once again falls behind as they just don’t sound as clear or engaging as these speakers.
Common Issues
Slight channel imbalance across the frequency range, causing de-centering of the sound. Prominent if you do a frequency sweep, but not so obvious in regular listening. The stereo separation and imaging is still miles ahead of most downward-firing notebook speakers.
Early bass and treble roll off is common due to a small speaker design. In addition, complex passages are usually mushed up; the overall sound is also colder and more hollow.
Angling the speakers towards ear-level is important, and not addressed well by most of these speakers. Higher frequencies and details are likely to roll off if the speaker driver is off the ideal vertical and horizontal angle.
Conclusion
Taking into account the purpose of these speakers — being a budget, ultraportable speaker, let’s rank these speakers.
Without a doubt, the Logitech Z120 is the overall best budget portable speaker. Externally, it has a solid and beautiful construction, and even a thoughtful cable organizer for better portability. The sound is well balanced and smooth sounding, with less emphasis on a particular genre or sound. Overall a really versatile, portable speaker. It’s priced at RM49, which is still really affordable for speakers.
The SonicGear Quatro 2 is the best value ultra-budget portable speaker at RM25. It’s half of the Logitech Z120 in price, but the overall construction is pretty good and comes with different colours. The inline-wired control seems cheap, but what can you say for a speaker that’s 1/10th of the X-Mini’s price… The sound is great for engaging music such as rock, alternative, and instrumentals, but it still does well for other genres such as pop or metal. It’s also the lightest and loudest speaker, and arguably best to setup since it has a great vertical angle.
The Divoom Iris-02 is an odd middle-ground between the Z120 and Quatro 2. The build quality is good, and aesthetically pleasing, but it’s less elegant than the Z120. The mid-focused sound is great for vocals and ballads, but makes it slightly less versatile than the other 2 speakers. It’s volume control looks good, but is slightly fiddly. It’s priced at RM31, which is closer to the Quatro 2 than the Z120. Take this if you prefer vocals, or like the glossy look of the Iris-02.
The Edifier M1250 isn’t recommended, as the aesthetics of the speaker looks out of place. It also doesn’t help that the sound is only average, with a lot of compression and veiling. It’s not particularly cheap also, coming at RM43.
The Genius SP-A110 is also not recommended, because it’s powered by a regular 230V adapter, which is not the ideal for portability. It’s sound is also only average, with compression and veiling. It’s also not cheap, at RM49.
That’s all for now! Let us know in the comments about your experiences, and what other audio equipment you would love us to review!
