The iMainGo X looks like a giant cassette tape but it’s actually a mobile speaker for your iPhone and iPod Touch (or most any player with a 3.5mm headphone jack). However, unlike other portable speakers, you’re supposed to actually insert your device into the iMainGo X and then control it through a plastic film on the rear of the speakers. This makes the entire iMainGo X set up look a lot cleaner from the outside, and also means that you never have to worry about losing the wire to attach your iPhone. The horizontal setup also makes Cover Flow on the Music app look extra cool.
There’s also something to be said about speakers to use the headphone jack instead of the iPhone dock, since the former allow you to remotely control the volume of your music from the iPhone itself, instead of having to rely on a set of physical buttons that reside only on the speakers themselves.
There are, of course, some downsides to this design. The first of which is that, should you receive a phone call while your iPhone is in the iMainGo X, you’ll be holding an entire speaker up to your head just to take the call, since it isn’t terribly convenient to unzip the whole case, unseat the plastic panel that secures the iPhone, and remove the device. It’s not quite as bad as the side talking of the Nokia N-Gage, but it’s pretty close.
The second issue here is that the 3GS and iPhone 4 don’t fit perfectly into the iMainGo X. This means that using a touch screen through the plastic film is a little bit more challenging than it should be, since you have to press a little bit harder to reach the corners of the screen. In fact, some users may prefer to simply thread the short audio cable of the iMainGo X outside the case and simply use it like a regular speaker (thereby negating the need for the transparent back panel altogether).
Sound
The iMainGo X can certainly fill a room with sound, but the quality is definitely limited by the small frame of the speakers. All of the instruments and vocals tend to sound very close together, so it’s hard to tell where one sound and another begins. The result is a very loud, but rather muddy, micro boombox.
Battery
The battery life on the iMainGo X is a decent five to six hours on the charge. Should you happen to run low or run out of battery completely, you can always put the AC charger right into the front of the iMainGo X and use the device while it charges. It’s impossible to charge an iPhone or iPod Touch while it is in the iMainGo X, though.
The one major complaint I have about this speaker is its double power switch setup. There is one power button on the front of the speaker, and tapping on it will activate a green light to indicate that the device is on.
However, this front switch is completely useless unless you open the entire iMainGo X up and make sure that the battery switch (a small black toggle that has no lights or LEDs around it) has been set to on. What’s more, it’s actually possible for the iMainGo X to run out of battery after idling for a day or two if you forget to set the inner power switch to off. It’s pointless to have a sleep mode on a device that can cold boot instantly, and the two switches will needlessly confuse a lot of users.
Untested
There were a few features that I didn’t get around to testing, simply because they didn’t fit into my regular routine for mobile speakers. Among these features ID three ports along the front of the iMainGo X which allow for daisy chaining of speakers and headphones, as well as a line-in for a microphone. These are interesting additions to the iMainGo X, but not ones that I ended up needing in the every day.
Conclusion
The $70 iMainGo X is certainly an interesting departure from the norm in terms of mobile speaker design, but after having spent a few weeks with one, I’m not convinced that it’s that much better than the other mobile speakers I’ve used. The design of the iMainGo X – much like its name – is probably just a little bit too complex for its own good. A simpler design would have made the whole package smaller and easier to use (which is really what most users want from a set of portable speakers).
—
The iMainGo X was provided by the Max Borges Agency for review on iSource. For further information regarding our site’s review policies, please see the “About” page.
Continue reading:
- Everything New Apple Just Announced (Septembe
- Apple Watch Pre-Order
- Apple Research Kit launches with 5 Apps
- Apple TV now only $69
TAGS:
