I’m a music nerd who loves playing with vintage stereo gear. From the start, Bluetooth felt like betrayal. I remember rudely dismissing the MINI Jambox when it arrived on my desk (God bless the Ogilvy PR team from back then) because pushing music through the air didn’t make sense to me. Bluetooth headsets have the worst sound quality, so why would a wireless speaker be any better?

That’s not technically fair: the bandwidth of a Bluetooth connection is more than sufficient to push high-quality audio from place to place. But there are scores of speakers out there, and most of them aren’t the best.

So I went looking for the features that made me embrace Bluetooth speakers over my lovely stereo in the first place. The ideal speaker should; For starters, sound great, look good, be portable, and work without any glitches. It should also have a high sound-quality-to-size ratio. Some speakers are insanely tiny while others are beefier, and while you can’t expect tiny speaker drivers to move a lot of air they still need to justify their existence.

Also, I shouldn’t have to spend more than R5 000 on a portable speaker, and I’ll take a cheaper one if it’s good value for the money. (There are plenty of R5 000+ speakers out there, but I’m a cheapskate.) And since the nicest thing about Bluetooth speakers is that they can travel with you, any good speaker should have solid battery life and build quality that’s tough enough for a ride in my laptop bag. If it charges my handset or doubles as a speakerphone, that’s just the caramel on my Bar One cake. My contenders (in alphabetical order) are the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay A1, Jawbone MINI Jambox and JBL’s Charge2 Plus portables. I will give my take on each with a conclusion on the best, of best. 

Xiaomi has been accused by many people over many years for its alleged theft of other companies designs, something that has resulted in some calling it the “Apple of China.” It’s not hard to see the ‘inspiration’ Xiaomi has taken from the iPhone for some of its own phones, for example, and even the names of some of its products strongly hint toward other companies’ existing offerings (the Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air, for example).

It’s not uncommon for Chinese companies, not just Xiaomi, to offer thinly veiled variations of existing products, but this could prove troublesome for Xiaomi has it further pushes its way into foreign markets.

I think stand-alone fitness trackers have a few good years left in them before smartwatches render them obsolete. The Up2 is small — Jawbone says it’s 45 percent smaller than last year’s Up24, and I believe it. But more than raw size is the design: it has a more comfortable, more flexible strap and a better-looking module for the electronics. Like the Up24 before it, the Up2 was designed by Yves Behar to has an attractive aluminum casing. I like the crosshatch pattern, and I like that the three indicator lights are hidden underneath it, only lighting up when you need them. The design does a nice job of being attractive enough when you look at it, but nondescript enough that you don’t have to.

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The only real bad part is the clasp. It’s easy to adjust when you need to. But the thing you do more often is, you know, clasp it, and I find it’s fiddly and kind of annoying. I guess the best thing I can say is that it encourages me to leave the little thing on my wrist.

The whole point of the Up2 is to quietly track your basic physical activity, a job it tackles without hassling you. It tracks steps, sure, but the real magic of the Up2 (and with any Jawbone fitness device) is the Up software on your phone. It’s great. It automatically figures out whether you’ve been sleeping or exercising and alerts you when you want it to so you can enter the relevant info on your workouts. You can program smart alarms that set the Up2 to vibrate when you’re coming out of a deep sleep. You can program in little “get up and move around” alerts. You can enter your meals in too, if you really want to track those.

It’s a good thing the software on the phone is so good, because interacting with the Up2 itself is kind of pointless. You don’t need to, for one, since the software usually guesses whether you’re exercising or walking or sleeping on its own. For two, interacting with the Up2 requires you to use an intuitive untuitive double-tap-and-hold-your-finger-down gesture to switch from active to sleeping modes. Like the clasp, it’s fussy, and after a day or two I stopped bothering with it.

The best part about the hardware? The battery life. I’ve had it on for a week and haven’t charged it a single time. I’ve got about two more days left, according to the app. Among smartwatches, only the Pebble comes close to that, and it can’t do the kind of advanced fitness tracking the Up2 can. Unlike most smartwatches, you don’t have to think about charging it every night, and you can leave it on for sleep tracking.

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Unfortunately, the Up2 isn’t totally waterproof, just water-resistant. It’s fine for sweat or rain or the shower, of course, but to be honest I’m really shocked that Jawbone couldn’t make this more useful for swimmers. There’s no heart rate monitor, so there’s no good hardware reason beyond cost not to waterproof this thing. The charging contacts also theoretically shouldn’t preclude waterproofing. They’re external now, but you have to align it the right way for the magnets to catch. It’s a better system than the Up24’s plug, though, since there’s no more stupid charging cap to lose.

But cost might be the most important part of the Up2: it starts at $99.99. That’s much cheaper than almost any smartwatch you can buy right now. It means you can get the benefits of a fitness tracker without committing yourself to a big investment or, honestly, learning how to use a whole new gadget. Truth be told, a hundred bucks seems high for the Up2. You’re paying for the quality, the design, and access to the software, and you’ll need to think about whether it all adds up to being worth it. For me, it does. But if you’re looking to spend less, getting a discounted Up24 might not be a terrible option.

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I’m a smartwatch guy — but then again I was a smartphone guy long before the iPhone was first announced. We all watched smartphones change the world, and a lot of people are hoping smartwatches can do it again. I’m not so sure, but luckily you don’t have to commit to a smartwatch just to get the benefits of a fitness tracker. Instead, you can spend much less and wait to see whether this watch thing is really ready for you (or vice versa).

The wrist-worn health tracker is available now for R2399 in-store from Dion Wired, Clicks, Dis-Chem stores nationwide. You’ll also be able to order it online via Superbalist.com and TakeALot.com stores. The Up3 retains Jawbone’s sleek design aesthetic, but drops some of the more advanced features found in the Up4. It does gowever sport heart rate and skin temperature monitoring.

While useful, those metrics aren’t essential to everyone and the Up2 does everything else you would expect from a fitness tracker – recording steps, sleep and calories burned, as well as food logging, should you want a more complete picture inside the Smart Coach app. Given we won’t be too impressed with the Up3, you might be better off with the Up2 or one of its competitors anyway.

In particular, the new Era is 42 percent more compact than its previous model, with a new earpiece that’s said to fit more securely. On the audio front, Jawbone moved to tiny MEMS microphones and also overhauled its Noise Assassin noise cancellation technology with support for wider-band audio. You can also use voice commands to order your Siri around, assuming you have an iPhone, iPod or iPad. It’s on sale today in four colors starting at R1099 through the normal retailers or online, though if you want that charging case, you’ll need to shell out R1499 for the bundle.Sjoe!

Jawbone Mini Jambox

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Jawbone’s R1999 Mini Jambox portable Bluetooth speaker is confusing at first. It’s taller than the original Jambox, but still much smaller overall, and it’s around the same price as the standard version. So what’s the difference, and who should buy this slim speaker?

The simple answer to the second part of that question is that anyone considering the original Jambox should buy the Mini Jambox instead. The Mini Jambox sounds a whole lot like the original version of the speaker, with no significant changes—and it’s considerably more portable, to boot.

The Mini Jambox measures a bit over 6-inch wide, about 2.3 inches tall, and just under an inch thick. That makes it about the same width as the standard Jambox and barely taller, but the Mini is a dramatic 1.2 inches thinner. On top of that, the Mini weighs only 250 grams—about a third less than the original Jambox’s weight.

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Jawbone is hoping you’ll think this new miniaturized version qualifies as pocket-size—the company pitches the Mini Jambox as something you’ll tote around each day with your phone and wallet. The speaker is certainly rugged enough that I’d feel comfortable tossing it into my backpack, but I think I’d cram it into a pocket only if I knew I’d be needing it. The device is still not small enough for me to make it part of my everyday pocket essentials.

The Mini Jambox sounds a lot like the original Jambox. And that’s a good thing—the original Jambox sounds nice. The biggest difference to my ears is that, as you might expect, bass presence on the little guy isn’t as noticeable as on the original. It has some oomph, and you can certainly feel the Mini Jambox kick when you turn the speaker on or hold it in your hand, but don’t expect any significant thumping.

Bass aside, the Mini Jambox plays as loud as the original does. Jawbone reps told me that the company believes that the Mini Jambox sounds louder because of its shape and acoustic trickery. That’s especially true when you use the Mini Jambox’s Live Audio mode. This software plug-in—which you must download and install from the Web by connecting the speaker to your Mac or PC via the Micro-USB cable—aims to simulate a more-spacious sound, and it mostly works if you’re using the Mini Jambox as a personal speaker for one, with the speaker sitting right in front of you. (With the original Jambox, Live Audio made music sound dramatically quieter; that’s less of a problem with the Mini Jambox.) I enjoyed Live Audio mode when using the Mini Jambox at my desk, toggling it back to normal mode when I brought the speaker into the kitchen to provide the family with some dinner music.

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Besides the lack of substantial bass presence, the biggest knock against the Mini Jambox is that, in mid 2014, what it accomplishes is no longer that special. Although the original Jambox, which debuted in 2010, impressed because of the amount of sound its creators coaxed from such a small package, such a feat is commonplace these days—you can find countless compact Bluetooth speakers (many of them inspired by the original Jambox) that put out big sound. Still, the Mini Jambox is even smaller, and it sounds nearly as good.

Nokia’s MD-12 Bluetooth Speaker

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The Nokia MD-12 was announced to the globe earlier in April, just as the Nokia Lumia 930 and 630 was. Little did we know we were to receive this super bass monster as gifts at the Windows Phone Mobile event. The Nokia Portable Wireless Speaker is priced at around R999.

Nokia’s portable wireless speaker is really small. It has a diameter of 84mm and is just under 4cm in height. This is much smaller than the previous Nokia JBL speakers.  The one that I am reviewing today is in a vibrant yellow colour. The colour is amazing. The front is very minimalist with the Nokia Logo and power button. On the back of the device you will find a 3.5mm audio in and a micro USB for charging the device.  The MD-12 weighs 180g and it feels very sturdy. This is another excellent product from Nokia. No complaints at all about the build quality, the product is excellent.

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When you hold this light and tiny speaker, the truth is that you don’t really know what to expect. On the packaging Nokia has written in big letters: Small & Cool. Loud & Proud (see what we did with this title?). Let me tell you something, Nokia is telling the truth; This little speaker is really loud, full of bass and is really a joy to use. Personally I would not have the volume louder than level 8 as the speaker starts to vibrate and loses sound quality. The sound is surprisingly clear and loud for such a small device. Of course don’t expect to use the NOKIA MD-12 to entertain a home party with 50 people because it is not designed for that. But by your bed, office, living room, etc this portable speaker will do the job, and do it very well.

Bottom Line

With all of that said, both the Mini Jambox and Nokia MD-12 are delightful little speakers. They sound and look bright, clear, and punchy. While it’s not the speaker for a rollicking multiroom party, they works great around the house, as the soundtrack for a small gathering, for personal listening, and for allowing everyone crowded around an iPad to hear the latest viral video they’re watching.

Should you buy the Mini Jambox? That depends. If you already own a regular Jambox, you don’t need this one. If you want true room-filling sound, the Big Jambox is the best Jambox.

Should you buy the Nokia MD-12? Well, that too depends. if you’re on the look for a great, portable, wireless speaker that is super-friendly on the pocket, this one is for you. And plenty of great compact Bluetooth speakers are on the market.

So it really comes down to how much you value portability. For its size, the Mini Jambox is still quite impressive. If you crave portability and battery power, and if you are willing to sacrifice bass and volume to get them, the Md-12 is a solid buy.

If the idea of another Jambox seems redundant (as it did to us at first.) The idea is that you’ll carry the Mini Jambox at all times, in the event you’re, say, hanging out with a friend and decide to watch a movie together on a tablet. But if you mainly want something for home use, the Big Jambox will be the better choice. That leaves the original Jambox in a strange place: Bogard expects you’ll use that at home too, even if you do occasionally trot it out for picnics in the park. You just wouldn’t keep it on your person at all times; it’s a little too large for that.

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In total, it will come in nine different colors: purple, silver, black, turquoise, cobalt blue, red, yellow, green and orange. Interestingly, though each is made of machined aluminum, the pattern on the speaker grille varies from one unit to another (there are five textures in total). We hope to have a full review soon, but in the meantime, enjoy that rainbow of the image above. It is available beginning today at Dion Wired, Incredible Connection, Kalahari, and TakeALot