Sonpre S021 Capsule Speaker

Mini portable speakers might be a laughing matter for audio purists; yes we know bass frequencies are not possible according  to the laws of physics, from such a tiny radiating surface, but these little speakers are so very cute. We reviewed the X mini recently, and now we have another similar capsule speaker by a Chinese brand called Sonpre. The model is S021, and it is a USB chargeable little portable speaker.

Design
The S021 unit comes wrapped in a sporty looking plastic transparent package, something that can attract in a Planet M or someplace like that. The package contains the capsule, a USB contraption that acts as an interconnecting wire, EP wire and a nice felt material carry pouch. The finish is black matte and lusterless, with futuristic looking contours on the surface. The 2 ends of the capsule have drivers beneath their grilles.  

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The elliptically shaped capsule is a really cool design, which separates into 2 halves right at the middle. These 2 halves are the left and right stereo speakers, though they can work when joined together also. The joint is magnetic, and seamless. The icons and fonts for the labels are silver, and provide a nice contrast in the aesthetic scheme.

Each half of the capsule can be screwed open to expose an accordion like resonator chamber, which remains springed in when the unit is shut and off. Once open, the inputs and LED come into vision, the latter being a brilliant blue LED which turns red to warn of low battery. Speaking of battery, the unit’s Li battery recharges via USB, the wire for which is included.

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The interconnect wire is a contraption in itself. It’s wound on a central round little clip, that holds the 2 small USB connectors in place. To extend the length one has to pull the 2 ends out, and they automatically lock in to whatever length of separation you desire between the speakers (when separated to stereo mode)

The tiny spec chart states the following factors: frequency response is from 280 Hz -16 kHz. The total weight is 112 g, and total output is 3.4 watts total from both the little speakers. The S/N ratio is more than 80dB. The drivers are 2.5 cm in diameter.

Performance
We opened it out and set them up as a stereo pair, interconnecting it with the USB wire and plugging it to the headphone out of an iPod touch and also my desktop PC soundcard. The tracks we used were varied and from all genres ranging from Prodigy to Bollywood numbers.

The main thing about this speaker is its loudness. It’s really very loud, much more than the other X mini 2 model I reviewed. The sound has heavy mid frequency content but, it’s still not jarring, nor does it distort and create an unpleasant sound. It has enough loudness for a entire office bay to enjoy. At least 6 people can keep it center positioned and listen.

There is clarity in the extreme high end also. Treble quality is quite satisfactory, but subdued by mids. I personally feel the mids should have been a little less, then the speaker would have really hit the spot. Of course there is no bass, and there will never be in such a small design so I really cannot minus marks here. The resonator does add a little body to the sound but no real bass. About battery: it lasted for a little less than 4 hours. This was out of the box, on full charge.

Conclusion
At Rs. 2000 one is definitely getting a very loud portable speaker, which is always good. The sound quality is definitely very mid frequency intensive, but does not distort at loud levels. It has clarity, and overall does its job well. Recommended as a portable, traveler’s speaker.