Review: MUJI Mobile Speaker

(momastore.org)

Been wanting to get this particular mobile speaker for awhile (of course there's the cardboard speakers, but really..), but the closest MUJI store was in Singapore and even though I wasn't going there anytime soon, the exchange rate is not in my favour. I would get someone travelling to places like Taiwan and Hong Kong to get one for me, but I don't know the quality of the output (yeah, this coming from a non audiophile) or if they would test it for me before buying. Basically, I would still need to hear and test it for myself anyway as I can't find a decent review on these online.

Grand Indonesia MUJI store

So I did while in Jakarta. The prices here weren't any better for my wallet than it would be if I was in Singapore, but I gritted my teeth and bought one anyway (after testing, of course) for a bit more than I would've liked. There wasn't much else that I wanted or didn't have to kill myself to lug back... or whatever that I can't find in a 100 yen shop :P

Anyway, the whole package (box and all) is roughly the size of a deck of cards or a large pack of cigarettes - instructions and specifications are here (PDF), and in English (the one I actually have is in Japanese, go figure). I'm a sucker for the form factor - batteries (two AAA batteries) and line-in cable (about several inches long) nicely tucked in and you don't see anything once it's folded.

Here's a couple of videos I took of the audio quality - one with a talk-y podcast playing, the other with music.

I wouldn't say it's a must-get, it's just a handy form factor to have around.