Mi Outdoor Bluetooth speaker review: Praiseworthy, despite its limitations

The Mi Bluetooth Speaker is a good deal for its price. It's not for everyone, though, especially those moderately or too finicky about sound quality

Portable Bluetooth speakers come and go, and we end up asking for more. What's better than tiny speakers that we can keep in our bag and let it go loud whenever the time is right. The concept is not new and we have seen many portable speakers lighting up our small parties. They even make a good travel companion, so they remain in demand all the time.

The Mi Outdoor Bluetooth speaker is one such entry in the sub-Rs 2,000 price range that not only fits well in your budget but also on several other counts.

We used this speaker and felt it was praiseworthy, even if not perfect. Here's what we found in our review:

Design and build

The speaker boasts a minimal and premium look (something common in most Xiaomi products). It has a square form factor with rubber finish at the bottom and fabric coating at the top. The volume buttons are on the right and the power and play/pause buttons on the left. At the bottom, there are the 3.5 mm audio jack and micro-USB charging port protected by a rubber flap. There is also a stretchable lanyard cable to hang the speaker wherever you like.

The rubber finish offers a good grip and the speaker doesn't move too much when you play bass-heavy songs.

The speaker is IPX5 certified for water and dust resistance. What's more, it supports voice assistant. But there's no dedicated button for voice assistant, so you have to press play/pause button twice for that job.

Performance

If you go by the looks, you'd expect the MI speaker to go out loud too much, just like JBL Clip 2 or Sony SRS XB12. But that, unfortunately, is not the case. One justification for that might be the price point: The MI speaker costs just RS 1,399, while the others are priced more than or almost double that amount. But don't stop reading the review just yet because with 5W output, this speaker offers a clear and punchy sound. Even that loudness is enough to fill a room. And if you plan to take it outdoors, it won't disappoint there, either.

The bass is smooth and remains so until you go with the flow and play bass-heavy music on full blast; that's where you start to find that this speaker has some limitations. Yet, it offers one of the best sound output for its price.

With a 2,000mAh battery, the speaker can easily last over 10-12 hours on one full charge. It's really convenient to have such a long battery back-up, considering we usually forget to charge our devices.

Verdict

The Mi Bluetooth Speaker is a good deal for its price. It's not for everyone, though, especially those who are moderately or too finicky about sound quality. As for us, we enjoyed listening to music using the speaker and even attending calls on it. It can pretty much convince most people looking for a small speaker with a decent sound quality.