Xiaomi Bluetooth Speaker 2.0

Another day, another Xiaomi product. These are mini Bluetooth cylindrical speakers (they measure about 2 inches in height - well 48mm - and 2 inches across - 52mm) and the come in black or white.

Though small, the sound produced is remarkably good for the size, obviously they cant compete with bigger speakers with large bass speakers for the depth of sound, but just to have some background music, they work well.

If they can be placed apart the sound improves dramatically if you place yourself in the central zone.

The speakers are Bluetooth 5.0 and operate in stereo, however pairing can be slightly fiddly. The centre of the base is a switch surrounded by a "multifunctional switch" so when the speaker's pointing up, pressing the speaker actually presses the central switch.

• Turn on by long pressing the switch (for about 2 seconds) and the speaker should turn on (blue light will flash)
• Do the same for the other speaker
• On Both speakers double click the multifunction switch and they should go into wireless stereo pairing mode
• The "master" speaker will flash quickly and the "slave" slowly
• Pair with a phone, laptop, other BLE device

The speakers also have a microphone and can be used to receive a call (tap the speaker when a call comes in and it will change to mic mode, however this can be annoying as the speaker can go into this mode even when a call isn't there by accidentally tapping it.

The power output is only 3W and the speakers are charged through a microUSB port.

The speaker are available from any of the friendly Chinese import sites and are about £20 (inc shipping). They're never going to compete with the big bass boomboxes, but for something that will fit in a jacket pocket and provide some background music and last for a couple of hours, they're really not bad.