Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker (16W)

The Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker (16W) is an another excelent product from Xioami. Keeps it basic with the design, and it looks akin to the popular rugged Bluetooth speakers from Logitech’s Ultimate Ears brand. A woven mesh wraps around the speaker, and it isn’t of great quality. You can see that the speaker has been built to a cost, but the plastic-coated material should be easy enough to wipe clean if you drop a beverage on it. The speaker is IPX7-rated, so it can live poolside.

A rubberized strip houses the control panel. I’m not a huge fan of rubberized panels since they tend to attract dust and grime over time. However, they make waterproofing easier, and I can see the reasoning here. All six buttons offer good enough tactile feedback and are easy to click through. Indentations on the speaker are all well and good, but the black-on-black labeling might make it hard to make out which button does what in low-light.