At a Glance
The Good: Sturdy, lightweight, affordable
The Bad: Distortion at high and middle volumes, muddy sound
Design
The SP-i150 is a solid and lightweight portable speaker. At just shy of 3 inches in diameter, and looking like a mini UFO, it's the perfect size to throw in your backpack for a trip to the pool. It runs off a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that recharges itself when plugged into the USB port of a computer (the company claims eight hours of use when not plugged in).
It's hard not to compare the SP-i150 (which comes in black or white) with another portable speaker that came out around the same time: Logitech's Z205 Laptop Speaker . Unlike the Z205, which is designed to only operate via a computer's USB port, Genius' speaker can also be used with the headphone port of an iPod or other MP3 player (I used my Zune HD).
Performance
One of the first things I do when testing a speaker is see what it sounds like at top volume (isn't that what we all do?). Disappointingly, the SP-i150 emits fuzz and distortion at top volumes. It's not really that surprising: the little 2-watt speaker (it has a 1.25-inch metal driver) isn't meant for filling a room. At $24.99, you're just not going to get that room-filling sound, and that's not what Genius is going for.
When set at a middle volume range, the distortion diminished (although it didn't completely disappear), but so did much of the bass. Again, if you want thumping bass, you're going to need to invest a bit more money. The SP-i150 also had piercing highs, which could be troublesome depending on the type of music you listen to. Overall, the sounds were quite muddled.
Another downfall: The speaker emitted an irritating static when it was plugged into the USB port of my computer but wasn't playing any music. This did not happen when it was plugged into my Zune, and it only happened when both the USB and the aux cable were plugged in at the same (i.e. when simultaneously using and charging the speaker). Although the sound wasn't very loud, it was certainly perceptible in a quiet office.
Bottom Line
If you really don’t want to go over the $25 mark, you’re not going to do much better than the Genius SP-i150. However, if you’re able to spend a little money -- and I encourage you to do so if you’re looking for an office speaker -- you can and should upgrade beyond the SP-i150. But for a beach-worthy speaker to use with an iPod, the SP-i150’s durable construction makes it a decent choice (although it was not sand-tested).
