You don’t need to be a musician to hold music dear. Even the dullest of mornings can be brightened with some party beats or a heartfelt ballad. While many of us plug in headphones for the daily commute, portable speakers are growing in popularity. After all, these devices are improving rapidly. Furthermore, they are becoming more and more portable.
Ridiculously small beats
If you wanted proof, see the new Keynote Bluetooth speaker. It’s small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, yet it delivers booming sound. You certainly won’t find a more musical keychain.
It’s often said you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. This adage certainly holds true for the Keynote.
This tiny boombox weighs just 35 grams — that’s the same as eight teaspoons of sugar. Yet once you supply Keynote with some tunes, it can output an impressive 85 decibels. For the sake of comparison, this minuscule speaker is twice as loud as your iPhone.
Can this musical keychain compete acoustically with your home stereo system? No, of course not. The two-watt neodymium driver is designed to cover the full range of sounds, but there are only so many miracles this speaker can perform.
The ultimate musical keychain
But the iPhone comparison is the more pertinent here. Rather than straining to hear music from three feet away, your tunes come through loud and clear. Keynote syncs seamlessly with any Bluetooth device, with a range of 10 feet. It has a 500mAh rechargeable battery inside that lasts for three hours of continuous playback.
Hours of playback
Being so small can make you a target for bullies. In this case, the bullies are the larger items rattling around in your bag. Thankfully, Keynote is made from tough stuff — dense polycarbonate resin, to be precise. Consequently, this micro-speaker should stay in good shape for years to come.
One durable little speaker
As mentioned above, Keynote also works as a keychain. It actually comes with a strong keyring attached at the corner. While the speaker is small, some users might find it a little unwieldy when attached to their keys. That said, it’s easy enough to attach the speaker to your backpack or your belt loops.
Belt loops, backpack, or back pocket
The speaker comes in three different colors: deep black, cherry red and cornflower blue. For each design, the main color is an accent to the clean white underbelly.
“To provide better sound quality than any traditional smartphone, the Keynote features a premium 4-ohm 2-watt full range driver with a neodymium magnet that offers a near flat frequency response to deliver over 85db of beautiful acoustics from a meter away. That’s more than twice the sound level from your iPhone.” — FiveHundredMore on Kickstarter
A small wonder
This really is the perfect speaker for sharing tunes on a beautiful day at the beach. It’s compact, robust, affordable, and a significant audio upgrade from your phone.
All-round sound
The only people who shouldn’t buy this speaker are the true audiophiles. Keynote simply can’t compete even with larger portable speakers, let alone your B&O speakers at home.
– Kickstarter: Until March 16th
– Pledge: $49 USD
– Delivery: September 2018