Jawbone MINI JAMBOX Pro Reviews

We're smitten with the Mini Jambox's colorful styling and well-constructed casing, not to mention the improved app, but it mainly seems to raise the bar within Jawbone's own product lineup. It's hard to justify the $180 price if loudness is a concern, especially with competing products from SOL Republic, Logitech and Beats priced about the same, or even cheaper. That said, the price is right if you're interested in what the Mini Jambox has to offer -- namely, a stylish, well-built Bluetooth speaker with extended app functionality. Whether or not you're sold, don't even think about getting the regular Jambox instead of this: the Mini is a clear improvement over the original for the same price.

I've dinged Bluetooth speakers in the past for costing too much. For instance, I thought the Deck by Sol Republic and Motorola cost about $50 too much. And I'll say something similar about the Jambox Mini -- it's flat-out pricey at $180, especially when you can now get perfectly decent tiny Bluetooth speakers for $100 or even $50. It should cost less than $150 (and probably a bit less than that). I also think Jawbone should have included some sort of protective cover like it did with the original Jambox. However, I do think the Mini's design is superb (though the Deck does some fun things with LEDs and colors, the Deck's design is all plastic). Also, I can't think of a micro speaker that's as small as this that sounds better. Better-sounding speakers like the UE Boom and Bose SoundLink Mini weigh more and while they're relatively compact, they aren't nearly as lightweight or slim as the Jawbone Mini. So what it comes down to is how much of a premium you want to pay for a very slickly designed tiny wireless speaker that sounds impressive for its size but not as good as competing products that cost slightly more (or significantly less in some cases). All I can say is that while the Mini Jambox may not sound superb, it's the best-sounding micro Bluetooth speaker I've encountered. Take that for what it's worth.