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Forbes

Technology

Mark Sparrow, Contributor

The World's Most Connected Bluetooth Speaker Now Sounds Better Than Ever

There’s a choice of eight colors in the Minirig 3 range.

For a few years now I’ve been a big fan of Minirigs speakers. I first reported on these amazing speakers back in 2015. These little round wireless speakers are available in a multitude of colors and have particularly found favor with young festival growers everywhere. By a process of word-of-mouth recommendation, Minirigs, with their long battery life and big sound, have built an enviable reputation for sounding great and being able to be connected with other Minirig speakers to create a really big sound system that’s just perfect for open-air parties.

Minirigs grew out of the belly of the thriving music scene in the city of Bristol, an old port in southwest England that’s reinvented itself from being a place of tobacco production and heavy engineering, into a center for all things green and is an exciting media hub that attracts some of the most creative and talented minds. It’s a cosmopolitan city with two excellent universities and attracts workers from all over the world.

Minirig speakers were created in Bristol almost a decade ago and they’re manufactured in the UK by a small company set up by two former Bristol University students who started making the portable speakers for their own pleasure. Their friends were so impressed by the sound of the Minirigs that they were soon asking David Trotter and Tom Tucker if they could buy one too. And so a business was born out of two people’s passion for music and great sound.

The response to the early Minirigs was so enthusiastic that the two friends decided to set up a business to develop and manufacture the speakers and they vowed from the beginning to keep the manufacturing based in the UK, even if that meant accepting lower profit margins. Since the founding of the company, the reputation of Minirigs has soared, and it’s really not hard to hear why.

The story surrounding the birth of the Minirigs is an interesting one with humble beginnings and of sunny days spent in Bristol’s beautiful parks with friends, enjoying and sharing their music. Over many years the idea of a portable park sound system evolved in Tucker and Trotter’s minds through a series of obsessive hobbyist creations. The pair set out to create a portable sound system with volume and clarity to match their high standards. As Tucker says: “It started out purely for the love and fascination with the technology. These DIY creations of ours multiplied and eventually proved very popular as they became ever-more refined.”

The all-new Minirig 3 features a new design of speaker driver and is built from anodized aluminum and impact resistant ABS.

Well, the refining of the Minirig design continues with the launch of the third generation of the product. Minirig 3 has been completely redesigned with both the construction and the sound shifting up a gear. The manufacture of the new Minirig is superb with an excellent finish of anodized aluminum and impact resistant ABS. The Minirig 3 are available in a range of eight different colors, and the base of the speaker is made of s special isolating material so the speaker won’t start jumping or buzzing once the volume is pumped up.

The company claims the new Minirig 3 is the loudest portable speaker of its size. There’s little question about that. Considering it’s not much bigger than the size of half a large coffee mug, the Minirig 3 can belt out music to a truly ear-splitting level of sound. At full volume, you won’t get the maximum battery life, which Minirigs claims is up to an astonishing 100 hours between charges. That maximum battery life is possible at very low volumes but a more realistic battery life using normal volume levels would be about 30 to 40 hours, with that going down to between 8 and 10 hours at the very highest volume levels. It takes around five hours for a full charge from any USB charger using the supplied cable. In fact, there’s so much power on board that you can even use the Minirig 3 as a charger for your phone or other USB-powered device using the bi-directional power cable.

The Minirig 3 features a custom 70mm driver and it can certainly knock out plenty of bass thanks to a 40W Class D amplifier. The speaker supports both apt-X and AAC codecs, so it’s happy turning out high-quality sound when streaming from Android and iOS devices. The Minirig 3 can join other Minirig speakers into one big sound system simply by pressing the button on the outer ring of the speaker and then doing the same on another speaker. You can even set two speakers up as left and right channel on a stereo signal. And if you want more bass, you can plug in the Minirig subwoofer and really party. There’s also a 3.5mm input jack for playing music from any analog source instead of using Bluetooth. You can even plug a pair of headphones into the speaker and use it as a Bluetooth receiver for private listening. And for those who like to listen to their music outdoors, the Minirig 3 design is splashproof so a little bit of damp won’t spoil the party.

The folks at Minirigs have developed a free app that runs on Android and iOS platforms. This clever little app can control the Minirig 3 with a 5-Band EQ setting; toggle between high and low volume settings, link up with other users and several other useful functions such as turning the Minirig off. It’s an elegant little app and works really well with the new generation speaker.

Each Minirig 3 features both an audio input and an audio output, so the speaker can be used as a Bluetooth receiver for a pair of wired headphones.

The sound from this small wonder is nothing short of excellent. The tonal balance is absolutely perfect for my tastes but it is possible to pump up the bass or treble using the EQ setting built into the Minirig app. You can get a great stereo sound stage by linking up two Minirig 3 speakers wirelessly and designating one speaker as the left channel and the other as the right. A brace of Minirig 3s and a Minirig subwoofer would make an ideal party system and is incredibly portable thanks to the sturdy zippered carry case that each Minirig 3 is supplied with.

Verdict: This amazing little speaker looks and feels gorgeous. The sound is absolutely enormous and beautifully clear thanks to support for both apt-X and AAC Bluetooth codecs. The Minirig app is a nice refined piece of software that’s improved hugely since the first version of the app, which came out some years ago. If you’ve tried Minirig speakers before but thought the app was lacking in finesse, give the Minirigs a try and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. At the price similar to the upper range of JBL’s Charge range of speakers, the Minirig 3 is a stylish competitor that offers so much more battery life and volume level that means you won’t be able to stop partying.

Pricing: £139.95 / $154.95 / €159.95

More info: https://minirigs.co.uk/speakers/bluetooth-minirig-3

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