Sensport Move Mini Outdoor Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker – Today’s product was provided for review by Probox2’s Wilson. Thank you so much for your continued collaboration!
As gadgets go, portable Bluetooth speakers are quite prevalent and became a big, diverse market. They come in many shapes and sizes and differ in price greatly, according to manufacturer, audio quality and other features.
What’s in the Box?
Sensport included almost all needed bits with this small speaker. Aside from the speaker itself, you’ll find a connection ring (what they call a “climbing hook”) and a red PU leather thick string to help you hang the speaker from hooks and such, a USB – Micro-USB charging cable (but no actual wall plug, to save costs), a 3.5 mm AUX audio cable, and the leaflet form User Manual:
• Move Mini Speakers
• Climbing hook
• Red PU leather string
• USB Charging Cable
• 3.5 mm AUX Cable
• User Manual
Looks
When it comes to design, Move Mini Speaker is relatively simple, being a black plastic and aluminium square box with rounded edges roughly the size of two or three cigarette boxes. As it has IPX6 waterproof certification, all ports and openings to the speaker are protected with a rubber flap in the back of the unit. The Bottom-Left corner contains a cutout that allows the connection ring to be put through. And all the control buttons are located at the top of the box for easy access. The material used on the outside of the speaker seems to be ABS plastic which is very common in production (and 3d printing) nowadays. However, I’ve found that over time, this material tends to deteriorate somewhat and turn soft and sticky. No information is provided in the specifications regarding working temperature range. On the back of the speaker, under the rubber flap aforementioned, are the Micro-USB charging port, the AUX audio in port, and the Micro-SD slot.
Specifications
| Bluetooth Specification | 4.2 |
| Driver Spec | 6 Watts |
| Size | 100 x 86.5 x 33 (L x W x H) mm |
| Net Weight | 225 Grams |
| Transmission Distance | 33 Feet (10 Meters) |
| Battery Capacity | 1800 mAh |
| Charging Port | Micro USB |
| Charging Voltage | 5 Volt |
| Charging Time | Approx. 3-4 Hours |
| Playtime at full volume (100% volume) | Approx. 5-6 Hours |
| Playtime at partial volume (60% volume) | Approx. 25-26 Hours |
| Waterproof Standard | IPX6 |
| Other Interfaces | AUX-IN Port, Micro-SD (TF) Slot * |
* Micro-SD (TF) card supports maximum 32GB capacity and it supports MP3, WMA file formats playback.
Ever since Bluetooth made its way into our little devices, it became an integral part of out lives. From Bluetooth enabled earphones and headphones, through hands-free wireless car ports, and of course wireless speakers that you can carry anywhere – Bluetooth became so common that you don’t find it strange to see people talk to themselves while walking in the streets any more.
Testing and Audio Quality
I started testing after first charging the speaker for about 3 hours. There is an red indicator light while charging which turns off once the charging cycle completes.
Audio Quality
First, Audio quality, which for me is always the first and foremost item to check when testing any audio related device or equipment: It is more than good. In fact, the sound is quite full, clear, with clean voices and enough timbre in acoustic parts of music to surprise me, considering the small size of this portable speaker.
Upon extended playback I can tell that lower frequencies sound better than higher frequencies (percussion over voices for instance). But that does not mean that the total quality of sound created by this small unit is not impressive. It is.
Playback Modes
Move Mini allows three different modes of operation for audio playback (excluding the Bluetooth hands-free ability, which I will cover later): the first, is Bluetooth streaming. Pretty simply, it’s streaming audio from a Bluetooth capable device – In my case my new Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus.
Next mode of playback is via a Micro-SD memory card. The card must be no larger than 32 GB *, according to specifications. The Move Mini supports only WMA and MP3 compressed audio.
* However.. last two tests I conducted with a 64 GB Micro-SD card as well with a 128 GB capacity one, showed that the speaker IS able to read and play audio back from larger capacity memory cards – topping out at 64 GB, and not 32 GB as specified. (also mentioned in Issues and Bugs as follows)
The last mode of playback is via a coaxial 3.5 mm direct cable connection. To use this mode of playback, we need to turn the speaker as usual, with a long press on the power button, and then plug in the included 3.5 mm cable from the audio source to the connection in the back of the speaker.
Bluetooth
Pairing completed quickly and without issues, after turning the speaker on by applying a long press on the left-most power button. All audio playback via Bluetooth testing was done using lossless FLAC audio files.
The manufacturer claims 10 meters (direct line of sight). When testing inside an apartment, I was able to keep playback running smoothly through two walls, and approximately this reported distance.
Battery Life and Waterproofing
Time measured using mixed sources (Bluetooth, Micro-SD and AUX) in differing volumes came up to about 30 hours and 42 minutes. That’s a great number for Battery Life.
Move Mini is IPX6 certified. That means it is dust proof, and also Waterproof to a degree. This waterproofing level means it can withstand streams of water (such as shower, or rain, or spray from the sea, but it is not completely submersible under water like IPX7 certified products) Water resistance tested in the shower, with the move mini hanging on the shower glass door. It seems to perform perfectly in this humid, water sprayed environment.
Bugs and Issues
- There is also no battery level indicator, and you use the move mini completely blindly, unless you keep score of your usage independently. A simple 5 LED indicator would have elevated the usefulness of this speaker
- The rubber buttons that are used in dual capacity as volume control and back and forward songs leave a bit to be desired. Long press on “+” and “-” acts to increase or reduce the substantial volume of this small speaker, but short presses act to go back a song (or return to beginning of a song) or advance to the next song in line. This simple mechanism is very easy to confuse and you may find yourself switching to the next song when you want to simply increase the volume
- Although the specifications for the speaker claim a maximum size of 32 GB for readable Micro-SD cards, I was able to read and play back MP3 files from a 64 GB Micro-SD card
Move Mini Conclusions
Did I like it? Yes, I liked this little speaker. It provides surprising power for such a small package, and the audio quality is good for the most part. The capabilities that BT enabling allows it means that you can use it for hands free conversation at a better quality and more freedom to move around than you can with your smartphone. However, be aware that it will be more susceptible to outside noise than your smartphone, being that it’s noise suppression ability is limited (or maybe even non-existent).
Would I recommend it? Yes. This market is saturated with many similar products, but at this price point, battery life, and solid performance I would definitely recommend the Move Mini Speaker. As long as you don’t need to play lossless files directly from Micro-SD and limit the use of Move mini to small and medium sized rooms.
You like it! Where can you buy it? You can find it here for about 28 USD: Sensport Move Mini Portable Wireless Bluetooth Speakers, Loud Stereo Sound, Rich Bass, IPX6 Waterproof, 26 Hours Playtime Home Outdoor Party Beach Shower
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