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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
2.0 stars
"Good sound but soon stops working!"
Pros: My laptop's speakers have poor sound quality & I was tired of always having to use headphones. So I was really pleased to find a portable, "wire-free" speaker that actually delivered relatively great sound.
Cons: The speaker is too heavy for its flexible gooseneck cord. I think the heavy weight of the speaker damaged my USB port. By the second month if I so much as tapped the speaker or slightly moved my laptop, the device would "disconnect" and stop working.
Summary: My laptop's built in speakers are virtually worthless--I can't even hear movie dialogue well enough through them. So, after some searching, I was really happy to discover JLab's USB speaker, and even happier to discover that it provided the sound boost I needed. The JLab speaker definitely delivers on sound quality. It's loud, undistorted, and more than sufficient for movie-watching or game-playing needs. It's even good enough to play music through (as background music while doing other stuff on the laptop). Unfortunately, after just a few weeks the speaker started to get finicky...or the weight of the speaker on my USB port made my computer start to get finicky. Either way, the device stopped functioning reliably. Soon I had to carefully twist the gooseneck cord into just the right shape or the speaker wouldn't stay connected. Eventually that trick stopped working, and it wouldn't stay "plugged-in" no matter what. The JLab speaker wouldn't actually fall out of the USB port, but it would not stay connected either; it would wiggle from side to side a little, and if it was tapped even lightly it would disconnect. Or if I had to move my computer the littlest bit, the speaker would disconnect.
I'm very disappointed that my JLab speaker stopped working, although I was suspicious that something like this might occur from the moment I got it. The speaker is heavy--it seemed like it couldn't be good to have that much weight dangling off my USB port. Unfortunately, I can't find another product to take its place but am not going to spend $40 more on another JLab just to experience all the same problems again. It's very annoying/unwieldy to have to plug in speakers with wires to my laptop every time I want to watch a movie or play a game, but don't want to wear headphones. I wish JLab would improve their design a bit. I also wish that Toshiba (my laptop brand) had just put JLab quality speakers in my laptop; it can't be an issue of price... after all, JLab sells their whole USB device for just $40!
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