Review: Sonar portable mini-speaker rocks your world

Sound quality is one of the first things that gets sacrificed in ultra-portable devices. Small tech such as your iPad, BlackBerry, and MacBook feature subpar speaker systems — yes, they're okay for basic listening and you can always plug in headphones, but don't expect to play DJ at your end-of-summer barbecue powered solely by your laptop's speakers. You'll end up needing to buy speakers to get the full use from your device, but that turns your portable device into something less than portable.

Enter the Sonar Portable Mini Speaker by Cyber Snipa. While Cyber Snipa's Sonar audio line is typically geared toward gamers, its engineering work on headsets shows in the intense sound output of the Sonar. Coupled with a minimalist design, easy connectivity, and a rechargeable battery, the Sonar Portable Mini Speaker is a steal at roughly $30.

Unboxing your baby
The Sonar Portable Mini Speaker is extremely easy to unpack, with relatively little in the way of miscellaneous pieces. The package contains the portable speaker, a mini-USB charging cable with audio extension, and a carrying pouch, plus the speaker itself in a cardboard-framed plastic package. Getting to the speaker is as easy as pulling the plastic insert from the cardboard.

Connecting, charging, and chaining
As with all rechargeable devices, it's wise to plug in the speaker after unpackaging in order to bring the battery to 100%. Use the included USB cord to plug your speaker into a USB port on your computer (or a USB-to-outlet adapter if you have one handy) and let it charge. The LED light on the side of the speaker remains red while charging and turns blue when fully charged. For the first charge, this should take about two hours.

After the initial charge, the speaker is all you need for regular use. The 3.5mm integrated connection means never forgetting your cables — they're part of the speaker! The cable sits in a channel molded directly into the bottom. Just uncoil the cable from the bottom and plug it in to the audio port on your device. Hit the power button (the side LED will light up blue when powered on), and you're ready to rock.

The rechargeable lithium battery provides four hours of playback time, according to Cyber Snipa. We were able to get at least five hours of play time out of a fully charged speaker. Unfortunately, there's no good indicator as to how much battery life you have remaining.

One of the Sonar's coolest features is the ability to daisy-chain multiple mini-speakers together. While we didn't get to test this feature in house, this sounds like it could be a lot of fun. Imagine stringing a few speakers together with your iPad and setting up your own portable media station, without the usual real estate requirements. 

Small package, big sound
This speaker definitely lives up to its portable title. At just 2.69" x 2.69" x 1.65" when closed and a whopping 3.3 oz., the speaker could indeed be slipped into a pocket for transport — it weighs less than your iPhone 4! And you won't have to worry about the speaker getting scratched in a backpack, thanks to the included carrying bag.

Still, don't let the pocket size fool you. This little guy packs a lot of punch, thanks to Cyber Snipa's patented vacuum bass technology. Twist the top open and watch the speaker's resonance chamber pop up. Be certain to let it expand on its own, as pulling on the speaker will break the resonator and damage the unit.

When opened, the speaker produces a clear, solid sound without noise or loss of sound integrity on bass-heavy tracks. We were actually able to put the unit with an iPod in a first-floor room playing at full volume and hear it clearly from the opposite side of the second floor. Keep an eye on the little guy, though — testing the speaker at high volumes does cause it to vibrate, and it will try to vibrate off slick surfaces just like your cell phone does when ringing on silent!

How you'll use it
The Sonar has as much potential as there are uses for portable media devices. Hook up the portable speaker to your iPad and start composing your own tracks in GarageBand. Watch a Netflix movie on your laptop without straining to hear the dialogue. Heck, daisy-chain a few speakers together, queue up your music library (or favorite music service), and go DJ an event from your smartphone!

So far, our favorite setup is connecting the speaker to an iPad 2 outside for a party. Streaming music through Home Sharing from a large music library to the iPad means not taking up too much space, and the Sonar Portable Mini Speaker is loud without distracting crackle or poor sound quality.

A pleasant surprise
If we had to sum up our reaction to this peppy little speaker, our feelings would boil down to "pleasantly surprised." The Cyber Snipa Sonar Portable Mini Speaker is an amazing deal for the quality of the sound it puts out, with very little distortion and intense bass. For $30, you can look past the less-than-descriptive battery display. If you're in the market for a pocket-sized speaker to complement your portable devices, look this one up. You won't be sorry!

Tecca's rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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