The Jawbone Mini Jambox makes quite a first impression.

Great design; Good battery life; Handy app

Hard sound; Lacks scale; Poorly organised; Dynamically flat; No NFC; Pricey

The Jawbone Jambox was one of the first really successful portable Bluetooth speakers . Jawbone made it larger with the Big Jambox , and now there's the smaller Mini Jambox ($179.99 direct). This sleeker version of the Jambox is thinner, lighter, and just as stylish, but smaller means less power.

Well-designed, sturdy; Incredibly small and light.

Expensive; Doesn't get very loud; Nearly non-existent bass

Bluetooth headset connoisseur, Jawbone , is the company behind one of the most influential portable speakers ever made. It's also the company that's behind some of the best looking wireless speakers to ever hit the mainstream audio market.

If you want a small portable speaker to play at relatively low volumes around the house, the Mini Jambox is a solid – if slightly expensive – choice. However, if you're willing to go for a slightly larger box, you can get more powerful sound for less money.

Excellent build; Snazzy looks; Good sound at low-mid volumes

Mid-range distortion at top volume; Max volume not that high; Not rugged

There may be a wealth of similar sized, compact speakers currently available on the market, but Jawbone's Mini Jambox stands out for all the right reasons. This colourful and compact Bluetooth speaker boasts excellent build quality and produces reasonable sound quality, but it's overpriced and...

Compact; well built design; Reasonable sound quality at low volume; Excellent companion iOS/Android app

Distorts at maximum volume; Limited volume levels; Overpriced

The Jawbone Jambox was one of the first really successful portable Bluetooth speakers. Jawbone made it larger with the Big Jambox, and now there's the smaller Mini Jambox ($179.99 direct). This sleeker version of the Jambox is thinner, lighter, and just as stylish, but smaller means less power. For $20 more, our Editors' Choice, the Bose SoundLink Mini( at Amazon) delivers much better sound quality in a not-as-small, but still easily totable, package. If it were $100, the Mini Jambox would be a top pick, but at $180, it's too expensive for what you get. DesignHead on, the Mini Jambox($149.89 at Amazon) looks almost identical to the original Jambox. When you turn it sideways, though, you see how much smaller it is. The speaker has an approximate 6.1-by-2.3-inch face similar to the Jambox, but it measures less than an inch thick, and weighs just 9 ounces, making it less than two-thirds as thick and three-quarters as heavy as the Jambox. It's smaller than most handheld game systems ...

The good-looking Jawbone Mini Jambox is a very thin and light Bluetooth speaker, but it makes too many compromises on sound quality.

Well-designed, sturdy; Incredibly small and light; Detailed mids and highs

Expensive; Doesn't get very loud; Nearly non-existent bass

There may be a wealth of similar sized, compact speakers currently available on the market, but Jawbone's Mini Jambox stands out for all the right reasons. This colourful and compact Bluetooth speaker boasts excellent build quality and produces reasonable sound quality, but it's overpriced and distorts at maximum volume.

Jawbone's Mini Jambox stands out for all the right reasons. This colourful and compact Bluetooth speaker boasts excellent build quality and produces reasonable sound quality, but it's overpriced and distorts at maximum volume.

Compact, well built design; Reasonable sound quality at low volume; Excellent companion iOS/Android app;

Distorts at maximum volume; Limited volume levels; Overpriced;

The Jawbone Mini Jambox is very small. This portable speaker weighs in at just 0.56 pounds. It is only 6 inches long, 2.9 inches tall and 0.96 inches thick. If you really wanted to, you could put the Mini Jambox in your pocket.

This speaker is incredibly small and looks great

The sound quality is subpar

The Mini might not be for everyone, but at the very least it's a clear improvement over the original Jambox for the same price.

Elegant design; Sturdy build quality; Impressive battery life; Improved Jawbone app works with Spotify; Rdio and iTunes

Limited volume; Annoying firmware update process; Overall package trails some competitors

While you'll pay a premium for it, the Jawbone Mini Jambox is the best-sounding and best-designed micro wireless speaker.

The Jawbone Mini Jambox is a tiny wireless speaker that's beautifully designed with a single aluminum enclosure; Nearly half the size of the original Jambox, it sounds better and plays slightly louder.

Fairly expensive; no protective cover or pouch included; it sounds good for its size, but it doesn't sound spectacular