AYL Mini Speaker System, Portable Plug-in Speaker with 3.5mm Aux Input & 3.5 mm Jack, External Audio for Laptop, MP3, iPhone – Small Wireless Bluetooth Speaker with Built-in Mic (Black)

I purchased this speaker so that I could listen to mp3s in my car without headphones. It does the job very well and has good volume for the spoken word content that I listen to (podcasts, interviews, lectures) . The volume thumb wheel is a great feature which allows smooth level adjustment to the device it is paired with. The extended accordion feature does add a slight amount more bass, butt only just noticeably. You are not going to get a lot of bass out of a speaker this size, and the volume will not blow your hair back, but it is a vast improvement over an onboard device speaker. I did try it with some music, and was not all that impressed...it sounded tinny and thin, although clear in the mid-range and highs. But for my application and usage, it's the perfect solution at a reasonable price. The onboard connector plug has a fairly short wire, but it also came with an ~18" extension cable which is super handy. The listing mentioned "velvet carry bag" which wasn't in the box, but no big deal there as it collapses down to a good pocket size.

I bought the AYL Mini Speaker System because my computer is tucked so far under my desk, behind monitors, cables, and possibly a small ecosystem of dust bunnies, that its built-in speakers might as well be whispering from inside a cardboard box wrapped in a blanket inside a cave. And I was not about to move it. That would involve effort, and possibly locating a screwdriver. Enter this tiny plug-in speaker. First reaction? “Oh great, another micro-speaker that’ll sound like a kazoo in a tin can.” Actual reaction after plugging it in? “Wait… why does this thing sound better than my TV?” This little guy is roughly the size of a golf ball with ambition, yet somehow it pumps out sound like it really cares about my YouTube videos and questionable Spotify playlists. Pros: Plugs directly into the headphone jack. No pairing. No Bluetooth drama. No "Searching for device…" while you scream at your phone. Just plug and boom — noise. It’s tiny. Like "I lost it in my backpack for three days" tiny. Sound quality is shockingly good. Not “replace your home theater” good, but definitely “wow, I didn’t know small electronics could have bass” good. Built-in battery that recharges via USB. Because of course it does. It’s 2025, and we don’t accept AAA batteries anymore. Cons: If you're expecting Dolby Atmos from something the size of a jawbreaker, you’re going to have a bad time. The cord is... there. It’s not winning any beauty contests. But hey, it’s functional, and that’s more than I can say for most of my ex-tech gadgets. Final Thoughts: I got this because my computer was basically whispering to me from Narnia, and now I’ve got a loud, proud, snack-sized speaker that actually sounds great. It’s the audio equivalent of finding out your goldfish can sing opera. Would I recommend it? 100%. Would I be mildly offended if it ever dies? Absolutely. We’ve been through a lot together already.

This improves on the weaknesses of the basic, small, hamburger speaker. After struggling with the controls on a no-name brand hamburger (the volume control and power switch are combined; the stem for the 3.5mm has a sharp bend when stored which will make it prone to breaking the wire inside; non-standard charging port). The AYL has a power switch and a separate rotary volume control. The connecting cable is long enough that when stored it does not put pressure on the internal wires. It has a USB-C charging port. The AYL also stretches open like a hamburger to increase sound. It allows connecting other AYL speakers together. I have never used either of these options. It is a more than decent mini speaker. Provides more than adequate sound for my Mp3 player and portable DVD player.

I'll cover a fact or two that may not be apparent about the little wired speaker (AYL), but keep in mind that this speaker has been sold for several years, and from other reviews it is clear that it has undergone some design changes over that time - so everything here applies only to the one I happened to receive, in early December 2022. Also, bear in mind that I am not an audiophile, and am using the speaker on a QRP (low power) amateur radio that has a very small and inadequate built-in speaker, not for listening to music. Volume control: Mine has a traditional continuous control, zero to full volume, not the push or flick side-to-side volume control many others have reported. Either will work; I prefer this control. Charging port: USB C. The included short USB C cable is claimed to be only for charging, not data transfer. The speaker charges fine from other USB C charging cables & chargers intended for phones. The USB C port has an intriguing "CHARGE AUDIO" labeling on the device. Surely this doesn't mean it will accept USB audio input? I did not check. It probably is just an artifact of sharing parts with another model that does, or of carelessness in labeling. Perhaps some brave soul will test it and report back in a review or comment. It came with a microscopic instruction manual, written in "stiff" English. Also a greeting card from the USA seller, with phone # and web site. The "Aux" output jack (labeled "AUDIO" on the device), intended for daisy-chaining multiple speakers together to get more sound, appears to be a pass-through (it is active whether the speaker is on or off). Take Note: it can be used as an input as well. It is more handy for me to use a male-to-male (plug to plug) stereo 3.5 mm jumper cable to connect my audio to the speaker than to unfurl the short stereo cable and plug from its position tucked away on the bottom of the speaker (this plug/cable is labeled "AUX IN" on the device). A 3.5mm stereo extension cable (female to male / jack to plug) was included to help get that short plug/cable on the speaker bottom to an audio source more than a couple of inches away (I did not measure its length), but since I don't use that cable input, I simply tested this extension cable (it works fine) and stored it away with other audio cables and connectors. Some people have complained that the speaker will not stay "shut". Mine can be squeezed down to compress the accordion pleats and twisted to lock it into a compact ball. It will stay that way while handled. I did not feel the need for the extra bass the extension "pop-up" is intended to deliver. That might get music "thumbing" the bass rhythm, but for radio communications, it has plenty of bass when "closed". I expect the audio quality is fine for the kind of casual music listening for which it is intended. For any hams reading, the radio is a tr(uSDX), with its tiny, tinny speaker (better than nothing, but still). The AYL speaker gives great audio, with a decent range of volume, with the radio set to volume levels of 10 or so. You can turn up the volume on the radio without triggering feedback (owners will know what I mean), but at some point the little speaker will overload and start to distort. It should be enough volume for working outdoors in all but the very worst conditions. For those times, give up and use a headset. I don't have any experience on ruggedness, longevity, battery life, etc., though the battery seemed to be holding up fine for some extended listening, right out of the box, without charging it at all. The LED on the bottom is blue during operation, red during charging, and blue again when charging is complete. I don't know yet whether the LED somehow signals a low battery. (Hopefully, not with that creepy voice some reviews report!) The only thing I'd change is the top; it is too open for my taste, potentially allowing dirt and debris into the speaker diaphragm area. I'd prefer a fine screen. A very minor design complaint. It did not come with a bag or case, but I'll find something to keep it safe and clean during transport. If it fails early, or there is "news", I'll try to come back to this review and update it.

The sound from my laptop is okay but nothing special and, depending on what I am listening to, isn't always loud enough for my old ears. This item performs above expectations for its small size and affordability. It sounds great (no distortion) at either the high or low end of frequencies for watching movies/video clips or listening to music on a computer. I am not a hard-core audiophile so I am sure there are some folks out there who would be more discerning about the sound quality but I think it sounds quite good (so much better - crisper, clearer and louder) than my laptop speaker. I wouldn't mind if the cord used to plug into the computer was a bit longer, but that is not a big issue for me. As an added bonus, it works with my classic iPod (yes, I know I am a dinosaur). I would really love it if this awesome little speaker came with a neoprene pouch or some other protective storage case to keep it and its associated cords safe and dust free when stored in a computer bag (or anywhere else). It appears to be of good quality, is easy to use, provides amazing sound, and is very affordable. Other than a nice storage pouch/box, what more could you want? Highly recommended.

I am very happy with my AYL mini speaker! I got it primarily to use with my sine wave generator. It holds the tone very well and is small enough to fit in a small space!

I'm using this in a hotel room both to listen to a radio app while getting dressed and to boost the sound of my alarm clock apps in the morning. Pros: Very small. Good sound. I can play it in the bedroom area and hear it in the bathroom area. You can turn the volume loud enough to hear without distorting the sound (I'm not using this for music, but it is fine for the news). It comes with the minimally required cords. Cons: 1) You are going to want to buy your own cords as the cords that come with it are a bit short. 2) When you use other cords, though, the power cord will pop out at random. Even though it is supposed to hold a charge, it often stops playing when unplugged. I never actually used the cords that came with it, so I'm not sure if the original cord posed the same problem. 2) The speaker makes a noise (sometimes, not always, but enough to be annoying), when it is plugged into my phone but I'm not playing audio. That's a problem because I want to leave the speaker on, but my phone silent, so my alarm will play through the speaker. It improved when I moved the power source from my USB hub (where I also plugged in my phone) to a power outlet on the other side of the nightstand. Still, this problem seems common with mini speakers. I've ordered a Bluetooth speaker to see if that bypasses the entire problem. 3) Oh, that's another con - it isn't blue-tooth capable. 4) The blue light is super bright. Probably not a problem for most people, but I can't stand any light when I'm trying to get to sleep. I'm not sure why it needs to be that vibrant... I know I put down a lot of "cons" but I do like this little speaker. It just doesn't suit my purpose as well as I had hoped.

Out of the box, I thought this device was going to be great: The designer made the correct decision about the value of stereo sound when your dual sound sources are only inches apart. No one can hear the wonderful stereo effects; and no one cares. So save half the production cost, and pass the saving on to the consumer. Good decision. Good choice. But then we find some bad choices: The designer wanted to automatically distinguish between whether this tiny multi-milliwatt device had a microphone plugged into it to use it as a micro-PA system. Hey, Mr. Microphone works better! Anyway, this meant that use of the 3mm socket was dedicated to determining whether an external mic was plugged into the device to use it as a PA system. So the designer was left with the choice of providing a male 3mm audio plug to receive the audio signal from the host phone or computer's AUX audio port. Unfortunately cables integral to a small device like this are unwieldy. So the designer opted for a tiny stub of an audio output cable permanently attached to the bottom of the product, and wound in a circle around the base. This cable looks exactly like many that are spring-loaded, and you simply pull them, and they unwind out of the device to be used. I tried that immediately after removing this product from its box. And, BINGO! I had pulled the wire, and broken its internal electrical connection. So I got another one. I was careful NOT to pull the cable off of this one. Actually, it's lucky I did damage the first one, because I would have never found out that the bass in the first one was severely broken. I thought it was just a junk audio design: The spectrum is anything but flat. The treble is severely attenuated when the "bass resonator" ("slinky in a tent") is unleashed. Unfortunately, in the first instance of this device that I had, any bass signal reproduced at more than half-volume BUZZED. It turns out that in the 2nd instance of this device that I got, the bass DID NOT BUZZ. Great, I thought. This thing had a problem I didn't even know about, and now it works better than I expected. BUT WAIT: It turns out the speaker is often the source of noisy digital audio hash. But not always. The fact that it is sometimes quiet demonstrates that the designers have included some kind of "squelch" circuit which suppresses the digital hash noise when the music is not playing. Unfortunately this almost certainly means the noise is still there distorting the music you are attempting to reproduce and listen to. It's just that you can't easily hear the noise underneath the music when the music is loud. (Great!) Now for the worst part: I suspect this is related to YouTube "breaking the rules," and burrowing down into the detailed nuts & bolts of the audio facilities of its users. Or maybe it happens with other sources, as well, although I have seen this typically only when people try to use YouTube: The audio squelch is defeated by some activity YouTube inserts into audio which should be silence. This causes the device -- this AYL external amplifier in particular -- to remove its squelch, allowing digital hash noise to be amplified up to a loud level while NOTHING ELSE is playing. This is an amateur error. Live & learn, guys. Fix your squelch conditions so they are compatible with YouTube. Or, better yet, design an audio circuit which doesn't insert all that digital hash into the program audio in the first place!!! We've all been there. Done that. Decades ago. But it's kiddyland at Amazon, today!!! Then there's just the inconvenience of trying to find the controls which, with the power cable, audio cable, and PA connector, are spaced all the way around the black 360 degree circular device to confuse your fingers while searching for the audio volume control knob and the on/off switch (usually resulting in your perfectly set audio level blasting your significant other awake in the other room.) It seems obvious to me it would have saved money, a machining operation, and operational complexity iff the designer had used a volume control with a built-in on/off switch at the end of the low volume travel. Again, who knows why they did not? Perhaps they didn't know such a component existed. Later edit: It turns out perhaps the worst problems are caused by this manufacturer's selection of a low quality USB A --> USB C charging cable. Just breathing on (and often when it is just sitting there), the poor USB A connector makes intermittent contact, and inserts transients into EVERYTHING. This appears to be the source of erroneous instructions which causes the speaker to lose its squelch. It's a wonder this thing can work or charge at all. This conclusion is only based on 2 cases, but BOTH of the supplied charging cables are dangerous. Thank god neither inserted sufficient or the right transients into my computer (hosting the charging session) to crash it! Of course, these days, how can I tell if it is actually performing correctly or executing a portion of random instructions??? There's nothing wrong with hobbiests attempting to build a product. That's how we all learn. But next time, I recommend you test the actual configuration you are shipping before you sell a ton of them. "The future is a place where nothing works."

Great Company, fast delivery. Excellent quality speaker using it with my portable radio amateur equipment the perfect set up.

Es muy básico, no es bluetooth ni wireless como dice la descripción