MBS-100

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• Expert Rating

  4.00 / 5

• User Rating

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• Price

  $ 108.00 (AUD)

Ross Catanzariti Good Gear Guide 01/09/08 Follow @pcworldau

Pros

• Quirky design, simple operation, excellent sound quality considering its size

Cons

• Battery is non-removable

Bottom Line

This strange-looking device is actually a very useful speaker. Don’t let the design fool you, as Sony Ericsson’s MBS-100 is a commendable mobile phone accessory.

Would you buy it?

• Yes 2
• No 0

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The MBS-100 is a large plastic circle finished in matte black plastic. Although it’s a little too big to cup comfortably in your hand, the speaker is ideal for travelling as it runs off a rechargeable battery. Despite the all-plastic design and the fact that the unit is light, it feels quite solid and well built.

The speaker grille consists of different sized circles etched into the casing, each circle covered by standard black speaker mesh, similar to those found on regular speakers and hi-fi systems. Underneath the MBS-100 is a standard 3.5mm jack for connecting a non-Bluetooth audio source, as well as power and Bluetooth buttons. The battery is non-removable and is charged via the included proprietary AC adapter.

Pairing the MBS-100 is effortless: simply hold down the Bluetooth button until the light on the front flashes red and green to denote pairing mode. Search for the MBS-100 on your phone, enter the default passcode (0000) and you’re done. When paired, the light will slowly flash green.

Apart from the design, what really impressed us was the sound quality. For a unit so small, it certainly packs quite a punch and it is capable of very loud volumes. The quality obviously isn’t fantastic, but considering the portability factor we were extremely impressed. The unit produces enough punch to fill a small room with sound. Even when listening at near full volume there was no major distortion evident. We tested the unit by pairing it to the , and the sound quality via A2DP Bluetooth was excellent. We also used a standard line-in cable (not included) to connect the MBS-100 to an and the results were similarly impressive.