Product Reviews

If iHome's iH19 is the Maserati Gran Tourismo of portable iPod speakers, the iMainGo is more of a Ford Mondeo. It works, and does its job reasonably well, but without any of the panache or power of the iH19.

The iMainGo is at least more compact than iHome's system. It's about as long as a CD jewel case, just over half as wide, and slightly less thick than it is broad. The shell is hard plastic covered in a neoprene-like fabric, which zips around its middle. On one side is a clear plastic window that enables you to see the iPod's screen and operate its Click Wheel, on the other are two speakers spaced diagonally, presumably to maximise stereo separation.

The iPod straps into one side and there are various adaptors for different sizes, including the nano,

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and it's well protected against bumps and bangs. A 3.5mm jack plug connects to the iPod's earphone socket. The audio quality from the earphone socket isn't as good as that from the dock connector, but in a unit this size, that's barely an issue.

Also inside the case are a battery compartment, which holds four AAA batteries, and a switch to turn the music on or off or switch to alarm mode. There's no option to power the iMainGo from the mains and alarm mode only works on those iPods with built-in alarm features.

Audio quality is a real surprise. The sound is much bigger than you'd expect from a pair of speakers that are only 3cm in diameter. Bass is solid and the middle and treble ranges are pretty crisp. There's some muffling and a little distortion once you go past the three-quarter mark on the iPod's volume indicator, but not a great deal. That said, the audio isn't as impressive as that output by the iH19.

The iMainGo has a couple of advantages over the iH19: it's more portable and allows you to see the iPod screen when it's closed. The iH19, on the other hand, has DC input and a dock connector, which means you can charge your iPod in situ and if you're using it at home, you don't need to drain the batteries. It also looks sexier and feels more robust. Given that they're the same price, we'd choose the iHome every time.