Mobile Fun has sent us over the Ozaki iMini Cute iPod Dock, and well it’s an iPod dock, but it’s also an FM radio and a clock and an external speaker. Overall it’s not a bad little product, you can use either batteries or regular AC power with it and the sound is surprisingly good for such a small set of speakers.
Product Name: Ozaki iMini Cute iPod Dock
Author: Kristofer Brozio
Sponsor: Mobile Fun
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
The iMini is a funky iPod FM radio alarm clock which produces fantastic sound, looks great and makes an ideal bedroom companion whether at home or on the road. The Ozaki iMini Alarm Clock Speaker System gives you the option to listen to either music from you iPod or FM radio with the ability to store up to 8 radio channels.
You can program the alarm clock to wake you up to either the FM Radio, a buzzer or music of your choice from your iPod. And if that wasn’t enough, a line in cable allows you to connect the Ozaki iMini speakers to any other audio device with a 3.5mm jack plug!
The Ozaki iMini radio alarm clock system’s speakers have been specifically designed for Apple iPod products and carry the official ‘Made for iPod’ logo which means they have been officially licensed and approved by Apple.
The built in high performance 2 channel speakers provide up to 6W of power and excellent sound definition and clarity for such a small unit. The speakers can be powered by either a mains DC adaptor (included) or 6 A A A batteries (not included).
The iMini Cute is small, smart and stylish, with a surprisingly well rounded tone for it’s size. The two main design directions were for the device to be lightweight and optimised for one-handed operation – two things that Ozaki has achieved successfully. Notable features are the backlit LCD display, FM radio and alarm clock functionality.
The Ozaki iMini iPod Radio Alarm Clock also features a USB interface which means that whilst your iPod is docked you can connect it to a PC and transfer music, photos, videos and games!
Features:
- * Plays music and charges your iPod
- * 2×2” full-range speaker drivers with 6W power
- * Backlit LCD for FM Radio and Alarm clock
- * Dual Alarm: Wake up to iPod, Radio or Buzzer
- * Standard line-in connector for other MP3 support
- * USB interface for PC connection
- * Excellent retail packaging
- * Available in a range of colours linked to Apple’s Chromatic range
- * Docks all iPod models
Specification:
- * AMP Output power: 2W x 2
- * Driver Output power: 3W x 2
- * Driver Unit 2″ x 2″ Full-range
- * Frequency Response: 200Hz ~ 15KHz
- * FM Frequency: 88MHz – 108MHz
- * Input Impedance: > 6K ohm
- * Sensitivity: 400mV
- * Dimension: Width 112mm, Height 112mm, Depth 112mm
Price: £39.95 / $65.00
Mobile Fun also carries iPod Touch accessories and iPod Touch desktop cradles.
A Better Look at Things:
During the trip across the ocean to me the packaging suffered some damage but the product didn’t.
Inside the box you’ll see the dock/speaker, instruction manual, dock adapters, power supply in little white box and a double ended 3.5mm cable. The power supply I received was one for UK, but I do have one adapter so that’s not a big deal.
The dock front has an LCD display with a control pad below it.
On the back you’ll see the line in port, USB connection and the power connection and of course the battery compartment. This thing uses six AAA batteries.
The right and left side both have speakers for stereo sound.
On the top you’ll find the iPod dock section with controls for Mode, Snooze and Power. The Mode button just changes between Line in, Radio and iPod input.
There’s not much on the bottom, just a label and some rubber feet.
Installation, Testing and Comparison:
To test this out I stuck my iPod nano 5th Generation in it and listened to music.
The LCD display is very basic, nothing fancy but it works.
The sound is decent overall, it’s loud and sounds clear but they aren’t full range speakers, the speakers try to offer the full range of sounds but fall a bit flat when it comes to treble. Overall though they aren’t bad for what they are and what the product is.
I found the battery life is horrible, I put new batteries in and they only lasted not even four days and I wasn’t using it a lot. I think I used it for actually 30 minutes for testing with music and then I just used it as a clock and alarm sitting on my desk. After not even four days it just stopped. I’m thinking it really doesn’t use the batteries for power, but more of a backup system to the regular AC adapter, but then why would you need that many batteries just to back up some settings.
There’s no external antenna, but the FM radio works mostly fine. Don’t expect to get every channel, but it’s not bad.
The clock is a clock with an alarm, what’s more to be said.
The iPod part works fine, you can control the iPod right from the controls on the front of the Ozaki iMini Cute iPod Dock. That works just fine really.
Build quality is decent, but I think it’s a bit overpriced really coming in at about $65 plus shipping in US dollars.
Summary and Comments:
The Ozaki iMini Cute iPod Dock isn’t a bad product, but it’s not exactly a good one either, especially when it comes to battery life, it’s just horrible.
You can use it with your iPod, as a radio or even as a speaker system for most any other device with a 3.5mm audio jack.
It makes a great little desktop accessory really.
DragonSteelMods gives the Ozaki iMini Cute iPod Dock a 4 out of 5 score.
Pros:
- +Small and portable
- +Dual power
- +Easy to use
- +Full sounding and loud
- +Seems well made
Cons:
- -Bad battery life
- -Lack of treble
- -Lots of batteries
- -A bit expensive
review# 681
Disclosure: This product was given to DragonSteelMods for review by the company for review purposes only, and is not considered by us as payment for the review, we do not, never have, and never will, accept payment from companies to review their products.
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