If you’ve played with one portable bluetooth, you’ve pretty much played with them all. But then there’s The House Of Marley, and with the legacy such as theirs, you’re getting more than what you bargained for.
When the $50 House of Marley Chant Mini arrived at my doorstep, the first thing I did was call a family friend of mine who might possibly be the biggest fan of House Of Marley products that I know. She argues that the products’ audio quality reaches far beyond what you’d get from that Doctor from Compton. And now.. I am a believer.
At $50, the Chant when you open it is just beautiful. Coupled with a short micro-USB cable and it’s own carabiner clip so you can attach it to your backpack, or purse, the only thing that I saw missing from the initial packaging had to be the absence of a carrying case.
Since the Chant Mini itself isn’t marketed as a waterproof case so I wouldn’t suggest attempting to take it to close to the water with you at the pool. But you shouldn’t feel too bad if you do, as the Chant Mini, just like the rest of the House of Marley items they sell, are made of recycled materials. But you would never be able to tell by the quality build.
I received the brown and green color way of the Chant Mini, which has a dark brown exterior around the bottom edge, coupled with a green border coupled with a wooden trim at the top. The Chant Mini itself charges via USB so you don’t have to bother with batteries, but that’s in line with most Bluetooth products these days. Also there’s a 3.5mm auxiliary port, but you’ll have to supply your own cord since House of Marley opted to not give you one in the boxing, which to me is a huge oversight especially for a $50 speaker lacking a carrying case and not even a standard length USB cable.
The audio quality on the Chant Mini to me is marvelous. I compared it to my 808 Audio HEXTL speaker which is about three times the size of the Mini, but it packed the same punch, even in it’s smaller size. Listening to Spotify while streaming on LTE using the “Extreme” setting , the Chant Mini picked up a bluetooth connection without a hitch. Pairing it with an iPhone just meant clicking the Power button on the Chant, then once you see it on your Bluetooth’s settings, simply click the Bluetooth. I will admit I did enjoy the chime way more than a lot of the strange sounding beeps of other Bluetooth speakers.
Listening to tunes in my living room was actually pretty pleasant as the speaker itself stayed stationary and didn’t move around when particular tracks had bass that would move your average speakers. Sitting in a closed in room like my bathroom when I shower however I ended up having to turn the volume down a bit as the heavy bass for the speakers ended up drowning the lyrics when my iPhones volume was more than 8/10 on volume.
All in all, there’s not much negative you can say about the Marley Chant, other than the fact that it’s not waterproof. But with a 2” active-passive combo driver that makes audio quality better than any other speaker it’s size, if you don’t mind spending $50 for a speaker that even though not waterproof, would liven up the pool party this coming Labor Day weekend, you should check out the Chant Mini by House of Marley. Purchase yours today.
Source: Manufacturer supplied review unit
What I Like: The bass heavy speaker is louder than most
What Needs Improvement: The absent “Play/Pause button is a bit odd, seeing as though they made room for a bluetooth AND power button when they should have the same function
