For as long as I can remember, I’ve leaned towards the more personal listening experience offered by earbuds or headphones. I’m also one of those people who is mortally terrified of TWS devices with sound leakage issues, lest those around me hear the music I’m listening to. Suffice to say, an outdoor, turn-it-up-loud speaker has never been my thing until now.
But it seems like the Xiaomi Sound Outdoor Speaker has flipped a switch in me – I can now only enjoy listening to music if it is cranked up to an unapologetically high volume. I even carried the speaker with me to a friend’s house party, where it became the star running the show. At first, I’d wondered if I had charged it enough, but the speaker held up without a hitch. The music kept going, and so did the party.
After three weeks of giving it a test run, here’s my review of the Xiaomi Sound Outdoor Speaker.
Design and construction
The Xiaomi Sound Outdoor Speaker is about the size of a kitchen jar and yet, it does not weigh as much as you would expect (597 grams approx.). The speaker boasts of a functional, concave cylindrical design that is wrapped in a wired mesh, allowing for ample amount of air to pass through and ensuring that the sound is not one-directional.
The Xiaomi Sound Outdoor Speaker was named Red dot winner 2024. (Image credit: Karan Mahadik/The Indian Express)
While one face of the speaker bears the Xiaomi branding, the other has a play/pause button and volume controls. These buttons are satisfying enough to press but lack backlighting, making them difficult to locate in the dark.
My review unit of the speaker arrived in black, with a vibrant neon orange band that is slightly extended, making it easy to hang off a finger or attach it to a backpack. It is also available in blue and red, though they lack the stylish black-orange contrast.
It is hard to find the natural position of some bluetooth speakers, especially those with many faces. That is probably why I appreciated the fact that Xiaomi has added two rubber grips at the bottom – ensuring that the speaker is always facing the right side.
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Xiaomi has added two rubber grips at the bottom. (Image credit: Karan Mahadik/The Indian Express)
However, there is some room for improvement when it comes to the design such as the absence of a battery indicator light. The wired mesh design makes the design more challenging to wipe clean, which could be a bit of a hassle if you plan on using it outdoors a lot like setting it down on a grass lawn. This is a good time to mention that the speaker is officially rated IP67 in terms of waterproof and dust resistance.
Audio profile
Despite being an outdoor speaker, I was pleasantly surprised that Xiaomi has not only designed this device for those who like to turn up the volume. Instead, it has focused on delivering a balanced, layered audio quality.
I realised this when I kicked things off with Father John Misty’s Real Love Baby – a soft-rock, folky track that has a gritty guitar line and bongos in the background. The bass isn’t exactly missing either as popular party remixes like Tell Me Why and Kid Cudi’s Day ‘N’ Nite will prove.
Besides audio quality, volume control is also an important feature. Some speakers barely give you any range, leaving you with either too quiet or too loud. The Xiaomi speaker, however, lets you fine-tune the sound to just the right level with a signal-to-noise ratio of ≥80dB at a frequency range of 60Hz to 20KHz.
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The Xiaomi speaker packs a Lithium-ion, 7.2V, 2600mAh battery. (Image credit: Karan Mahadik/The Indian Express)
The speaker can transmit audio up to 25 metres, as per the writing on the back of the box. Xiaomi also says that its syncing technology will let you wirelessly connect over 100 such speakers for an impromptu concert, movie screening, or some other gathering that demands high audio levels.
I used the speaker to listen to a lot of podcasts as well and the experience was good. But it did not show up on some iOS devices like my Macbook Air M1. Though, answering calls from an iPhone and hands-free activation of Siri via the speaker’s built-in microphone works quite well.
The battery life of the Xiaomi Sound Outdoor speaker is quite good as I was able to easily squeeze in more than 12 hours of listening to music at 50% volume. It comes with a USB-C cable, though the charging port may be slightly hard to pry open.
It supports the latest Bluetooth version 5.4. (Image credit: Karan Mahadik/The Indian Express)
If you forgot to charge it before an important event, you can just plug it in and keep the music going. I found that to be a lifesaver as my old BoAt portable speaker would simply cut out in the same situation.
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The verdict
Should you buy the newly launched Xiaomi Sound Outdoor speaker? At Rs 3,999, I’m sure there are cheaper alternatives out there. However, this device certainly delivers on impressive audio quality, solid build, and long battery life. Its compact, travel-friendly design makes this perfect for house parties, picnics, or if you just want to crank up the volume indoors. Minor quirks aside, this one is an easy recommendation.
