Mini Jambox

Boom boxes are getting a lot of boom with a lot less box these days, and Jawbone's latest portable speaker, the Mini Jambox, is no exception. The new wireless, Bluetooth-enabled audio device is half the size of the current Jambox — but not half the price.

The Mini Jambox is $180 to preorder and ships later this month, and Jawbone is hoping that its portability, design, and software customization will differentiate the Mini from the original speaker.

In terms of size, the Mini Jambox's mobility comes from its shape. Here are Jambox's two smaller speakers compared in terms of dimensions:

In length and height, the Mini is even bigger than the original Jambox, but the new speaker certainly weighs less and is less bulky. Where the Mini truly sets itself apart from the Jawbone family of speakers is its design. The speaker/speaker phone audio device introduces three new textures to Jambox's signature diamond and wave grill. The mini Jambox, which is assembled from a single piece of aluminum, is available in a variety of colors with diamond, scales, dot, snowflake, and facet designs.

In addition to new a new speaker grill, the Mini Jawbone has the added functionality of software customization. The Jawbone app (free) for iOS and Android allows listeners to change the name of the speaker, select a different voice or language for the Bluetooth voice prompt, or set the speaker's Talk button to autodial a phone number or activate Siri. As the Jawbone app gets updated, the Mini Jawbone will receive more functionality.

Inside of the Mini Jambox are two front-facing proprietary drivers, two active drivers (stereo pair), and a passive bass radiator. The speaker utilizes digital signal processing algorithms to allow for the broadest range of sound, which, uh, sounds really cool!

The bigger Jambox does last five hours longer than the Mini, which has a battery that will endure about 10 hours of continuous playback. Before your preorder the new über portable audio from Jawbone, take a look at the specs to make sure the Mini checks out inside and out.

• Size and Weight — 6.06 L x .96 W x 2.28 H inches; 9 oz
• Battery — 10 hour rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
• Price — $180
• Audio — Proprietary acoustic drivers (stereo pair); proprietary passive bass radiator; type 1-compliant microphone
• Connectivity — 33 feet radius for connection via Bluetooth; 3.5 stereo input for direct connections