Many of us have their whole music collection on their audio player, be it a one with a hard drive or with flash memory. When commuting, jogging …the headset is all you need, but when it comes to sharing music at home for example, a speaker system comes in handy.

Portability, design, batteries etc…

Many of these mini-speakers work with batteries but can also be plugged in a wall. Most of them are made specifically with the iPod in mind and therefore have a docking system that will welcome the device. The iPod will charge when the system is plugged in. Those who have a non-Apple players are not left behind as the systems always have an auxiliary mini jack input.

With a compact model –designed for portability and running on batteries- there will obviously have to be a compromise on sound quality (even more if you have to use mini jack and not a dedicated dock) but some of the products we tested managed to surprise us.