Xiaomi Mi Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker Review: Perfect Travel Companion For Audiophiles

Compact, IPX5 Rated Design With Premium Mesh Fabric Finish

The Mi Outdoor is a compact square-shaped Bluetooth speaker with a premium fit and finish. The design clearly seems inspired by the Google Home Mini as the portable speaker flaunts a mesh fabric design on the front, which adds to the premium look. The speaker has rubber housing on the sides and at the back panel. The rubberized base ensures that the speaker does not slip-off and also prevents any vibrations caused by audio playback when the speaker is placed on a hard surface. The overall design feels quite sturdy and long-lasting.

Just One Color Variant, Why Xiaomi?

The Mi Outdoor Bluetooth speaker is available in only Black finish. We would love to see this palm-sized portable wireless speaker in vibrant colors. Xiaomi could have launched it in multiple color variants to give more options to consumers.

Stretchable Carry String

A stretchable carry string is attached on the top of the speaker which makes it easy to carry around. The fabric-made loop string has good elasticity and allows you to hang the palm-sized speaker to your backpack, bicycle or other things for hands-free audio playback. You can also strap it on your wrist to stream audio on the move. This makes the Mi Outdoor an ideal portable speaker for avid travellers. Moreover, the speaker's body is IPX5 water-resistant, which protects it from occasional spills and splashes.

Buttons And Ports

The Mi Outdoor Bluetooth offers a standard button configuration. You get a play/pause and power button with an LED indicator on one side and a microphone along with volume rockers on the other. You can press and hold the power button for two seconds to switch on/off the speaker. The speaker switches on/off, and connects to smart devices with a voice prompt.

The LED indicator blinks blue light to notify you about the pairing mode. The speaker notifies you with voice prompts when the battery reaches 20% mark. However, there's no audio prompt if you plug the speaker to refuel the battery cell. You can only rely on the LED light to get notified about the battery status. The Aux and the charging port are sealed under a rubber lid.

Easy Operation

• Press play/pause button to answer an incoming call and hold it for two seconds to reject a call.
• Press the play/pause button twice to invoke your phone's voice assistant. There's no dedicated button to invoke voice assistant.
• You can shuffle the tracks by simply holding the volume buttons for two seconds.
• The Mi Outdoor Bluetooth speaker is compatible with both Android and iOS devices and connects via Bluetooth 5.0 for seamless connectivity. We did not face any connectivity issues during our review duration.

Audio Performance

The Mi Outdoor Bluetooth speaker is the one-of-the-loudest portable speaker in the sub Rs. 1,500 price-segment. The portable speaker has a maximum output power of 5W and a frequency response of 20-20KHz. It's loud enough to fill a medium-sized room and works really well with smartphones, laptops and even smart TVs. The audio produced is loud and clear; however, like the Mi Dual Driver earphones, the emphasis is on producing powerful bass delivery. But that doesn't mean the speaker fails to address other frequencies.

The speaker generates punchy bass and also manages to produce clear vocals. The mids and highs could have been sounded better. There's very minimal distortion at peak volume which allows you to stream music at higher volumes without much loss in quality. Overall, the sound output of this tiny speaker is pretty impressive for the price-point. You cannot expect a budget speaker to sound like a premium one. The Mi Outdoor is an affordable palm-sized Bluetooth speaker which punches more than its price-point.

Built-in Mic For Calls And Voice Assistant Support

The fact that the Mi Outdoor Bluetooth speaker features a built-in microphone and allows you to make hands-free calls adds value to the overall package. The voice quality via built-in microphone is decent if not exceptional. Last but not the least; the affordable Bluetooth speaker can also invoke your phone's voice-assistant, be it Amazon Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant. Simply press the play/pause button twice to trigger voice assistant on your smartphone or tablet.

You can give commands and get replies on the speaker itself in case you don't have your phone handy. The Bluetooth speaker also streamed music via Spotify installed on paired devices with just voice commands.

Battery Performance

The Mi Outdoor Bluetooth speaker is backed by a sizeable 2,000 mAh battery unit. The company claimed battery life of 20 hours of music playback at 80% volume. We tested the speaker at the same volume intensity and recorded a music playback time of 16.5 hrs which is pretty good. At full volume, the Mi Outdoor Bluetooth speaker can easily last for 13-14 hours. With moderate volume levels, it can easily last you a full day and even more, which is pretty impressive.

The speaker takes a bit long to get fully charged. It took around three hours to recharge the fully drained speaker to 100%. Make sure to charge the speaker overnight if you are leaving for an outdoor trip the next day.

Verdict- Should You Buy The Mi Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker?

The palm-sized Mi Outdoor Bluetooth speaker makes for a perfect travel companion. It is ideal for audiophiles who are always on move and are looking for a portable speaker with good audio performance and long-lasting battery life at a budget price. The Bluetooth speaker has a compact design with loop string and IPX5 rating that suits an active, outdoor lifestyle.

Xiaomi should bring some more color variants of the Mi Outdoor to bring variety to the product-lineup. Overall, the Mi Outdoor Bluetooth speaker is a very good bargain in the budget Bluetooth speaker category.