There are a lot of Bluetooth speakers to choose from on the market, some small and some you just can’t drag around with you when you leave the house. Some of the smaller ones you have to choose from are more than just something you want to toss in a bag. Instead they are good from hanging from the outside of a bag due to their small size, light weight and durability. This is where the M4 speaker by Omaker comes into play. A small speaker that comes with a lanyard so you can store it by hanging it from something, so that it’s hands-free and unobstructed while it’s playing.
The speaker is a perfect square in shape and weighs around 8 ounces. It comes in two colors currently, black/orange or black/green. Something good for a simple hike or grade-school children who want something to attach to their backpack and won’t take a lot of damage when banged around. The outer shell is hard-plastic with a small flap to protect the connection points. It can take good amount of impacts (bumps and small drops) but isn’t something you are going to want to throw at the ground to see if it holds up to chaotic conditions.
It is IP54 rated for water resistance, meaning it will hold up to light splashes and is protected from any damage that would be caused by dust or equivalent size particles. Squirt guns, light rains and dusty storms shouldn’t affect the speaker, but you won’t want to submerge it in a body of water or under strong flows such as sink faucets. If it starts to rain hard, it may be best to secure it inside of a bag or pocket.
Sound quality is impressive for it’s size and price. It all falls within the highs and the lows with no real mid presence. The lows aren’t going to blow you away, but they will provide more than enough for it’s size and total volume output compared to some other speakers within the same range. The highs are very crisp without being exhausting, allowing for amazing clear vocals and acoustics.
There isn’t too much volume compared to the more expensive speakers, but then again, they generally cost around 2-4x as much as this one. The M4 can be found for around $35 on Amazon, making it one of the least expensive speakers out there. Although it feels more like it should fall within the upper $20’s, it does still perform well for the price and offers just enough volume to get you through your day, as long as you aren’t looking to entertain everyone else around you from a distance. It would be best to keep it one step down from max-volume (at least) to avoid distortion and possible damage to the speaker, since it is small and inexpensive.
You also want to use it in mostly low-noise or quiet environments since loud noises such as busy traffic, larger speakers and noisy machinery can drain it out pretty quickly. Good for hikes, open areas and or a small quiet rooms.
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The M4 supports NFC (near-field communication) pairing, making it simple to pair to devices that also support NFC (with the feature enabled). Most Windows and Android phones now will support it, including a limited number of tablets. You can click here to find a list of devices that currently support NFC. Pairing is as easy as tapping your device to the back of the speaker and until a notification pops up asking to pair. Once you have OK’d this message, your device and speaker should be paired to each other and you are done.
If your device does not support NFC, pairing is still just as easy as any other Bluetooth device. You simply turn the speaker on and put it into pairing mode. If it hasn’t been paired before or cannot find anything it has been paired with, it should automatically enter the mode. If not, try holding the power button while turning it on, and not releasing it until the front LED (located within the grill) starts flashing between two colors. Once it is in pairing more, simply find it on you device’s Bluetooth screen. It should show up as Omaker-M4. Once you have selected it, the two should be paired and you will be able to start using it.
Distance is average with about 20-30 feet (without obstructions) before you start to lose connection. You get less distance if walls or other obstructions are present between the speaker and source device. Best to keep your device close to it when in use.
There are 4 buttons across the top for basic control of the unit and the device connected to it. The first two buttons act as your volume up/down control as well as your next and previous track selection. Short-presses of these buttons will control the tracks playing and long-presses (about a second) will control the volume. The longer you hold it down, the more levels of volume will be adjusted. The phone button is found next and can be used to answer and disconnect calls. There is an on-board mic so the person on the other end can hear you. Finally there is a power button, which explains itself. Long-presses of this button will turn the speaker on and off.
Inside the box there is a lanyard, USB cable for charging and a 3.5mm aux cable for wired devices that do not natively support Bluetooth. There are also instructions and warranty information. It comes with a 1 year warranty protecting it from defects, and there is even a card that you immediately open up to, requesting your feedback.
The lanyard is strong enough to keep a good handle of the speaker as it’s hanging from something. It would be best to include something like a carabiner to secure the lanyard to something with since the lanyard itself, doesn’t open up so that it could latch onto something.
Our Conclusion
A decent speaker for the price that offers strong clarity in its highs. Light weight, making it easy to carry around, it can be attached to anything using a lanyard. Price is the only thing that holds it back slightly score-wise, as we believe it may do better around $25-29.99 range. Beyond that, it is a great little speaker with just enough volume to make it worth it. Something for personal use and not entertaining a number of people, it would be great to carry around in a bag.
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Specifications:
- Bluetooth 4.0
- NFC (Near Field Communication)
- IP54 rated water (light splash) and dust resistance
What’s in the Box:
- 1 x Omaker M4 Spalsh Proof Bluetooth Speaker
- 1 x USB power Cable
- 1 x 3.5mm audio Cable
- 1 x lanyard
- 1 x User Guide
Warranty: 12 Months
Are you a manufacturer or distributor that would like us to test something out for review? Contact us and we can let you know where to send the product and we will try it out.
- Final
