Nokia MD-12
by Volker Weber
Let's start with the good news. It's practically impossible to misplace the Nokia MD-12 speaker. I have no idea how Nokia makes a bright plastic material that does not glow in the dark. In the photo above the speaker sits on a white surface. And I had to nail down the white balance since the camera had no idea how to calibrate.
This is a small speaker you just throw in your bag as you leave the house. At 84 mm by 38 mm it is small enough to fit anywhere. It connects to your phone via Bluetooth, and if you have NFC, you can skip the pairing step. Turn it on and just touch it with your phone and it's playing. It will play for up to 15 hours depending on how far you crank it up. You recharge it via a MicroUSB port, so you can use your regular Nokia charger.
You have to place the speaker on a hard surface that is used as a resonator for bass frequencies. This is where it fails me. I find it is too light for a good coupling; 180 g is about the same weight as a Lumia 920. Depending on the surface I hear the vibrations between the speaker and the surface. It's also mono and not particularly loud at 95 db from half a meter. Without a hard surface it has no bass at all.
On the upside, this is probably a good compromise between weight and size for a portable speaker that lives in your bag all of the time. And with its bright color, you won't leave it behind in your hotel room when you depart. It may not be loud enough for a party, but certainly loud enough to annoy the person in the next room.
