By Alfred Siew,
a writer, blogger and media consultant who has covered technology for over a decade

I HAD low expectations of these speakers made of plastic, usually associated with less than stellar sound quality anyway.

So, I was not surprised at the low sound quality I got.

As with most portable speakers, the Sonic Gear 2GOWoW plugs into a laptop or an MP3 player either via a standard audio jack or a PC's USB port.

The main selling point of Sonic Gear's offering is its flexibility.

For a desk-bound computer, it can be powered by an included power adapter for the wall socket.

Or, you can hook it up to a computer's USB socket and it will draw power from there.

No drivers involved here - simply plug the speakers in and sound is piped out instantly.

Convenient as they are, these 3W speakers produce an audio quality that leaves a lot to be desired, no matter where they are plugged into.

Hooked up to an Apple iPod, the 2GOWoW sounded thin, lacking oomph.

Connected to my Fujitsu S6520 laptop, they did not sound a whole lot better either.

Sitting right in front of the speakers, I feel the sound was "trapped".

Instruments also sounded like they had been melded together, instead of being distinct and clearly audible.

On bossa nova tracks that contain mostly vocals, the 2GOWoW speakers are still barely passable.

Do not bother with punchy tracks with lots of percussion in them - the beat will come out too jarring.

Perhaps I am being harsh on a pair of budget speakers.

Why then did Sonic Gear promote the fact that a single speaker, say, placed on top of an LCD monitor (using a provided stand), can automatically produce "stereo" sound?

The question is, why would you buy two speakers to use only one of them?

I cannot see a lot of people plugging and unplugging their speakers every day to warrant that kind of flexibility.

I do see folk taking these portable speakers to a picnic.

Then again, they do not run on batteries, which means you cannot just hook up an MP3 player to the speakers at East Coast Park.

Yes, you can get a laptop and hook up via USB to provide power to the speakers.

But I am not sure it is worth the effort, given the small improvements in sound you are likely to get.

Final say

Sound quality can be improved a few notches.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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