Pill popper: Pop the top for heavier bass, yo.
The built-in speaker on the iPhone and second-gen iPod touch is good for about 1.3 people to listen to, sonically filling an area the size of a Volkswagen trunk with tinny audio that’s OK in a pinch but won’t blow back anyone’s hairpiece. But what if you have 1.4 or more people in a larger area, say a conversion van? You need some compact speakers!
The Chill Pill collapses to a 2-by-4-inch capsule, the left and right speaker held together with magnets. Each speaker has a wee plastic door you pry open to get to a retractable cord: One cord holds the 3.5mm plug for attaching to your audio source (anything with a headphone jack will work). The other cord is topped with a mini USB plug that you use to connect the two speakers to each other, and to charge the unit (a mini-USB-to-USB adapter is included).
You can place the speakers up to 17 inches apart, which is a lot more stereo separation than we’re used to with iPod speakers this small. The top of each speaker pops up when you twist it, expanding the amount of space inside and providing more bass--not enough to rattle your fillings, but we noticed big improvements in our hip-hop and electronic tracks with the tops up. Our classical music and spoken-word podcasts sounded best with the tops down (better detail, no buzz or echo under the speaking), rock tracks a little better with the tops up, and twangy country-fried tunes could go either way. The Chill Pill sounded awesome playing videos from our iPhone and MacBook—a big step up from laptop speakers.
You gotta charge these suckers via USB unless you spring for the optional AC Adapter ($12), but if you already have the Apple USB Power Adapter that came with your iPhone--or another USB-to-AC adapter that outputs 5 volts--you can use that too. In our testing, one of the cables didn’t want to retract back into the speaker occasionally, forcing us to yank on it over and over until it finally obeyed. Charging over USB took around 3 hours, for 6 hours of bumpity-bumpity tunes.
These fit in virtually any bag, or even your hipster fanny pack from American Apparel, and can help you ably rock a hotel room, back porch, taxicab, or fire escape.
Chill Pill
COMPANY: Chill Pill Audio
CONTACT: www.chillpillaudio.com
PRICE: $49.99
REQUIREMENTS: Audio device with headphone jack
Good stereo sound. Compact form factor. Optional AC adapter ($12) charges iPod or iPhone.
Must charge by USB if you don’t have the optional AC adapter, or another 5-volt USB-to-AC adapter.
