What is the Kinivo LS210?
Taken from the Kinivo website:
“The Kinivo LS210 notebook soundbar clips on to any laptop or netbook to deliver enhance sound system. Guaranteed to take your music experience to the next level, the LS210 delivers a crystal clear, full-bodied, 360-degree digital stereo sound.”
What we thought of the Kinivo LS210 laptop speaker (a guest post by the man of the house who wishes to remain anonymous!)
I’m always apprehensive when I get a speaker to review, I’m not an audiophile, by any means, but I do know what sounds good to me and I always want a new speaker to blow me away.The Kinivo LS210 USB Soundbar didn’t disappoint me.
Everybody knows that the primary speakers installed in the vast majority of laptops are bad bad bad so anything would be an improvement but Kinivo went way beyond a mere improvement.
More about sound in a moment, the unit itself is solid, well made and not at all flimsy. I like the way it can stand freely on a tabletop or clip to the top of the laptop screen although on my laptop it wasn’t as secure as I would have liked. However, after walking around, from room to room, with the speaker attached to the laptop, it was pretty solid and at no point was I concerned it was going to fall off.
The USB cable is just long enough to reach the socket without dragging anywhere and getting in the way, and it stores completely in the back of the speaker. Overall the build quality is excellent and well thought out.
Now back to the sound, this speaker isn’t ‘knock your socks off loud’ like some recent portable speakers on the market, but I could clearly hear the music in the next room and not strain to hear what the song was. The sound quality is far & away, so much better than the speakers in the laptop that it wouldn’t be right to even compare the two. I think Kinivo has aimed the soundbar as an aftermarket upgrade for laptop sound and in that market, there are few as good as this one.
The bass in the speaker is not at a level you can feel. However it really makes up for it with the crisp clear mid and high range frequencies, I listened to several different songs such as Guns and Roses – One in a Million, Eric Clapton’s cover of After Midnight and Fleetwood Mac’s Gold dust Woman and they sounded just great. There was no distortion of any kind, even at maximum volume and clear separation of the instruments and lyrics.
Now, most of my audio needs for my laptop center around listening to music but I know many people have many other needs, so we tried the speaker out in some other applications. Using Skype, everyone was able to clearly hear everyone else at our end of the conversation, and there were no issues around having to say ‘pardon?’ because the sound was crisp & clear without any distortions thanks to the speaker.
Watching YouTube with Evey, each & every ‘cute cat’ video came with clear cats meows – the only issue being that with a good quality speaker you get to hear how bad the sound quality is of some peoples video uploads!
All in all, I would recommend this speaker without hesitation – I don’t think you’ll find better sound quality in this price range, anywhere.
Specifications & purchase information
The Kinivo LS210 is available direct from Kinivo for $34.99
Key Features
– Clip-on design: LS210 Soundbar is lightweight and compact and clips on securely to any laptop thus saving space.
– Convenient cable management: Wind the USB cable when the speaker is not in use at the back of the speaker for a neat look.
– Ease of use: Simply open and release the clips at the back of the speaker to securely clip on the speaker on top of the laptop. Compact design provides maximum portability & allows for convenient storage.
Operating Instructions
Plug and Play: Simply connect the speaker to a USB port on your laptop to listen to music.
Device compatibility
Compatible with Windows 7, Vista and Mac OS.
Warranty
Kinivo LS210 is backed by our one year warranty.
