Review – HMDX Jam Party Bluetooth Speaker

HDMX are not a company many of you will recognise, but they are a company that specialises in consumer electronics. Today I am going to be looking at one device from them; the HMDX Jam Party Bluetooth Speaker set,to give it, its short name.

About HMDX

We are a consumer electronics expert with over 20 years of experience in bringing innovative consumer products to the US and global markets.

We strive to provide you with the highest quality sound products and the most outstanding customer service experience. We continue our research and development efforts to provide superior consumer electronics products that truly stand out from our competitors. Our philosophy of bringing innovations and technologies in accessible consumer products enabled us to be positioned as the world class company you can trust.

Features

Up to 10M Range
Aux Input – For non BT devices
Retractable Handle
Loud and powerful stereo audio
Speaker volume control
Rewind, fast forward, pause/play buttons
Up to 12 Hours of wireless play
Kickstand
2x 4W Speakers
Portable!

The Packaging

One thing HMDX certainly know about is packaging, the Jam Party is provided in a solid plastic box, which has been designed to be reusable, and it certainly feels that way.

The Jam Party Package

Getting to the Jam Party is easy enough and is achieved by removing both caps from the box and either peeling back or making a slice through the stickers where the two boxes meet, doing so the two halves of the box come apart to allow access to the diminutive boombox.

That’s probably the first thing you will notice, where boomboxes of old were often huge and bulky, and the Jam Party pays homage to these boomboxes in styling only –thankfully.

The design of the Jam Party is nice and simple; the majority of the front is covered by a black metal mesh which covers the 4W speakers, the rest of the design is covered in a material which gives the unit a rubberised feel.

On top of the Jam Party, is the retractable handle which helps to make the device easier to carry, the indicator lights and the control buttons which if your device is compatible, allow you turn the device on or off and adjust the volume or if your device is compatible, pause/play or skip tracks. All of these buttons are nicely spaced and have a nice click when pressed. The Indicator lights on the device allow you to see if the device is running low on battery as well as seeing if the device is paired.

Going on to the rear, there are two oval cut-outs which are designed to help improve the overall bass output of the speakers by allowing it to suck in air, although you can see one of these has a blanking plate, which means it is there more for stylistic reasons.

Also on the rear are two rubber flaps, under one side is the DC input so you can charge the speakers or use them plugged in, under the other flap the is the auxiliary in which allows you to connect a non-Bluetooth device and still use the Jam Party.

Flaps Up

Going underneath the Jam Party, there are two rubber strips which help keep the Jam Party in position, the bottom of the speakers also has a flip out stand which tilts the speakers at an angle to improve the sound projection.

The Jam from Underneath

The Kickstand Effect

Testing

I enjoy the testing part of hardware reviews, and even more so if I get to inflict my music choices on work colleagues, so you can imagine how happy I was when I got this to review! But before I get to test it I had to charge it with the included adaptor.

After it was charged, I decided to connect the Jam Party to my phone and play some ‘banging tunes’.

Connecting to the Jam Party is as simple as could be, you just have to turn the speakers on, they then start being visible to Bluetooth devices; with a simple flick of the finger to turn on the Bluetooth in my phone the speakers popped up in the list, then a quick tap and the devices pair – no passcode needed – and you are set to go, it’s as simple as loading your favourite music app and then hitting play.

First thing to note about these speakers is they are never going win a loudness contest and they are a bit lacking in bass output, but for their size they certainly pack a punch. For the test I put it to task playing songs from my phone (A Google Nexus 4) via Bluetooth including a wide range of genres.

After playing for a few hours, so much so that I came close to killing my phones battery, I can say that they sounded quite good, but the size of the speakers meant that as the volume was turned up on both the phone and speakers the audio did start to noticeably distort but the speakers quality and clarity was acceptable up to a decent volume level.

In terms of build quality the Jam Party is certainly robust and the quality of the materials makes it feel like a solid product.

Conclusion

These speakers are not going to blow you away, but they are certainly capable of filling a small room with a decent level of noise, as stated earlier, there is very little bass output from these speakers but for general purposes the Jam Party will be more than adequate, however for something purporting to be a boombox it is a little bit embarrassing.

With all that being said, the Jam Party is rated to last 12 Hours on a single charge, it is extremely well put together, and it is very compact – which sort of negates the need for a handle – but even that included, are all very solid pluses for the device.

It is very keenly priced as well, with it currently being available for around £40.