 DiVoom UPO-1
Theo Boshoff
Porta Party
DiVoom, one of the newer companies providing multimedia audio systems, has wowed us in the past with its super-affordable speaker kits. Until now we’ve only seen its mobile audio solutions, but it also makes big, powerful desktop speaker kits, with subwoofers and multiple satellite speakers.
The UPO-1, though, falls into the former category. It’s designed to be used with portable computers, much maligned for their poor audio quality, by providing powerful sound from a simple package.
And simple it is. Instead of producing stereo sound from two separate units, the UPO-1 is self-contained. Two 1.5-inch drivers sit in its oval casing, with power coming from a flexible arm ending in a USB connector. Simply pop this into a free port on your laptop and start playing music – both PCs and Macs will automatically detect the device and start playing music through it.
Audio quality is quite something, given its small size, thanks to the top-mounted passive speaker. The two main drivers move air, as any normal speaker would, and this passive driver then amplifies the effect. Result? Decent bass response, from something that’s powered using only a USB port.
Performance is great, and the price makes it a no-brainer, but there’s one fatal flaw in this portable audio device. The flexible arm isn’t quite flexible enough, making it difficult to position the device to face the listener. On top of this, it’s quite heavy, and places an unhealthy amount of strain on the USB port. DiVoom have attempted to alleviate some of this stress by including a plastic clip that’s meant to act as a brace, but it’s simply not functional. Had they removed the plastic arm and made this a free-standing desktop unit, it would’ve earned a must-buy rating from us.
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