In late 2006 Kensington released the FX300 Speaker To Go, an audio solution for your MP3 player that offered both a sturdy, splash-proof, shock-absorbing case and built-in speaker with an exterior volume control.

It was a great little travel solution at a reasonable price, but has now been superseded by the larger, stereo sound FX500. Kensington has stuck with a similar design, using the same black, hard rubber exterior for protection. It's obviously a lot larger, though, and the stereo speakers are completely concealed within the casing either side of a see-through plastic window through which you can access your player.

Sadly the external volume control is gone: a simple on/off switch is the only exterior control, which means you can only adjust volume or control the device by pressing buttons through the plastic view window. An elastic Velcro strap stops your audio player from slipping around, but the design here is specifically targeted at iPods. The size of the window fits the dimensions of a full-sized video iPod and there's a foam surround provided with a space cut to the dimensions of the iPod Nano.

Audio is ported through a 3.5mm jack plug which technically means you can use it with any audio player, but you may be severely restricted in the degree of control depending on the layout of the buttons. Since the iPods are all front-facing it's pretty easy to access your tunes by pressing the buttons or operating the scroll wheel through the plastic screen. This works fairly well and it's quite easy to adjust volume or browse menus on the move.

This rather basic design does have the benefit of keeping the price down and, along with a rather flimsy albeit necessary fold-out stand at the back to help the case stand upright on a hard surface, there's not much else to it.

Audio performance will of course be most people's prime concern, and we're pleased to say that in this area we were quite impressed. You'll get some decent sound from the covered speakers, which are very loud considering the restrictions of the design, and audio doesn't start distorting until you reach the top 10 percent or so of the volume range. You can expect 10 hours of playback from three AAA batteries, a set of which is provided in the box.

Verdict
Without an iPod you'll probably have to unzip the case every time you want to adjust volume or change the tune, so for this reason it's not really suitable unless you own one of Apple's players. If this doesn't put you off you'll find some impressive audio performance and a satisfying level of protection in the FX500.

Company: Kensington

Contact: 020 7949 0119

Tags: ipod velcro iphone ipod classic stereophonic sound apple inc. shopping consumer electronics