What with the iPhone being all the rage right now, we're just happy to see that accessory makers such as Griffin haven't decided to leave the iPod in the dust.
We got our hands on the portable unit, dubbed Journi, for this review. Right off the bat, we're digging this £65 speaker's fabulous design and wealth of features, but the audio quality isn't so fantastic. Still, if you're not super-picky about sound, this is a sweet system.
Design
There's no doubt about it -- the Griffin Journi's design is fantastic. It's the most unusual-looking portable speaker we've seen in a while. When fully closed, the unit looks like a Filofax. This is thanks to what Griffin calls the Wrapstand -- a black, leatheresque casing decked out with silver dot detailing.
The Wrapstand uses a magnetic closure to keep the speaker fully concealed when not in use -- simply pull it out and around and insert its tabbed end into a slot at the bottom edge of the speaker to create a handy stand.
The front of the Journi features the standard central iPod dock, but Griffin forgoes the standard dock adaptors in favour of an adjustable wheel that allows any docking iPod to sit flush with the speaker. The wheel can be turned from the back of the speaker unit, which also features a magnetic slot for the remote.
Returning on the front of the Journi, you have the standard silver speaker grilles on either side of the dock. Hidden behind the grilles are two 50mm high mid-range drivers and two 64mm passive radiators.
Features
The Journi offers an impressive array of features for its price. It comes with a basic remote that includes volume, power and playback controls. Texturised power and volume buttons can also be found on the right edge of the unit. The left side of the speaker houses a battery button, which activates a set of battery meter LEDs -- this innovative extra lets you see the amount of juice left in the internal lithium-ion battery, rated for 10 hours.
Griffin also includes a modular cable/power adaptor that gives you the choice of charging through either your computer's USB port or a standard AC wall outlet. Below the battery meter, a rubber flap can be opened to reveal a 30-pin iPod port for pass-through syncing and an auxiliary line-input for connecting non-iPod MP3 players.
Performance
Sweet design and bountiful features notwithstanding, the Journi's sound quality fails to impress. Given that the speaker has SRS Wow technology built right in, this came as a surprise.
In our tests with both an iPod and a Creative Zen V, music was far too bright for our taste, lacking the warmth and depth we like to hear. Rap in particular sounded hollow. We heard a little bit of bass, not to mention nice clarity on the high end, and the speakers can pump out the volume with no distortion. But all in all, the Journi's audio is only on a par with that of a high-end CD alarm clock radio.
Conclusion
So, the Journi's audio quality is not the best, but it's also not terrible. Plus, the speaker is super-stylish and packed with useful features. In the final analysis, we think this speaker is still a good choice for those who want something ultraportable that, at £65, won't put a huge dent in the wallet.
Additonal editing from Jon Squire
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bex 19 June 2008
Good: COMPLETE PORTABILITY
Bad: SO SO SOUND QUALITY
Comment: It was a toss up between the Journi and the Altic Lainsing Im600 with radio but no carry pouch, and unable to keep pod docked on the move, the griffin won on price I paid £40 with p+p for this product (Im600 £90+ p+p )) and the fact that you can carry your pod around inside the dock port safely inside its leatherette style wrap round case.(rechargable internal battery, magnetic remote, wrap round case/stand)
The sound quality is on the low side, its not terrible but it only runs two midrange speakers I would say on experiance around 5 watts each, I also convert my pod music to 256kbps not the usual 128 and with this unit at high volumes you will notice the diffrence, so if you like lots of base or realy loud music this is NOT the system for you... However it wont disgrace itself if you want a self contained rechargable unit to go on holiday with or take out to chill at the bbq or stick in your back pack and throw on if you want sounds out and about.I wont compaire it with a Bose cos thay are £200-300 so my overall view is. Take it as a £40 fully portable robust unit that plays music whenever or where ever you need and you cant go wrong.... its the old stand off, portability against power and price
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