Logic 3 i-Station speakers for iPod review

Full Review

You can either pay a fortune for speakers for you iPod or you can pay next to nothing. Logic 3, sticking to its roots, is aiming at the next to nothing price bracket. However is the price a big enough incentive? We take a listen and find out.

The good points are that for the money it sounds good, not as good at the Altec Lansing iM3, which are slightly more expensive, but good enough to enjoy in a kitchen or bedroom. The other advantages are an additional input socket for other devices such as a CD or MP3 player and like other units this set is like other iPod speaker sets the speakers double up as a charger, offer USB and Firewire connectivity. This means you can use them to dock you iPod to your computer as well.

The downside is just about everything else. The first problem is the cheapness of the casing. It's a shiny plastic that has as much class and feel to it as a Chav on a date in Essex on a Tuesday night. In a word, it's cheap. This, combined with unprotected 2.5 Watt satellite speakers and the 4Watt subwoofer means that all you need is an inquisitive kid and the whole set is busted.

Plastic aside, we move on to the power pack. It's large, comes in two parts (which does mean it has a good reach) and doesn't make for the ideal travel companion. 4 AA batteries offer you the travel option and you also get a protective plastic slider to protect those vulnerable speakers. Unlike the other two models we've recently tested, at least there isn't a remote control to lose.

Gripe number three. There is no remote control (despite what we just said, we know not everyone will lose a remote). Like other iPod speaker sets we've reviewed this unit is sparse on controls. Only trouble is there is no remote so everything has to be done via the iPod itself. This we admit wouldn't be a problem were it not for an unsupportive docking slot. Press the iPod and you get the feeling it's going to fall out the back and because of the way the unit is designed you can't even push it up against the back plate as this has dropped down to become the supporting base.

Get past the design, the cheap casing and the lack of remote and you have the sound to deal with. While on its own the speakers are good, the addition of a button marked “3D” seems to only add an echo to the noise. It's supposed to give you 3D sound, but just doesn't.

Verdict

It's cheap, doesn't come with a remote (yes we like to be lazy sometimes) and the additional 3D button only ruins the sound emitting from the speakers. If it wasn't for the fact that the sound wasn't too bad when just played, this unit would be getting a very low score indeed. As it is it just doesn't get us excited enough to rate higher than a five.

• Comment on this story for your chance to win a TomTom XL Live IQ Routes Europe