While exploring the gaming showcase at International CES 2013, I came across a cute little portable speaker that was loud enough to be heard on the show floor, a feat that much bigger devices had trouble with!

Hydra’s Digital Speaker is an adorable little cube that comes in five colors: silver, black green, blue, and pink. It works with iPhones, iPods, mobile phones, PSPs, GPS, portable CD and DVD players, and also my 3DS! It can also utilize a micro SD card and FM radio.

I chose a pink one and began experimenting. The speaker comes with a bright wrist cord and a unique USB cord that includes a third head to plug into your device.

The setup was very simple. I pressed the “on” button, plugged the mini part of the usb into the speaker, and plugged the other end of it into my iPod. The volume levels are pretty crazy, with the digital speaker actually able to get too loud. I can easily picture this device becoming a staple at college parties or while on road trips.

Along with the loudness, we also get the bass. It really felt like a mini-subwoofer, vibrating the ground when I played it with my iPod. I’ve never heard bass this good from such a tiny speaker. I also didn’t really notice any distortion, though at the highest volume it sounded a little tinny.

My main concern was scratching the pretty pink sides. It feels like the kind of material that might get scratches, but I haven’t seen any over the time I’ve used it. I’ll report back after it’s been in my purse a while.

Another minor issue was that the skip buttons didn’t seem to work with my iPod, but I assume they must only be for use with a micro sd card, which essentially turns this device into an mp3 player. This makes sense, it just felt like I should have had a warning of some kind. It is also not immediately clear how to turn the FM radio portion on.

Overall, I loved this little guy, and my roommate fell in love with it as well, trying to convince me to give it to her for her car with the broken radio. I said no. It sounds great, plays loud, pumps the bass, and is tiny enough to go anywhere your phone can. The fact that it doesn’t need batteries and uses a USB to charge only adds to its usefulness.

So how much is this going to cost you? Only $12.50 from Sonic Games Inc., which is a great deal considering the sound you’ll get from this truly portable speaker.

Score: A

Techie stuff:

Output: RMS3W THD=10%

Frequency Response: 150-18000HZ(+/-3dB)

Loud speaker: 1.77 inch (external diameter 45mm) magnetic resistant 5 Ohms