Remember that Boombox iMusic Pillow? We mentioned it last week and we love things like this. For a start it’s not like we’re talking about £600-worth of smartphone that needs to be fully explained in a 2000-word review. Oh no, this is a pillow with speakers in. There you go. Done.
Want more? Well, the lovely people from Boombox sent us one. I’ve got to say, the delivery lady was pretty interested to see what it was. She thought my wife had bought a new coat and they ended up having a chat about the “beautiful new coat that your husband has probably bought as a surprise”. Sadly they were both disappointed, but still. I’ve got me a pillow with f’ing speakers in. Have a slice of that.
First things first, it arrives in a nice bag and, once you’ve opened it, you’ll find that it’s a standard sized pillow which, as Goldilocks would put it, isn’t too soft or too hard. It’s just right. The outer sleeve is 100% cotton and features a retro Boombox design, hence the name. It’s nice enough but, if you don’t like it and want to be a bit more “adult” or you perhaps have a pillowcase you want to use already, just swap it out. The side zips open and you replace it like you would with any pillowcase. The pillowcase here is also washable as per any other pillowcase. Whack it in that noisy thing in the kitchen at 30 degrees.
Inside is the pillow itself and, out of a very small zip-opening on the side, there’s a cable with a 3.5mm plug. This pops into an “amp” which is powered by 4xAA batteries (not included) and ramps up the weedy output from most tablets and smartphones. You then use the supplied cable to plug into your smartphone / tablet / iPod / MP3 player and flick the amp on to get your tunes. Volume is controlled by your device.
The speakers themselves aren’t going to make your windows rattle, but when you place your head between them you’ll have a very nice stereo experience which is really rather pleasant. The speakers, from what I can tell by feel, are able to move around a little inside the pillow, and they’re at the back of the pillow so it’s not totally uncomfortable. I was able to push them around and reposition them so that they were in the right place. I liked the fact that they’re not stitched into position, so I can make myself comfortable when I do decide to go to sleep. The speakers are 2x57mm “Mylar” units which don’t dent or damage when you put your head on them.
Music, radio and podcasts came through well and the lead was long enough for me to place my smartphone on the side of the bed out of the way. The fact that I’ve got nothing in my ears or over my head was quite freeing and, if you like watching Netflix, iPlayer or something similar in bed, it’s a great speaker solution and a lot better to the tiny speakers in your device.
If I’m brutally honest I don’t think I personally could sleep on this. Even though the speakers could be shifted out of the way of your head, I’d probably use it as a second pillow and then swap to another for sleeping on, but it was comfortable enough and you wouldn’t really mind too much if you did fall asleep on it. The speakers won’t blow your head away, but then again they’re not designed to do that. Also, I kinda wish that the mini amp turned itself off after use and was rechargable instead of needing 4 AA batteries.
Interested? Get this here at prezzybox.com for £27.99 (price correct at time of writing).