Where is it written that all portable speakers have to be boring (often ugly) black plastic? Can’t we have a little style, a little cool?
Yes. Yes, we can: For a limited time, StackSocial is offering the Veho M6 portable Bluetooth speaker for $65 shipped. It lists for $179.95 and sells elsewhere for at least $94.
On paper, the M6 is your fairly typical speaker, with an 1,800mAh rechargeable battery (good for up to 8 hours of playback, according to Veho), a line-in jack for connecting non-Bluetooth sources and a built-in microphone for hands-free phone calls.
In three-dimensional space, the M6 is far from typical. It’s a hot slab of wraparound grill and brushed aluminum, with a nifty retro leather carrying strap bolted to the top.
In other words, it’s kind of a guy’s speaker — and, hmmm, I wonder if you know any guys who will be graduating anytime soon. Or celebrating their fatherhood.
Granted, those events are still a couple months off, but why not get your gifts crossed off your list right now? Plus, this being StackSocial, it’ll be 1 to 2 weeks before the speaker actually ships. (Amazon Prime has spoiled me forever. I expect everything in two days, dammit!)
I’ve found only a handful of reviews of the M6 (from users, at sites like Amazon and Tesco), but they were all overwhelmingly positive. On an average day, $65 would buy you a pretty boring Bluetooth speaker. Today, it buys you a seriously classy one.
Bonus deal: It’s Tablet Tuesday, but on Monday! Ending at midnight, and while supplies last, Amazon has the Fire HD 7 tablet (8GB with special offers) for $79 shipped, a savings of $60 (!) and $20 less than the price of a Fire HD 6. Yes, it’s on the entry-level side of Amazon’s Fire lineup, and with only 8GB of non-expandable storage, you’ll need to rely heavily on the cloud for music and movies. (You can also get it with 16GB for $20 more.) Even so, what a great option for kids — and it comes in your choice of colors!
Bonus deal No. 2: My favorite quad-copter continues to inch down in price. Today only, and while supplies last, Meh is once again offering the DJI Phantom 1, this time for $300 (plus $5 for shipping). It’s new, not refurbished, and it features GPS return-to-home capabilities and a GoPro camera mount (though not a GoPro, alas). Just two years ago, when it was brand new, this model sold for $679.