Kivino Z100

The Kinivo ZX100 is a compact wired speaker that packs a big sound. The speaker comes in a variety of colors and can be found on Kinivo’s website or on Amazon. The product retails for around $20 (price subject to change). The ZX100 was sent out for review.



The speaker come with a soft cloth carrying pouch and a micro USB charging cable with a 3.5 mm jack attached to it. This allows users to charge the speaker with a laptop and play sound from the laptop through the speaker by plugging the 3.5mm cable into the laptop’s audio port. This is a nice add- on but I do not use it at all. The speaker has a battery life of up to 6 hours, which is plenty of time for me to use in my daily life. When charging, the LED on the side of the speaker is a solid red. Once the speaker is at full battery life, the LED will turn off.

The build of the speaker is good. It is made of plastic but still seems durable and like it can take a bit of damage. There are no scratches on it or fingerprints due to its matte finish. The buttons are all physical and include the on/off, volume up, and volume down buttons. There is a 3.5mm cable located on the bottom of the speaker that one can use to plug an audio device into the speaker. The 3.5mm cable is not retractable so one has to manually replace the cord back into its housing in the speaker (see photos or video for more information), which is less than desirable. The cord is short and seems fragile so I do not use it. Instead, I plug my own audio cable, which is a longer as well as better built cord, into the speaker.

The speaker has a few features that makes it stand out. The speaker part of the speaker can pop out away from the body of the speaker to help resonate the sound and bass (shown in the video). This enhances the sound greatly and provides rich sound quality as well as deeper bass. After one is finished using the speaker, the speaker portion of the speaker can retract back into the body of the speaker for portability. Another feature is the ability to purchase multiple ZX100s and daisy chain them together to increase theplayback sound. I have not tested this feature but with the affordable price range, one can pick up a few of these to use.

The sound on the speaker is good for the price range. The volume buttons are independent of one’s audio device so increasing the sound of the ZX100 increases the sound heard even if the audio device is maxedout. The bass is present especially when the speaker is opened. For a small speaker, it packs a loud sound with some good bass included.

Overall, the ZX100 wired speaker is compact and affordable. It packs some nice sound and nice bass. I would recommend this speaker to those in the market for a portable speaker but do not mind that it is wired.