MiOYOOW DIY Bluetooth Speaker Kit with LED Lights, STEM Electronic Project

Possibly the best 24 bucks I've ever spent. I built it in an evening, the hardest part is assembling the case, good soldering practice for anyone who has an idea of how to do it, complete noobs should watch some u tube vids before attempting it, the only problem I found was that the power switch would not fit into its hole, I used a nail file to lengthen the hole in a couple of minutes, the case will crack if abused. Once it's assembled it is quite sturdy and the sound quality and volume are great for the price, surprisingly loud, no real distortion at max volume, obviously not audiophile quality but I was impressed by the sound quality. The bluetooth is also very good, long range, easy connections. I like the lightshow, some people might be able to modify it to suit their taste. I'm thinking about putting a battery in it to make it more portable. If you think you want one buy it, you won't regret it.

ASE Certified Master Technician with 30 years experience. This was a fun kit to make. Not too much soldering though. Easy soldering with nothing too small or difficult. Sounds good for what it is. Connects well every time. Instructions were incorrect on one step. The step to connect the light control to the power supply. I was able to connect it to the switched 5V power and ground circuit at the switch and it works perfect. The screws holding all the panels together were a challenge for my FAT FINGERS but I like a good challenge. My switch was too large and too stiff and cracked the panel when I tried to install. I would heat it up a little to make it pliable or trim the tabs off next time. I liked this so much I ordered another one for my wife. Hers was missing a couple screws and they quickly replaced the missing parts with another kit. I was also able to replace my broken panel out of the replacement kit. This is a great beginner kit. This was her third kit to make and she loved it as well.

First things first: Pay attention to what you are ordering. There are two separate kits as the same product. The more expensive one has the large spectrum LED panel (and apparently requires some SMD soldering), while the less expensive has 11 multicolor LEDs and is all through-hole work. I opted for the less expensive kit as I don't see the benefit of having a bunch of lights on what is essentially the back of the unit. The soldering you'll be doing in this project are just the components on the small board at the bottom, as well as some wire connections. It's very good soldering practice for beginners and did not take an excessive amount of time to complete. The instructions are provided by a QR code link in the box. It would have been nice if they had also put the URL the QR code linked to on the sticker with the QR, for easier access from a desktop. THE HARD PART is putting the acrylic case together, especially if you've never put something like that together and are not familiar with working on acrylic. I can forgive the reviewers who claimed the case doesn't go together: It's not super-obvious how you're supposed to tackle it and they completely skip over how to do it in the instructions. This is one part of the project where they could really improve the experience by showing the best way to get it together. I got my case together without cracking anything, but it was a patience-testing experience as I slowly figured out how to do it. One thing i found helpful was to use a magnet against the side of the nuts as I slowly tightened the screws into place. This kept the nuts/screws from being sucked up to the speaker magnets. Be careful not to over-tighten the screws: you're either going to make them pop out of place, or you'll crack the acrylic! TIP: note that the top plate actually slots into the speaker plates, so it might be easier to start with that (instead of making the mistake I did and noticing that at the very end). Sound of the finished unit is decent for what it is. Good enough that I put it on one my computers to use as output when I want to show the kids something (I usually just use headphones). The lights on the unit are really cool - no complaints there... even if mine didn't have the big LED panel like the more expensive model. They are very animated and colorful. I haven't experimented with using cards or USB thumbdrives with it, but I've connected the bluetooth to both my Android phone and my Linux desktop computer with no issues whatsoever. The remote control also works as advertised.

Instructions are not great for this product and super clear. I was a first time user and my first package came USED (possibly fault of amazon and not seller idk???). Had to get a replacement because the first one was not usable and putting together the outside pieces broke one of them trying to be very careful even as the instruction says, but couldn't help it was tough to get socketed properly. Much smaller than I expected, but the sound quality and sound output is great and I was happy with that. I think I messed up soldering the lights because they don't work and I will take it apart and try it again, but for noobie had some troubles and fun learning.

First of all, there are 2 different types of this product, and they both ship with the same instruction sheet. I happened to have the product with different-colored capacitors, and the sheet didn't specify that there were 2 different types of the product until way later. That led to a lot of confusion. Second of all, the part of the project where you have to cut the white plastic tip of the red and black wires, which makes it impossible to solder if you mess up even once. Also, the project had a segment where you had to solder a wire mere millimeters from a rubber pole, so when I soldered the wire into the designated hole, I fried the rubber pole, which could be very toxic and dangerous. Don't buy this product.

Neat project, would buy again

This is a review of the less expensive multicolor LED it. The parts are packaged well and everything was included along with some extra LED's. The extra LEDs are helpful if you incorrectly solder the polarity. Just make sure you solder the long leg of the LED to the positive! Instructions are provided with QR code and are mostly easy to follow. I would suggest soldering the three jumpers wires before install LEDs to make it easier for access. Make sure the LED legs are not too long or short when you bend 90 degress to fit front acrylic panel. The acrylic panel assembly as mentioned in other reviews is a little challenging. I suggest using clear tape to hold not when installing screws. The was a simple project that can be completed within two hours and is actually a useful functional bluetooth speaker with remote control that is fun to use and listen too. The lights which follow the music is an extra bonus!

I am an electronics engineer, and I bought this speaker kit to share some electronics knowledge with my son. The soldering work was simple and suitable for a novice, and that portion of the kit assembly was done 100% by my teen-aged son, who had no previous electronics experience, with me only giving step by step advice. If this was the only portion of kit assembly required, I would rate the kit 10/10. However, when it came time to assemble the case together, my opinion of this kit went downhill very fast. First of all, when my son was (carefully) inserting the power switch into the acrylic, that entire side of the cabinet snapped in half. I tried Crazy-Gluing the side back tother, but that was unsuccessful, so I used clear adhesive package tape instead, and had to carefully trim the tape for all edges and holes to accommodate the parts (nuts, bolts, power switch, etc.). Assembly of the case is VERY FIDDLY; it is very hard to line all the sides up so you can tighten the nuts onto the very small (M2x10) bolts to secure the sides. It takes 2 or 3 times as long to assemble the case, as all the other soldering and wiring takes. The instructions (which you have to download via a QR Code) are pretty good for the electronics and wiring portions, but abysmal for the (problematic) assembly portion. Sound fidelity is “adequate” for the price, as long as the volume is not turned up beyond about halfway. At the volume level that my son wanted to listen to this speaker at, the speakers were over-driven and distorted. He was disappointed in the fidelity. The multicolor LED’s are (at best) a gimmick. I would rather have better assembly quality (maybe thicker acrylic and a simpler means to assemble the sides together), rather than this awful and difficult kit as was provided to me. Building this kit with my son was disappointing.