The Boynq Sabre stereo iPod desktop speaker is neither awesome nor awful. It's a decent enough little speaker system with a few unique touches that may make it appealing to some. While its sound quality isn't as good as some other similarly priced iPod speakers (most notably the mStation 2.1 Stereo Orb I reviewed a couple of weeks ago), its size, styling, and features may make it worth considering.

Let's start with styling: The Sabre is an interesting-looking device that comes in two colors, lavender (pour femme; shown below) and black (pour homme; not shown).

It is a relatively compact package that doesn't require much space. That (or perhaps that and its lovely lavender color) may be why wife prefers this system over the larger mStation 2.1 Stereo Orb for our kitchen even though the Orb sounds better and has a wireless remote. (For what it's worth, if it were my call I would choose the better-sounding Orb.)

As for features, it has several desirable ones. It offers recharging and synchronizing via either USB or FireWire, handy if you have an older iPod model. It has bass and treble controls, something not all speaker systems in this price range do. It has S-Video output for use with televisions (iPod video only; not the most recent video-capable iPods), and a 1/8-inch line-in jack for iPod shuffle and other audio devices. And it comes with a full compliment of docking inserts (6) plus line-in, video out, and stereo line-out cables.

The Bottom Line

If you like the design, lack space, or are a fan of lavender (or black) devices, the Sabre may be just the speaker system you need. But if you are looking for the best sound, you'd probably be happier with the mStation 2.1 Stereo Orb or another similarly-priced iPod speaker system. It's not that its sound quality sucks -- it doesn't. But it's somewhat thin, lacking bass response, and distorts a little at higher listening levels.