It’s been about a year since Saregama came out with its ‘Carvaan’, a retro-looking cool speaker on the outside, which was even more retro on the inside, with thousands of old songs from yesteryear Bollywood, enough to make any music buff go weak in the knees. It was of a regular size, not too big, but still not the easiest to lug around.

The Carvaan Mini, recently launched, seeks to solve that problem, but at a compromise. You only get 351 pre-loaded retro songs on this one, and of course, it isn’t as loud. But then again, it will more than hold its own against portable speakers in a similar range.

The review unit was a bright red, with the speaker grille on the front emblazoned with a print of legendary yesteryear Bollywood singers. The power and the music control buttons are on top. One side gets a 3.5 mm jack while the other gets two buttons to switch between radio (AM and FM), preloaded songs, and a third button for Bluetooth connectivity. The back gets ports for USB type 2 charging, a regular USB port to plug in a pen drive and another 3.5 mm port for aux in, giving users a plethora of connectivity options. It also has an antenna, which is quite difficult to prise out and I had to use a pen to do it.

Given its retro appeal, I first gave it to my mother to use, as she loves her old Bollywood music. Her first feedback was that it was very simple to use, but she had a qualm with long-pressing the power button to switch it on and off, and it didn’t work smooth all the time. One good feature on the Mini is that the pre-loaded songs begin at the last song played even if the device is switched off. However, because there is no display, unlike the larger Carvaan, you cannot choose or browse songs and can merely skip to the next or previous track. But that’s a small price to pay for the Mini’s portability and general ease of use. The songs have a rich variety and are very well curated. Maybe Saregama could consider increasing the Mini’s internal memory so more songs could be preloaded.

Sound quality is loud, clear, and sharp, and radio reception is also good, as is syncing with other devices via Bluetooth. The speaker isn’t too heavy and can easily be put in a bag and taken around. It also sits easy on any surface thanks to two stubs on the bottom that support it.

The Carvaan Mini lives up to its name, offering pretty much the same things that the Carvaan does, albeit in a smaller package and at less than half the price. I would recommend it for those strictly looking for portability. For those who aren’t, climb aboard the larger Carvaan.

Price: ₹2,490

Pros: Good sound, ease of use, lovely preloaded songs, portability

Cons: Antenna difficult to prise out, no display, cannot browse preloaded songs

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