REVIEW: Xmini Uno and Max Speakers

Size really doesn't matter.

It probably feels as if your smartphone, tablet or laptop can do whatever you want it to. These powerhouses of devices are used in every aspect of our lives, from surfing the net and playing games, to writing your thesis and texting your mum happy belated birthday. There's nothing our little mobile pals can't do.

Except play decent quality audio.

We've yet to see any phone, slate or lappy achieve great quality music and sound, instead producing a tinny limited range of sounds most of the time. So, we the tech-heads with dreams of musical nirvana, invest in speakers and amps and bluetooth gadgets to help get us there. Unfortunately these so-called mobile speakers hardly ever are and take up more room in our bags than a fat person's bum on an economy flight. Is there a better way to kick back with some first class audio? Yes, and it comes in the form of the Xmini speaker range.

REVIEW: Quadcopter with LEDs

In Quad we trust.

The recent spell of good weather has dragged us, the pasty denizens of The Test Pit, out into the open fresh air. But without a USB port readily available and no flat surface on which we could play with LEGO, we found ourselves in need of other forms of outdoor entertainment.

That's when we noticed the sky, that big blue largely unoccupied area above our heads. Wouldn't it be smashing, thought we, to play there, away from all the ants and mud and aggressive children that normally force us inside? Well we can, all thanks to Red 5 and their Quadcopter with LEDs.

REVIEW: Klipsch S3m In-Ear Headphones

Don't ditch the Klipsch.

If the scorching summer heat is really getting to you, simply pop in a pair of earphones and turn your mp3 volume up to maximum: problem solved. But how do good quality earphones help keep you cool on a roasting hot day? Well, they can't. But what they will do is drown out the sound of everyone whinging about how hot it is.

We found that in order to do this properly we needed a pretty decent pair of 'phones. We found them with the Klipsch S3m In-Ear Headphones.

REVIEW: Nerf Retaliator

We can't get e-Nerf.

A few weeks ago we got to grips with a rather unique Nerf blaster, the Vortex Diatron. Although we had a great deal of fun with the disk-firing gun, we couldn't help but be a little disappointed. You see what we want most from a toy gun is for it to feel as realistic as possible. Clumsily loading foam disks into a chunky red pistol did not help us feel like Arnie. So we were cock-a-hoop when we were sent the Diatron's bigger brother; the far more serious looking Retaliator.

REVIEW: 14 in 1 Solar Robot Kit

Your very own ro-bro.

We love robots here at The Test Pit. In fact, we love them so much that we're actually looking forward to the Terminator Judgement Day when the robots finally take over. Yes they'd wipe out human life, but golly it'll be cool.

Our first ever review was of the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner, but since then we've be hungry for another robotic pal to play with. Fortunately, thanks to Red 5, that's exactly what we got in the 14 in 1 Solar Robot Kit.

REVIEW: CAT B15 Rugged Smartphone

Nobody's pussy cat.

CAT: to us a company that has always been synonymous with making shoes and really big diggers. So, if you are a successful multinational that has already conquered the shoe and big digger worlds, your next logical move would be to release a mobile phone. Wouldn't it?

In CAT's case, that's just what they've done; by releasing the curious looking B15 Android Smartphone. But before you scratch your chins and wonder why a company like CAT would do that, you must first understand that if it ever came down to a physical fist fight between all the phones on the planet, the B15 would win. That is because this is the TOUGHEST PHONE IN THE WORLD.

REVIEW: Bitmore e-Storm LabyrinthX Super Bass Speaker

Storm in a tea cup.

They say that good things come in small packages. Whoever 'they' are obviously mean things like jewellery, atoms and babies (which we've yet to review). But here at The Test Pit we've never paid much heed to what 'they' say because 'they' usually like watching The X Factor and know who Kim Kardashian is. That is until now. Because 'they' have got it spot on this time as a very good thing does indeed come a small package: the Bitmore e-Storm LabyrinthX Super Bass Speaker.