Testing a mini amplifier

I assume many of you have found yourselves wanting to play with other musicians, only for the ukulele to get a little lost in the mix because you had no amplifier. Obviously we can solve that by plugging into an available amplifier with a cable—or even wirelessly—or by positioning the ukulele in front of a microphone. In many situations, however, none of that equipment is with us. Who carries around a large, heavy speaker cabinet or a microphone ?

I think I was looking for a clip-on halogen reading lamp on Temu when I came across a little gadget that seemed capable of solving the problem above. I risked the HUF 6–7,000 to try a device roughly the size of a very chunky mobile phone: a tiny speaker / amplifier that can be plugged directly into an electro-acoustic (or electric) ukulele without a separate cable—and into a guitar or bass as well. A few weeks later this portable amplifier arrived. I would not claim it sounds like a larger, “proper” amplifier, but it is perfect for keeping in the ukulele case and making the instrument louder when necessary. It also has various effects, so you can experiment until you find a tone you like. Another advantage is that it charges by USB, so you do not have to keep feeding it batteries. In the video below I recorded the unboxing and my first test. Naturally I did not yet fully understand how everything worked, but after a few uses it became easy to set up. Enjoy the video: