The My Doodles Kids Speaker Dock Review; listen, watch and charge!

Those of you that follow Gadget Girl will know I did a Kickstarter post last month on this adorable new speaker dock from My Doodles and Kitsound.

They were kind enough to send me one to review so Im excited to bring you a fab gift for the kids and big kids this Christmas which will be available very soon.

We all know most kids nowadays are so tech savvy especially when it comes to tablets as many kids have their own tablet or smartphone....or borrow yours. How many of your kids have fallen asleep and dropped your £200-300+ device on the floor...eeep?

Well now Kitsound have collaborated with My Doodles to produce one of the very first Kids speaker docks in the choice of 2 adorable designs. The monkey and the owl; giving a safe place to stand and charge the device and watch their favorite film or TV program's wirelessly by Bluetooth in high quality audio.

Checkout my photo-loaded review and sound video after the jump.

The My Doodles team started getting funding on Kickstarter but they withdrew this shortly as they found alternative funding and this amazing little dock will be on Amazon UK very soon...woohoo.

Colourful fun box

Packaging

I knew the Monkey dock was quite large but its wasn't until it arrived the actual size really surprised me. My "little" Monkey dock arrived safe and sound in this large colorful box; any child will be over the moon to open this at Christmas.

With even a "spot the difference" game on the side; they say kids often prefer boxes...this could be 2 toys in one..although this dock is not technically a toy.
"I don't think Father Christmas would get away with this idea"!

Inside the box you get your Speaker dock, charger, auxillary cable and manual.

Measurements

This Monkey dock is approximately 9.5" wide x 9.5" high x 9.5" in depth

The power plug has a 62 inches long cable giving plenty of length to play with. The Auxillary cable is 24.5 inches long giving enough length should you wish to hard-wire your device rather than Bluetooth.

The Science Bit

Bluetooth V4 but I'm sure its backwards compatible as mine is V3 and works.

Bluetooth range is up to 10m.

Aux input; 3.5mm.

Output RMS; 2 x 5W satellites and 1 x 10W woofer total= 20W.

Frequency response; 60Hz-20KHz.

S/N; 65dB.

USB Output; 2.1 A & 1A.

DC; Input 12V.

Description

This pretty large speaker dock has been designed just for the kids and bigger kids; this gorgeous large monkey face is a big bold design which will make anyone smile when they see it. Made of ABS plastic its strong and can withstand rough treatment. The whole dock is a gorgeous glossy dark brown perfect minky coloration.

At the front are 4 large child friendly keys

On/off.
Rewind and - volume.
Fastforward and + volume.
Play and pause.

These keys are strong, firm and are large enough to cope with kids fingers. This also enables you to use these rather than hunt through your device each time.

Either side of the dock are two satellite speakers approximate 2.75 inches in diameter.

On this beautifully rounded back is a large hole to suck in the air for the subwoofer speaker underneath.

Directly underneath is the subwoofer speaker for that gorgeous bass. Plus 4 large textured rubber feet for amazing grip on most surfaces and are specially designed with a wide stance for more stability. This is not going to be knocked off easily even by a clumsy adult....who me...!

There are 4 ports with 2 main charging ports; one for tablets USB (2.1A), and one for a smart phone (500mA). An axillary in to hard-wire your device to the speaker without using Bluetooth and finally the DC in port to plugin your speaker.

View from the top shows just how wide the slot is to hold a tablet and smartphone. This has a large strip of rubber to hold the device securely; no slipping off here.

Charging my Google Nexus 10 and my Samsung S4 at the same time.
Don't they look great together???

Use

I know this was designed for the kiddies; but honestly this speaker is just brilliant fun for adults too. This adorable cheeky monkey face in my opinion has a retro type feel to it with the creamy coloured large buttons.
This clever Minky holds both my Nexus 10 and my Samsung S4 infront of it where I can then charge both devices with their own separate charging port at the back. 2.1 amp and a 500mA (tablet and smartphone).

The large 1 inch width gap enables tablets of all sizes to fit alongside the smart phones too as seen above; keeping these expensive devices safer than just laying on a bed propped up on a pillow.

Most kids will hold a tablet while watching a movie or cartoon; making it easy to slip off the bed if they doze off...hey Ive actually done this myself. This speaker dock keeps your devices stabilized and secure with a bonus of offering fabulous sound quality and volume too so they can get immersed quickly into their favorite program or film.

Here are both my tablet and phone charging cables side by side.

Here are all the cables at the back kept right out the way from curious fingers.

My Squishable Werewolf photo-bombing the shot!

Pairing

I have to say it doesn't get much easier than this;

Bluetooth LED

Power on the Doodle.
To the right of the 4th button is a small blue LED which will flash rapidly.
Activate Bluetooth on the device to be paired.
Select Kids Dock which will appear on your Bluetooth list.
Your ready to Rock!!!

I also used the Axillary cable to hard-wire my devices in without using Bluetooth and the sound is just the same no difference at all so its a personal choice which way you prefer. However I feel the less wires the better makes it safer for the kids as long as they are old enough to understand how to turn on Bluetooth; but Im sure Mum or Dad can do this instead.

You can then sit in bed or on the sofa watching your favorite film or listening to music; snuggled up with a 15 inch Squishable Werewolf.

Sound

Checkout my Sound Test between my Nexus 10 own built in speaker and then Bluetoothed into the My Doodle.

The sound from the speakers loud, crisp and clear with no distortion. You cant crank the volume up too loud though; but then you don't want to be hearing Sesame Street at full volume...or maybe you do...!

Im so surprised at how gorgeous the sound quality is; but then Kitsound are responsible for that with their award winning audio experience. Just look at what is inside and how well its designed; I cant stop looking at this exploded view.

Great as a smartphone dock too.

It goes to sleep when placed in the middle of the Monkey just like it does when using my S-view case. It must be a speaker magnet inside...deliberate...who knows?
The minute you move it to the side the main home screen comes back normally; as you can see from the first image. But you get to have a clock and the date on when you want to go to sleep.

On a design note idea - it would have been great to have the ears as tweeter speakers rather than just plastic ears doing nothing but looking cute. They peer over my 10 inch tablet perfectly and it would have been great to have front facing speakers rather than side on; but I feel this must be because of the internal design factor.

Opinion
I absolutely love my cheeky monkey that cute face makes you smile every day; or I'm just a big kid...maybe the latter lol!

Its a gorgeous substantial weight for a dock so the kids aren't going to knock it off easily with the weight and extra grippy rubber feet.

This isn't a dock you want to put discreetly in the corner; its screaming fun and smiles; perfect for the kids bedrooms or playroom.

Sound quality is just amazing, its rich, clear and crisp with fantastic bass...yesss!

With this fun dock you will hopefully be able to encourage more learning games and videos too so they can just use it themselves.

If you haven't seen my video go check it out to see the wow factor of a difference in sound between my phone and tablets own built in speakers to the My Doodles speakers. It completely blew me away to find a dock designed for kids has such excellent quality sound; but then its innards are Kitsound.

If you want a unique fun gift for your children I would definitely consider getting one of these wireless docks.

Even Monkey likes Candy Crush.

Pro's

2 Fun kids designs.
Amazing quality sound.
Dual USB charging port.
Charges 2 devices at once. eg; Nintendo, tablet and a smart phone etc.
Have wireless music and videos via Bluetooth.
Sturdy solid design to store whilst not in use.
Large easy to use buttons.

Con's

None....make sure you have space on your table his a big lad!

Just choose either the adorable pink Owl or the cheeky Monkey.
Coming soon on Amazon UK this month.
See here for more information.

All my thanks goes to Kitsound for sending me a sample free of charge in return for this honest review.