Mini Polk boombox lets you wear your music on your sleeve

An out-and-about speaker? I don’t want strangers listening to my music.

Sounds like someone has a guilty pleasure playlist. Bit of Bieber, portion of Perry? We get you, but there’s a big advantage of not having your earholes clogged up with buds. Safety. With the Polk Boom Bit clipped to your bag strap, you’ll be able to hear that tractor slowly creeping up behind you or the shouts of an onlooker as you jog towards a sinkhole. Of course, in crowded urban terrain you’re going to look like an idiot with Ridin’ Dirty blaring away , so this might one purely for rural riders, ramblers and runners.

Why can’t I just use my phone speaker?

You can, we’re not stopping you. But the ruggedised Bit can be conveniently clipped to your clothes, leaving your phone tucked away in a pocket of muck’s way. Because it’s a Bluetooth speaker, you can take your calls on it too – if you’re the kind of fitness phreak that can run and talk.

I suppose it might come in useful. Always getting tangled in my earphone wires while jogging.

That’s the spirit! What the Bit can’t do, unfortunately, is run solo. It has no internal storage so no phone, no tunes. And, we’re not sure of the sound quality from such a small speaker. And, make sure you don’t intend on using it for a marathon as, fully charged from its built-in USB connector, it only has about three hours of battery life. The poor mite.

On the positive side, the Polk Boom Bit is just £30 and it’s available in a range of colours from Sport Blue to Lava Red. Who said safety wasn’t stylish?