The problem with portable speakers is their size. In order to be able to pick them up and take them with you, they rather naturally have to be small. But small speakers simply can't offer the deep bass or massive volume as the big old system stuck in your house.

Kitsound has made one step towards solving this with the X5. This weird and clever speaker is super-light and pocket-sized, but it delivers bass well beyond its size.

The bottom of the Kitsound X5 is made from high-tech UK developed SFX gel, which magically uses whatever the speaker is sitting on to amplify the sound.

Set it on anything with what the firm calls “natural resonance” – a desk, a bench, a car – and it amplifies the sound. It seems a bit silly, but it does actually work. The difference is so noticeable the first thing you'll do with the X5 is run around resting it on as many different surfaces as possible to see what sort of sound you can get.

When you turn the X5 on, it even vibrates a bit. (In fact, you have to use it to play music loudly, as the fuzz from the vibration is audible when the volume is turned down). Turn the sound up and hold it in your hand, and you can feel, not just hear, the bass.

So great sound – and massive bass – in a tiny portable device. What more could you want?

It's also rather cool looking. The matte black box has a series of punched out squares over the speaker, giving it a slick look – it's not exactly modern art, but it doesn't look like most dull old speakers, anyway.

Kitsound has also cleverly included a hard case and loads of adaptors, so the X5 can be used with music players and laptops as well as Sony, Nokia, LG and Samsung phones, iPhones and iPods.

It promises 20 hours of battery life, so you can disturb the peace for a good long time. The best part is this high-tech mobile bass machine will cost you under £50.