Tag: Medion

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Deal : Medion P66538 (MD44538) in the test: The boombox from Aldi is great for the money!


Aldi has a cult boombox on offer: The Medion MD44538 has a ghetto blaster design that looks like something from the 80s, but makes similarly expensive Bluetooth boxes look pretty old.

Table of contents

  • Medion P66538: Boombox with CD, DAB and Bluetooth
  • Operation requires practice
  • This is what the Medion boombox sounds like

  • Test conclusion Medion Life P66538 (MD44538)

For children of the 80s, radio recorders were a dream, especially in XXL format – nicknamed “ghettoblaster”. The Medion Life P66538 (MD44538) brings the dream back to life. And better yet: The boombox contains an FM radio and cassette recorder, but it also takes you straight back to the future with modern equipment. This practical test clarifies what the versatile Henkelmann can do.

Medion P66538: Boombox with CD, DAB and Bluetooth

With a width of 67 centimeters, the Medion P66538 (MD44538) makes a powerful impression, and the fold-out handle seems appropriately stable for its 6.1 kilograms weight. The angular silver design harks back to the 80s, even though many of the boombox’s functions didn’t exist back then:

  • Cassette recorder: This is part of the mandatory equipment, it offers a playback option for the millions of compact cassettes that still exist and for the few new releases. Its cassette compartment opens very softly and very slowly, and it is also not the fastest when fast forwarding and rewinding.
  • CD player: Where many classic ghetto blasters had a second cassette compartment, the Medion P66538 has a CD player. The silver discs need to be carefully pressed onto the spindle. Very good: The player buffers about a minute of the music playing so that it runs smoothly even in the event of vibrations.
  • FM radio: The station is selected according to the old custom using a small rotary wheel; the set frequency can be roughly estimated with a wide pointer on the scale on the top edge. In the practical test, noise was often mixed into the reception; if necessary, you could switch to mono.
  • Digital radio: The boombox also receives via DAB+ (Digital Audio Broadcast). In most regions there are significantly more channels to choose from via digital reception; in Hamburg, for example, there are over 40. Reception was trouble-free in the test. A small display at the top left shows the selected station name in plain text.
  • Bluetooth: The Medion P66538 (MD44538) also has a built-in Bluetooth receiver so that the sound can also be played from the smartphone – be it from Spotify, YouTube or any other app. The coupling was quick and easy in the practical test.
  • USB and microSD: The cool box also plays digital music in MP3 format from USB sticks and memory cards. The small display at the top left can help you select titles.
  • Microphones: Microphones can be connected to two jack sockets on the front for spontaneous singing or birthday greetings. Adjustable reverb spices up the voice if necessary. However, microphones are not included.

Operation requires practice

The program selection is done using two small slide switches. Anyone born in the 80s may need glasses for this. There are also tone controls for bass and treble as well as – somewhat hidden – an X-Bass button. This shows that the boombox is made up of very different assemblies without a common operating concept. But fortunately, if anything is unclear, a thick and understandable manual can help. Recordings are possible on cassettes and in MP3 format on USB and microSD cards, such as CDs and radios. If you want, you can even digitize recorded cassettes. The power is supplied via a power cable or with eight batteries or size D rechargeable batteries.

This is what the Medion boombox sounds like

The generous dimensions of the Medion Life P66538 (MD44538) benefit the sound quality: two large woofers are installed on the right and left, the rectangular panels above are not just decoration, there are actually two tweeters behind them. This gives the boombox a pretty crisp sound. The treble control can be set to three o’clock, otherwise the playback will seem a bit tired. The X-Bass button gives the low tones more pressure and has a better sound quality than the boombox. Against Bluetooth speakers The giant can easily hold its own in the price range between 150 and 200 euros, especially since the stereo imaging is decent due to its dimensions. When recording on cassette, deep bass suffers somewhat and the typical tape noise is mixed in. But you can easily transfer a new CD for the cassette radio in the old Opel.

Test conclusion Medion Life P66538 (MD44538)

Young people of the 80s would have given their last shirt for a boombox like this. The crisp sound is a pleasure to listen to; contemporary program sources are on board with radio and cassette. In addition, the Medion Life P66538 (MD44538) offers the latest equipment with Bluetooth, digital radio and CD. You have to get used to the operation, but the fun is definitely worth it. The retro boombox will be available in Aldi’s online shop from January 4, 2024. The price: 179 euros.

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Deal : Medion Akoya E15433 in the test: 15 inch model at Aldi for 499 euros!


From January 4, 2024, the well-equipped Medion Akoya E15433 will be available at Aldi for just 499 euros. Does the 15-inch notebook with Core i5 CPU impress in the test?

Table of contents

  • Medion Akoya E15433 in the test: Simple 15-inch model
  • Full HD screen
  • Good keyboard/touchpad combo

  • A look under the hood

  • Little breath
  • Card reader, HDMI, USB-C
  • Medion Akoya E15433 in the test: conclusion

At the beginning of 2024, the discounter Aldi will be introducing the Medion Akoya E15433 (MD64180) notebook in all of its branches nationwide. The price tag on January 4th reads a moderate 499 euros. What do customers get in return? Is it worth buying? SamaGame tested the Aldi notebook Medion Akoya E15433 (MD64180).

Medion Akoya E15433 in the test: Simple 15-inch model

There are no long arms when it comes to daily transport from A to B: the Aldi notebook, which is around 2 centimeters thin, weighs less than 2 kilograms – what a thing 15.6 inch notebook is little. There are hardly any visual accents: the Akoya E15433 is a simple representative of its genre.

Good: Manufacturer Medion has framed the display with beautifully narrow edges, which looks chic and modern. The Essen-based company had to make the display edge a little thicker in the top center to accommodate the webcam. The 1 megapixel lens is just a simple example, but is completely sufficient for video calls via Teams, Skype or Zoom.

Full HD screen

The screen is also completely sufficient – ​​at least for Internet and office applications. On its almost 40 centimeter screen diagonal, it shows websites, Word and Excel documents in Full HD with 1920×1080 pixels. But the display wasn’t completely convincing. It showed photos and videos with pale and distorted colors. The maximum brightness is a bit low at 310 candelas per square meter. On sunny days, users should therefore look for a shady spot when working outdoors.

Good keyboard/touchpad combo

The keyboard could offer a slightly more precise and harder touch. Nevertheless, texts were pleasant to type in the test. The distance between the keys is sufficiently large so that users do not accidentally press two keys at the same time. There is no lighting for working in darker environments. Good: There is a number pad for entering long Excel columns. The touchpad is also pleasing; it implements input quickly and precisely. The only drawback: mouse clicks are not possible at the top.

A look under the hood

However, users don’t have to worry about long waiting times: in the speed tests, the Medion proved to be a fast notebook! No wonder: the mid-range processor Core i5-1235U from Intel serves as the engine.Alder Lake“series. It’s not the latest model (market launch: early 2022), but it’s still a powerful CPU. And the ten-core processor can transfer data to a comparatively generous 16 gigabytes of RAM.

Windows 11, programs and data are on one M.2 SSD with an effective 477 gigabytes of memory deposited. Is that not enough? An additional SSD cannot be retrofitted, but users can at least exchange the existing one for one with more memory – 2 terabyte models are available from 100 euros. The RAM can also be upgraded if necessary – to a maximum of 64 gigabytes (150 euros).

Test results Medion Akoya E15433 (MD64180)

Test results Medion Akoya E15433 (MD64180)

Test results

Medion Akoya E15433 (MD64180)

processor

 Intel Core i5-1235U

graphics chip

 Intel UHD Graphics Xe

display

 15.6 inches (1920×1080 pixels)

How fast is the notebook?

Speed ​​with Office

 high (53%)

Video editing speed

 high (35.9%)

Speed ​​in games (1920×1080 pixels)

 very jerky (17 frames per second)

Speed ​​in games (3840×2160 pixels)

 not playable

SSD speed

 slow (11.7%)

USB speed (on notebook SSD)

 230 MB/sec.

USB speed (on external hard drive)

 280 MB/sec.

How good is the image quality?

Color fidelity

 very low (87.4%)

Deviations in grayscale

 low (2.4%)

color temperature

 natural (7391 Kelvin)

Maximum brightness

 somewhat low (310 cd/m²)

Black level

 very low (0.24 cd/m²)

Contrast ratio

 very low (1351:1)

Visual test

 somewhat minor (washed out colors, pale skin tones, slight backlight bleeding on screen edges)

Color space sRGB

 too low (63.7%)

Color space DCI-P3

 too low (47.4%)

Response time (average/max.)

 short (18.8 ms) / short (27.8 ms)

Number of pixels per inch

 somewhat low (141 dpi at 1920×1080 pixels)

Max. brightness deviations

 low (10.64%)

Gloss level screen/frame

 low / very low

Max refresh rate

 60 hertz

How easy is it to use on the go?

Battery life / charging time

 acceptable (04:58 hours) / short (2:06 hours)

Operating noise when working / max.

 very quiet (0.7 sone) / very quiet (1.8 sone)

Temperature after 30 minutes of full load

 slightly high (23.0 degrees)

Weight with battery / power supply with cable

 low (1.88 kg) / very low (0.22 kg)

Is everything you need included?

RAM (built-in/expandable)

 a lot (2×8 GB / 2×32 GB, complete replacement required)

Data storage (built-in / expandable)

 a little bit (477 GB, SSD-NVMe, Western Digital /no)

connections

 1x headset, 1xHDMI / 2x USB Type A 3.2 Gen. 1, 1x USB-C 2.0, 1x USB Type-A 2.0

WiFi / Bluetooth / Cellular

 Wifi 5 / version 5.1 / no

Webcam / microphone / memory card reader

 yes / yes / yes (microSD)

Included programs

 Windows 11 Home

How easy is it to use?

Quality and operation of the keyboard

 slightly roughened surface, pleasant writing feeling, pressure point a bit spongy

Keyboard lighting

 no

Standard assignment / navigation button standard size

 no no

Biometric access barriers

 unavailable

Touchpad size/quality and operation

 very large / clicking at the top edge not possible, minimal latency, pleasant surface, good pressure point

Quality and operation of the touchscreen

 unavailable

Little breath

It’s a shame: the CPU and display suck heavily on the battery, the 55 watt-hour energy storage was enough for almost five hours of work in the test – with the display at full brightness. If you turn down the brightness a little, you can extend the battery life by an hour – but that wouldn’t be a particularly good value either. There are now notebooks like this Thomson M15 EVO, which last for almost eleven hours without a power outlet on a single battery charge – but they are usually more than twice as expensive. Also good: The Medion performed its job calmly in the test; its fan did not torment the testers with noisy rotating noises, even under full load.

Card reader, HDMI, USB-C

A card reader for microSD memory cardn is on board and external Monitors can be connected via HDMI. The Aldi notebook also offers a USB-C socket. However, the latter still works according to the lame USB 2.0 standard and not the USB 3.2 Gen 2 version, which is for fast external SSDs would be necessary.

Medion Akoya E15433 in the test: conclusion

Of course, customers shouldn’t expect a super-duper notebook with all the bells and whistles for 500 euros. The price for the Akoya E15433 is okay for the performance it offers: it works quickly and quietly, the display offers decent image quality, and the features are complete with the exception of the missing keyboard backlight.

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Deal : Medion Life X61350 Bluetooth sound system in the test: great party box


Bass that makes your ears wobble, sound effects via performance pads, LED front panel with adjustable light show: With the Medion Life X61350, a huge party box will be available at Aldi from December 7th, which we have now tested.

Table of contents

  • Medion Life X61350 in the test: A colossus
  • No battery on board
  • Four speakers, true wireless stereo

  • Built-in light organ, performance pads

  • This is what the Aldi party box sounds like
  • Fan makes noise
  • Smartphone/tablet holder

  • Karaoke for singing talents – or those who want to become one
  • Aldi party box Medion Life X61350 in the test: conclusion

No matter whether it’s Christmas, New Year’s Eve or a birthday party: decent ones Party speakers bring every celebration to life. Things should really sizzle with the fat Medion Life X61350 (MD 44332) Bluetooth sound system, which the discounter Aldi will be offering nationwide from December 7, 2023. Features, volume and sound quality are great. The price? Violent. Compared to the competition, it’s a real bargain.

Medion Life X61350 in the test: A colossus

The Medion MD 44332 Bluetooth sound system is almost 1.10 meters high, around 40 centimeters wide, 40 centimeters deep and weighs around 25 kilograms. If you constantly move the party box from A to B, lumbago is inevitable. To prevent this from happening, it has two wheels with which the colossus can be moved at least to ground level without risking a herniated disc. It’s a shame: there’s no handle on the top for safe rolling, like on a suitcase – the recesses on the sides only help to a limited extent. The latter are more useful if you have to maneuver the giant roaring cube one floor higher. And that’s a real feat of strength – almost impossible to accomplish alone.

No battery on board

By the way: The Medion Life X61350 Bluetooth sound system does not have a battery on board. Instead, the box must draw energy from the socket. This limits the range of action somewhat – unless a cable drum is transporting energy from the last accessible socket to the barbecue area in the garden.

Four speakers, true wireless stereo

At the front, two tweeters and mid-range speakers with 85 watts of power each provide the audience with sound. Further down, directed towards the floor, there is a huge subwoofer for bass reproduction with 350 watts of power – according to the manufacturer. There is also a tweeter with an output of 20 watts fairly high up on the front. According to Medion, if you want to transform your garden into a festival area, you can connect two Life X61350s via true wireless stereo – the speakers can be a maximum of 10 meters apart.

Built-in light organ, performance pads

On the front, the X61350 has countless RGB LEDs that provide the necessary lighting effects at the party. They can be adjusted using the 16 performance pads. And these pads have another function: With the help of these performance pads, music playback can be enhanced or highlighted not only with visual effects, but also with acoustic effects – including drum effects, various sirens, animal sounds or audience laughter. However, wildly banging around on these performance pads can lead to the party abruptly ending – if the DJ moves out of sync. And that needs to be learned, because in the test it wasn’t that easy to add effects to the playing music in the right rhythm.

This is what the Aldi party box sounds like

But how does the XXL box sound? Depending on the recording, voices appear a little scratchy; if you stand too close to the speaker, you will only hear the bass as dull. You get the best sound from 3 meters away. If you turn the speaker up to full volume in the living room, you risk the complete failure of your eardrums – don’t even try it. The box is much better off outside at full steam – and only if you have legal protection insurance. In the test it reached the 110 decibel mark from a distance of 3 meters. It spread the sound throughout the entire neighborhood. The bass reproduction can be enhanced even further by pressing the “EX Bass” button. With songs that are already bass-heavy, this doesn’t always make sense and often ends in a dull drone instead of a clear and precise hammering. The Aldi Party box generally reproduced the midrange cleanly and pleasantly, but the highs could have had more presence. Of course, the box is not a jewel for music lovers, but as a comparatively cheap and robust sound system with a lot of power, it is completely fine.

Fan makes noise

There is a small fan under the top of the mixer, which is supposed to protect the sound technology behind it from burning out. It cannot be heard when playing music. However, if the box is switched on and doesn’t play anything, the fan still runs its rounds. This is incomprehensible. This is hardly noticeable outside on the terrace, but it is noticeable in a quiet living room or office.

Smartphone/tablet holder

Good for that: There is a wide slot on the top in which smartphones or tablets can be placed. And they can even be charged during playback. A USB charging socket is located below the input deck. Music can also be played via the second USB socket USB sticks or external hard drives and SSDs feed in, wirelessly via Bluetooth, for example from Smartphones, Tablets or Laptops, of course it works too. Music playback can be controlled using large buttons on the box.

Karaoke for singing talents

Medion also includes a microphone. Hobby DJs can give speeches and singing talents can present their skills to the audience. If the vocal power is not enough, the switchable echo effect spices up the performance. There are two small controls below the deck for the microphone volume, because up to two microphones (or a microphone and an electric guitar) can be docked to the Medion Life X61350 and controlled separately. Music can also be fed in via a 3.5 millimeter line-in input – for example from an MP3 player. For Record player There is an RCA stereo input available.

Aldi party box Medion Life X61350 in the test: conclusion

Big, loud, well equipped: The Medion Life X61350 party box impressed in the test – even if it has a few weaknesses. Aldi estimates a whopping 359 euros for the Medion Life X61350. That sounds like a lot. It is. However, compared to comparably equipped competitors, this is a real bargain: this is what JBL writes at PartyBox 710 almost twice as much on the price tag, devil prices his Rockster with over 1,000 euros. So the 359 euros for the Medion Life X6135 are completely acceptable. With its immensely high volume, the huge Aldi party box also fills a hall or the large garden – including the neighborhood. The sound quality is okay, the equipment with performance pads, LED light organ and the many playback options is impressive.

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Deal : Medion Akoya P63025 in the test: Fast, quiet, economical and compact


Chic, small, nimble and everything on board: There was little to complain about when testing the compact Medion Akoya P63025 desktop PC.

In 2011, the world’s largest computer manufacturer Lenovo took over a majority stake in the Essen-based company Medion. However, Medion continues to work almost independently and regularly brings new notebooks and desktop PCs onto the market. This also applies to the recently introduced Akoya P63025 – a compact computer that doesn’t have to hide under the desk. The test of the Medion Akoya P63025 shows what the small desktop PC can do – and what it can’t.

Akoya P63025 in the test: With hot-swap frame

The Medion Akoya P63025 is housed in a simple housing with a slightly structured surface. At the top of the front of the case there are two USB sockets and ports for one Headset. Underneath, the Medion has a hot-swap frame in which there is a 2.5 inch SSD or have a hard drive retrofitted.

Core i5-12400, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD

Anyone who opens the left side wall can take a look at the (tidy) interior:

  • Processor: The heart of the Medion Akoya P63025 is the mid-range processor Core i5-12400 from Intel Alder Lake Series.
  • Random access memory: The Core i5 stores calculated data in a large RAM of 16 gigabytes.
  • SSD: Windows 11, users save programs and data on one M.2 SSD with an effective 932 gigabytes of memory.

Fast work pace

The Medion Akoya P63025 performed impressively in the speed measurements: it was visibly underchallenged with office programs such as Word, Excel or PowerPoint, and with tasks on the Internet anyway. Computers need a lot of steam for complex photo and video editing, but the Medion also did that at a decent pace. In particular, programs that can distribute calculations across many processor cores benefit from the Intel CPU with its six computing units – including software such as Photoshop or Premiere.

Test table Medion Akoya P63025

Test table Medion Akoya P63025

Test results

processor

 Intel Core i5-12400

graphics chip

Intel UHD Graphics 730

random access memory

 16GB (2x8GB)

SSD

 932GB Western Digital

hard disk

 unavailable

Speed ​​with Office

high (58.6%)

Pace with photo and
Video editing

high (28.3%)

Game speed with 1920×1080 pixels

very jerky (10 frames per second)

Game speed with 3840×2160 pixels

 not playable

SSD speed

 slow (34.3%)

USB speed
(Read Write)

 764 / 503 MB/sec.

Noises in office applications

 very quiet (0.2 sone)

Noise level under full load

 quiet (1.2 sone)

Power consumption in office applications

 32 watts

Power consumption under full load

 109 watts

Mixed electricity consumption per year (electricity costs)

 101 KW/h (33 €)

power adapter

 Medion Power Block 250 (250 watts)

connections

 1x microphone, 1x headphones, 2x audio input, 1x audio output, 1x HDMI, 1x DP (can be used at the same time), 1x network (1 Gbit), 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, 4x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 2x USB 2.0

Radio connections

 WLAN-ax (Wifi 6; 2.4 and 5 GHz), Bluetooth 5.1

Upgrade options:
Expansion cards /
Random access memory /
mass storage /
DVD-BD drives
1x PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, 1x PCIe 3.0 x1 slot
–
1x NVMe, 1x 2.5″/3.5″ combination slot
–

Keyboard/
Mouse

 Pressure point spongy /
somewhat light, well suited for office tasks

Quiet and economical

Also good: The average energy requirement was at a very low level: on average, the Medion didn’t even consume 32 watts! The noise level wasn’t high either, the Medion remained nice and quiet – even under full load during strenuous image and video editing (maximum 1.2 sone).

Decent upgrade options

The Medion does not have a memory card reader, its upgrade options are not outstanding, but quite decent (picture above):

  • CPU and RAM: The Core i5 processor (1) RAM available to the side (16 gigabytes (2)) can be expanded to 32 gigabytes.
  • SSD: The existing SSD storage (932 gigabytes (3)) users can add a second M.2 SSD and a hard drive if necessary 2.5 inch SSD expand.
  • Graphic card: A separate graphics card could be installed in the Medion (4)but only models with a maximum of one Nvidia GTX 1650-Chip (from 170 euros). For more powerful models, the power of the power supply (250 watts) is sufficient (5)) not.

WLAN-ax on board, card reader missing

The Aldi PC connects to the network either via cable or wirelessly via fast WLAN-ax. It has Bluetooth on board for wireless synchronization with tablets and smartwatches. It’s a shame: the Medion Akoya P63025 doesn’t have a memory card reader.

Medion Akoya P63025 in the test: conclusion

The Medion Akoya P63025 can be retrofitted with 2.5-inch SSDs or hard drives using the hot-swap frame on the front – if the rather large SSD storage of just under 1 terabyte is not enough. And the Medion in the MD34330 equipment variant tested here also did well in the test: it worked really quickly, wasn’t annoying with loud fan noises and didn’t put an unnecessary strain on the electricity bill. Great: It’s not a roll-container-sized example, but rather barely larger than a shoebox.