Out and about and keen to take your tunes with you? If you love Bluetooth speakers because they let you rock out wherever you might be (without having to tolerate your phone's rubbish speaker) then you'll go nuts for this - especially if you use a white-water raft to get to work. That's because if you want a waterproof, impact resistant Bluetooth speaker that floats, you need the Exogear Ecoxbt.
Just look at this thing. Never before have we tested a Bluetooth speaker (and we've reviewed loads) that looks so rugged and tough. Despite all that moulding the Ecoxbt speaker is actually fairly light, which is good news if you plan to lug it out into the wild on expedition. It also features a ten hour battery life, so with occasional listening will last you for an entire weekend camping trip.
Connecting to the Ecoxbt was a standard Bluetooth affair, with all the devices
we paired it with finding it fast and establishing a connection easily. You get
the normal Bluetooth range of around ten metres, but out in the open with no
walls or metal surfaces to interfere, we found the signal didn't drop off until
around 15 metres.
And yes, it is actually waterproof. Any necessary inputs,
such as the USB battery charger port and the auxiliary out, are handily covered
and tucked away behind a rubber seal. It certainly offered peace of mind
knowing that the Ecoxbt speaker was waterproof (damp grass, not a problem), and
after a nerve-wracking test in the garden pond, discovered that Exogear's
claims that it can float are also true.
In terms of sound, again we were impressed. Although the twin speakers are just 3W apiece, the total output was loud and clear. Only when we cranked in the volume to max did we experience any sort of distortion, and even then it was only with music with heavy bass. Vocals were clean and discernible, making podcasts and spoken word books sound great.
Because of that it worked excellently as a speaker phone, and here we found a great non-outdoors, non-rugged adventure use for the Ecoxbt. On your desk, at home or at work, the Ecoxbt looks great as a standalone phone accessory, and that battery life will keep it wire-free for ages.
In terms of sound, again we were impressed. Although the twin speakers are just 3W apiece, the total output was loud and clear. Only when we cranked in the volume to max did we experience any sort of distortion, and even then it was only with music with heavy bass. Vocals were clean and discernible, making podcasts and spoken word books sound great.
Because of that it worked excellently as a speaker phone, and here we found a great non-outdoors, non-rugged adventure use for the Ecoxbt. On your desk, at home or at work, the Ecoxbt looks great as a standalone phone accessory, and that battery life will keep it wire-free for ages.
Around £70