BlitzWolf BW-AS2 40W Double Driver Wireless Bluetooth Speaker

Hold on tight, we have a live one here! We have been waiting to test this speaker out from Blitzwolf due to the weight of it alone (and then the reputation of the company based on past experience). We had first got our hands on one of these late last month, but the postal service who delivered it felt that it needed to be drop-kicked around a few times before getting it to us, forcing us to wait for one that didn’t come damaged. Thankfully the second time was the charm and now we get to share what we found with you.

That being said, we have been testing the BlitzWolf BW-AS2 40W Double Driver Wireless Bluetooth Speaker all day, and typically it takes us at least a few days to a week to really get acquainted with something, but not in this case. This speaker has been on a journey throughout the office as everyone has been taking turns throwing conditions at it. Each time creating smiles and chatter, adding to the list of things we like about it.

To describe the design of this speaker, I would say you would take a hefty sound bar solution, and chop it into smaller pieces, each 9-inches in length. Now, put nearly the full volume of a sound bar into each, and you have a handful of BW-AS2 speakers.

The weight of the speaker is just under 2.5 lbs, making it feel like a beast in your hands. It gives the impression that it is made of good quality materials and packing hefty drivers inside. Not the portable speaker you’d carry everywhere with you due to the weight, but definitely the kind of speaker you’d place in your home somewhere to really add something “big” (definition-wise) to that room with. You can still take it mobile, as long as you’re ok with the weight. So a party in the backyard or friends house, but not so much something you would throw in a carry-on (it would take up too much of your total weight limit).

It is built mostly of aluminum mesh and a hard PVC plastic. Nice and sturdy although you don’t want to test how durable it is simply because it looks so nice (don’t want to scratch it all up and take away from it’s display properties). The body is solid black outside a wing on each side that covers the ports where air comes out from the sub. Those wings are plastic but feature a brushed aluminum “design” to them, which adds to the speaker’s appearance.

The top of the speaker features a six button layout that covers all of your settings. You begin with volume up and down controls, which also act as track control (next or previous). The following button controls your play/pause abilities for the current track. Then you have a phone button that is for answering/disconnecting a phone call, allowing you to use it as speakerphone. Next you have a mode button the switches between the various modes (ie, Bluetooth, analog, SD), and then the power button (which is self-explanatory). You get a small LED between the mode and power button so you can see what mode it is currently in.

On the back, a small reset hole (for wiping everything, the microSD slot so you can load a card full of music, an aux-in (analog), and two options for charging the speaker with (micro USB and DC). It does not come with the DC cable, so you’re on your own with that one if you so choose to keep it plugged in via that method, but it does come with the USB cable. The benefits of using a DC cable is simply a faster charge.

Performance

The speaker is actually amazing. For the price of just $69.99 and free shipping, you are getting a steal, which ended up having a heavy impact on our score of it (that and the quality of its performance).

Like any Bluetooth speaker, it doesn’t take long to pair it with your phone or other mobile device (or SD or analog source). Using it as a speakerphone during calls works just fine, although you won’t be using it in an office for large meetings or anything. Personal use though, it performs quite well.

It features two front-firing 5W drivers that covers the high to mid range (mostly high), and it has a driver on top for bass with a ported design that exits out the sides (exits hidden behind those fake brushed aluminum wings). You can actually feel the slight bit of air when you place your hands on the side of the speaker.

With the image above, you can see the direction in which sound is delivered. Direction is definitely shooting from the front with the highs with everything else out the sides and the top (which is omnidirectional so you aren’t worried about the top). So you want to make sure to place there where it can sit with the front of the speaker firing at you for the best range.

Mid frequencies aren’t “fully” defined as briefly mentioned a moment ago. The front two drivers focus mostly on highs than anything else, but they deliver super crisp highs while doing so. The little sub drivers actually puts out a decent level of bass, which results in a very rich/warm bass experience.

The speaker has character, so you will find yourself using to play interesting tracks with. Although it would sound good with just about anything you throw at it, the warmth really adds to certain types of music, like classical and jazz. But again, it works well with just about anything.

It can also get quite loud without distorting mostly. Due to the price of the speaker though, I wouldn’t really push it to extreme lengths all the time. I’d rather suggest making sure it lasts you quite a long time instead. Save louder music for larger speakers. However, again, it does get pretty loud. Think “near sound bar levels”.

Battery-wise, I wouldn’t expect to much. This is definitely more of a plug it into the wall and enjoy it at home solution. Due to the output of this speaker, you can expect around a 2.5-5 hour battery life depending on your typical volume setting (more volume = more watt consumption).

Bluetooth distance is pretty good. It claims to have the typical Bluetooth range of around 33 ft and we were able to confirm this give or take. You won’t get much farther and you will know as it cuts out almost immediatly. So you will want to maintain a normal distance to the speaker when streaming wirelessly. Obviously analog/SD options need not apply to this.

What’s in the box

It comes with everything you need to charge and play. A microUSB to USB Type-A cable for an average slow charge of around 5 or so hours. You can get a faster charge if you have a DC cable, but it doesn’t come with this (as mentioned). You do get an analog cable for wired devices (like most speakers). Beyond some documentation that walks you through everything, that’s it. Nothing else is needed really.

Our Conclusion

This speaker can be surprising for how small it is. Comparable to some of the options we have seen from companies like Kicker. It puts out a lot of volume and has a decent range to it. The highs are pretty crisp and the lows have a good deal of warmth/richness to them. For the price, this is a fantastic speaker. Great for loud music just as it is soft ambient rich fill for your environment. It made its way to a 9.5/10 which is a superb victory for Blitzwolf.

Update: We had to lower our score a little due to vibrations/noise from within the speaker that tend to form over a relatively short period of time regardless of the volume you generally keep it at. Troubleshooting the noise can be difficult as there are various parts/layers to remove and dig through (like any BT speaker). From what we could find, It does seem to be coming from the back section (behind the speakers) of the enclosure and seems to be the result of resonation caused by airflow or vibrations of the sub speaker. If the tiniest detail isn’t secured from resonating from this, you get the noise coming from the speaker. Many points are padded, but the padding might be compressing over time? Hard to say for sure. The speaker is still absolutely fantastic when it comes to sound. The company just needs to reinforce the parts inside to prevent this from happening. 

*Average price is based on the time this article was published

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