We sometimes get nervous with a new name we have never seen before. New uncharted territory that could lead to a new discovery or something scary. Thankfully for this round, we found a new discovery. We got to play with a new Bluetooth speaker by CTLpower, featuring dual drivers and 10-watts of sound.
This new speaker is a smaller style that is easy to carry around with you when going out to places like the beach and comes with a IPX6 rating that allows it to defend itself from things like dirt, mud and water. The last part we made sure to put to the test as usual.
Its design features a rugged rubber and plastic mix that gives it the feel that it can take a bit of a beating. It keeps a firm grip in your hand and has enough weight to keep itself from vibrating away from you, while not being too heavy to carry around.
All of the buttons are located at the top and are consolidated down to just four. A power button which also acts as a play/pause solution. You have a Bluetooth button that allows you to trigger pairing with, and two buttons that act as your volume and track control. Pretty simple.
When you first power the speaker on after taking it out of the box and charging it, it should automatically go into pairing mode (most devices do). If it doesn’t simply hold the Bluetooth (“B”) down until it makes a sound confirming pairing mode has been triggered.
A water-tight hatch in the back lifts up to review your connectivity options beneath. You get a wired connection via a 3.5mm cable (which is included in the box). There is a micro-USB port for charging the speaker with (this cable is also included), as well as a microSD port in case you want to toss music into it directly via a microSD card. The hatch closes back over the ports and you need to make sure it’s closed completely before getting it anywhere near a source of water.
Once connected to your device, you are immediately ready to start playing music to it like any other speaker. It does share battery life to your device if it supports it, allowing you to keep an eye on your charge. You should be able to get around 10-12 hours of listening out of the speaker depending on your average listening volume. It takes up to 4 hours to charge back to full strength once depleted.
There is a decent level of sound this speaker can deliver. You can experience distortion at the highest volume level, but it takes a bit to get there. Until you do, you find yourself with enough DB level to fill a medium sized to larger room, and a whole lot of bass.
As for the waterproof claim, you can see in the video below that we tested this claim out. The speaker does indeed survive just fine being submerged in water. There is a small issue with Bluetooth cutting out once it has been fully submerged, but it comes back once you take it out of the water. Chances are, you won’t be listening to it underwater anyway. The purpose is to keep it safe “in case” you accidently dropped it into water or exposed it to splash. Water itself is rated as a medium level source of interference when it comes to Bluetooth. So this can happen at times with a lot of devices of they are 100% surrounded on all sides. Although we have played with a lot of speakers that continue to play at even a meter depth (these devices are also 6-8x the cost).
It isn’t the best speaker on the market, but get this, it’s only $26.99. That means it’s a good match for all ages and budgets. At that price, you will panic even less if it falls in the water.
Our Conclusion
A great little speaker with a whole lot of sound. It is both rugged and looks nice. It’s Bluetooth range is solid and it can be submerged in water and still come back to life when you take it out. Best of all, is its price, which really helps to sell it. If you are looking for a durable speaker with a decent level of sound and bass, but wanting to keep your expenses down: this is perfect.
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Our Rating | Average Price* $ |
*Average price is based on the time this article was published
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