Not everyone can afford hundreds of dollars for Bluetooth speakers. But does that mean you should be forced to suffer through a purgatory of subpar sound emanating from flat devices designed to fit in your pocket? Absolutely not. That’s where the RoqBloq from RuggedTec comes into play.
On Performance and Design…
The new era of Portable Bluetooth speakers are revolutionizing how and where we listen to music by allowing us to remotely connect our devices via Bluetooth. As a result of a blossoming marketplace, finding a quality Bluetooth speaker isn’t a problem. However, finding an affordable option that doesn’t compromise on sound quality or durability can be like finding a needle in a haystack.
As we noted in our review of the RuggedTec #StrapSound, we have certain expectations for our Bluetooth speakers. A portable Bluetooth speaker should be easily charged and supply enough juice to provide a steady soundtrack for your adventures. It needs to pump out enough sound to keep the entire crew at basecamp happy. It should let you carry on hands-free conversations and more importantly, it needs to be durable enough to survive even the most arduous summit attempts.
Unfortunately, when it comes to portability and power, each have their trade-offs. You can get a small speaker that makes for easy portability, but it likely won’t offer satisfying audio or very powerful bass. By contrast, you can get a larger speaker that easily fills a room or campsite with great sound, but it probably won’t be very easy to carry around and will likely need to be plugged in. In our opinion, the RoqBloq hits the sweet spot of both power and portability and mixes in a dash of durability for good measure.
The chunky treaded rubber encasing helps keep the RoqBloq from moving around when you crank up the volume at the park or on the summit. An IPX3 Water Resistant Rating means that this speaker can shrug off a little dancing in the rain thanks to a rubber gasket that protects the charging and AUX input ports. And because the RoqBloq is built for a life outdoors, it’s also dust and shock resistant.
While under our care and supervision, the RoqBloq has endured an uncertain life in daypacks rumbling through the Sierra Nevada, tumbles from the top of SUVs, and the bumps and bruises suffered at the hands of bouldering mishaps. In other words, it can take a little rough love.
On top of the RoqBloq there are four large buttons, two of which raise and lower volume as well as skip or replay tracks. The third is the almighty Play/Pause /Power button and the final is the Answer and End key when your RuggedTec is in Speakerphone mode. Despite the fact you look like the crazy person talking into a brick reminiscent of an 80s era cellphone, the Speakerphone mode works flawlessly with zero distortion and the only call issues resulting from your mobile phones signal strength.
Notes from the Field…
Here’s the deal, the RoqBloq hit virtually every check mark on our list. Are there Bluetooth speakers that offer richer bass and crisper highs? Yes. But you’ll also pay three times as much, and at the end of the day, the level and quality sound offered by the RoqBloq impressed our team time and again. At the high ends of the volume spectrum the sound did lose some of it’s clarity. But we found that more often than not, we weren’t firing the RoqBloq at the extreme volume levels and this was mainly an issue when we were intentionally pushing the volume to it’s limits for decibel checks.
One critique that we have surrounds the Bluetooth connection. While it worked consistently and flawlessly, we did find that the advertised 30ft distance wasn’t accurate in our experience. Once our smartphone wandered more than 23.5ft away the the RoqBloq would start to cut in and out. But while an extended wandering distance is nice, it’s not a deal breaker. In the real world there was rarely a need to aimlessly wandering away from the speaker. And at the end of the day, if for whatever reason you do need to wander, simply set your mobile device down next to the speaker and let the party roll on.
Bottom Line…
Powerful audio performance wrapped up in a durable water-resistant design at a price that won’t deplete your piggy bank.
*Gumption Gear Review received a product sample of the item featured in this review from RuggedTec at no cost, and receives no monetary compensation for this or any related review. The item featured was provided solely in return for our honest views and opinions.