ECOXGEAR ECOXBT Rugged and Waterproof Wireless Bluetooth Speaker (Black)

UPDATE 05/09/2018:I LOVE this company’s support!!! I hate to replace this speaker because all the new products have too much bass and I like to listen to news and Audible.com books. So... I reached out through an email form on their website and got a late afternoon response within an hour or two! They are sending a replacement part that I really did not expect them to have. I cannot say enough great things about the support I’ve received over the past three years. Additionally, they make it really simple to get warranty or after-warranty repairs with a .PDF form on their website. Look for Grace Digital.UPDATE 05/08/2018:No complaints!... I got more than 3 good years out of this speaker with practically daily use. I only wish it hadn't finally died due to a loose connector on the charging port. I'd prefer something that gets a lot of use failed, like the buttons or a speaker. Anyway, it did hold a charge for a long time, and the sound was just right for the bathroom/shower use it got. Not too much bass, like most of today's speakers.UPDATE 03/13/2014:I've only had to recharge it about two or three times, so far - and I use it every morning and evening for about 15-30 minutes each time [30-60 min/day]. One problem is that it gives you no warning when the battery is about to die - no color changing light, no beeping - so give 'er a full charge if you are using it away from an outlet. Still sounds great, and easy to use, but that darn volume button keeps changing track on me! I just need to hold it down longer.UPDATE 02/02/2014:I exchanged this speaker for the newer model with the integrated volume/track control buttons. I love the ability to change tracks remotely, but this function would work much better with separate buttons for track control. When I hear a track that I like, and try to increase volume, I often "skip" the track. It takes some getting used to. Additionally, my plans to use this as a portable amp with my iPhone iRig HD adapter were a bit ambitious, as the volume is quite limited in this application.For music and news, however, I stand by my original review of 5-stars! I would like to know what black-magic they use to power this thing - I've had it about two weeks, and have only charged it once [upon arrival]. I use it every day, and it is still going strong!---------------ORIGINAL REVIEW:After seeing the incredible reviews, I bought one of these at a warehouse store [it may have had a slightly different model number] - they were on sale for the holidays, so I gave it to my son. I was so impressed by the quality and functions that I had to get one for myself. I couldn't match the price anywhere, so I came to Amazon.com and looked at refurbished models. Great price, and fast delivery - came five days earlier than promised, and works great, except for a minor issue.The unit I received had a defective USB charger. I used the "contact seller" function at Amazon.com and the next day I received a friendly phone call to confirm the part. The Customer Service Rep. promised a new charger would be shipped out immediately, and a follow-up email from them confirmed this. Excellent service!It seems, however, that there are two versions of this speaker. I can't tell if they have different model numbers, but the one I got for my son has forward/reverse functions incorporated into the volume buttons. The unit I received, and as advertised at Amazon.com, lacks the extra functions. If that is not important to you - this is definitely a fantastic, rugged, functional, great sounding (for the size), and well supported item.My son tells me that the battery life has been unexpectedly great. He's charged it once since late November, and still has a "green" battery level.Among other things, I plan to use this speaker as a portable guitar amplifier with an iRig HD adapter - they work great together, although the iRig's "AmpliTube" software will not playback through the bluetooth - I use the mini input. It will make practicing/playing outside of my "Studio" very simple - everything will fit into a soft guitar case. It's not for performance - just for messing around.

Excellent product, but a few practical issues emerged.First, when I used the product in a Kayak and it got drenched one unit totally failed and needed to be replaced. It made this crackling and gurling sound and then died. The gaskets appeared to be working, but I am suspecting it only take a small crack for this thing to leak and that the corrosive power of the pacific ocean is much stronger than your run of the mill pool etc. Customer service was not that helpful and insisted it should work in the ocean. The unit was over a year old so perhaps that is the time frame that it takes for these to go bad. If so it wasn't that long it only lasted about a year and a few months and the warranty covered just one year. However, please note IF THE BACK GASKET COMES OFF OR IS CRACKED IT IS NOT WATERPROOF. The darn thing can come off easily and its a stick on not a screw on or latch so BE CAREFUL. If you keep that in mind you should be safe.Second, after replacing the unit I noticed that the new one worked fine even in the ocean, but that after the first successful use the volume dropped significantly (again the unit got drenched). I have observed this happening two times on a Kayak in the ocean so I don't think its an isolated incident. There is at least one other review mentioning a drop in sound volume. I thought it was the volume control and pounded the thing which since the volume also subs as the skip forward managed to skip through the entire album. (this can be annoying until you figure it out) I also made sure that the speaker volume was at full on my iphone. After returning home and playing with it I am confident I have it a full volume. Oddly enough after a week or two being dry the sound volume appears normal and as high as higher than my Jambox. There are two possibilities here. First since this happened more than once I suspect that water does affect the sound and perhaps the volume button gets jammed in low especially with salt water. Pressing it while it's wet might not work so well. The second which is less likely is that because you have to press and hold it could just be a little hard to know when you have it at full volume (ie it's a little hard to tell as there is no dial or indicator just the level of the sound). Sadly, however, when this happens and I do compare it with the Jambox which has its own issues, it is definitely quieter. When this occurs the only thing that helps is finding songs that have a higher gain (ie recorded louder) or setting the iphone to full blast and finding a quieter location. I think this may be a defect, but it could be a fairly common defect (since I'm not the first to describe low sound amplification) and might happen more often when used in the ocean (who knows?). In any case the product is supposed to be okay in the ocean.Third, the jambox plays 360 degrees with speaker and sound can be heard all around the unit, the Exogear plays only one direction. The direction its facing. It's not bad, but it means that instead of placing it in the center of the room you have to place it to one side to get the best sound. It's not a huge deal, but my feeling is that the sound quality is not as nice. My issue with the Jambox which I think has nicer sound quality is, its not water proof and it makes the annoying queries to tell you its ready to sync etc which simply drives me nuts. It also beeps incessantly when its disconnected and it's not clear where the darn on and off switch is (ie not marked which direction although the button itself is obvious. Also it has a tendency to lose its charge just sitting there whereas the Ecoxgear doesn't do that and can sit around for weeks and still retain a full or pretty full charge.

I’ve had mine for a while. Bought it after I saw my friend’s xbt.It’s absolutely easy to use. It’s really waterproof: we submerged it while it was plying in the bath for a couple of minutes and nothing happened. I do use mine to play music in the shower.When you pair it with a phone, it reports it’s battery level, which is very useful.It does work for a pretty long time before needing a charge. At least a full day.I wish the sound was a little bit louder for outside use, but for inside use, I never put it more than 50% volume and it’s loud enough. Sound quality is impressive for the size.

All'inizio ero scettico sulla qualità audio ,ma poi una volta provato è sempilcemente fantastico,suono pieno e avvolgente,la comodità di appoggiarlo ovunque senza il timore di cadute oppure come nel mio caso mettendolo in giardino vicino alla piscina avevo il timore degli schizzi d'acqua o al peggio che ci finisse dentro...Il collegamento bluetooth è un gioco da ragazzi,bastano un paio di secondi e subito si "linka" con qualsiasi altro devices con tecnologia BT. Ho testato anche al durata della batteria e ad un volume medio garantisce le 10 ore promesse.Unica pecca è la distanza dalla fonte per il collegamento BT oltre i 7/8 metri perde il segnale.Se cercate un oggetto del genere per la vita outdoor è consigliatissimo!!!

This product is exactly what I was looking for. I have a steam shower and like to listen to music when I have a steam. This product fits the bill perfectly. I have had it for some time now and have had no problems at all with it. It is easy to charge, sync, and play. The only thing it is missing is the ability to change songs otherwise it is perfect. Very good construction and is totally waterproof!!!

Works really well. My girlfriend uses it in the bathtub all the time. I'm just happy to see her using something techy that I bought. Battery life is fantastic. It's probably been months since we last charged it and it's still working (granted we don't use it every day, nor for hours on end, but it's still nice to not have to charge often).

This thing works great. I gave it as a gift to my boyfriend on our 5 year anniversary, and he loved it! Very durable and not too heavy, the sound is great and the bass is very nice. I highly recommend it! Great buy!