Tribit Bluetooth Speaker Portable Waterproof Speakers XSound Surf 12W Wireless Loud Bass Music Box with IPX7 Waterproof Bluetooth 5.0 Wireless Stereo Pairing for Outdoor Travel Beach

I've been using this bluetooth speaker almost every day for a couple of months now. I'm very impressed with the sound quality for the price. I'm no audiophile but I can appreciate when something sounds good or bad but I can also live with the imperfections that come with practicality of use. This speaker sits somewhere in the middle I'd say. The bass is a little heavy and you if I have the volume turned up anymore than halfway on my phone there is a lot of distortion. These are minor points in my opinion though because at half volume it sounds pretty decent and the ease of use and portability is outstanding. It has become part of my daily life, I pick it up on the way out of the house and whether I'm working indoors or outdoors it gets used. It is shower proof, which has been tested by a sudden rain shower, but I wouldn't leave it out in the rain for long. It charges by USB-C which is handy because that's how my phone charges. It has 5 buttons on the top edge, power, bluetooth, play/pause and volume up and down. They are all rubberised so if you have wet hands it's fine!! You can bring up what you want to listen to on your phone, leave the phone indoors within bluetooth range and then just use the play/pause button if you want to stop or start music/podcasts. You can take calls through it aswell. If your phone rings while connected to the speaker you press the play button to answer, it has a built in microphone so you can talk to and hear the other person through the speaker, but obviously so can everyone else!! The battery lasts for around 8 hours in total I'd say and although I've had speakers that last longer they haven't had the power that this thing has. The whole speaker is rubberised so it's nice and grippy and feels really good quality. The port for charging has a rubber cover over it to keep the water out, there is also an AUX port for connecting non bluetooth devices. All in all I'm really pleased with this speaker and will be looking to buy a spare at some point so I've always got one charged. Thanks for reading, if you got this far!!

*EDIT - This review was written before being invited to be a Vine Voice. I paid for it myself, I was not sent it for review.*The Surf is often on sale for around £23 or less, sometimes even under £20. At that price point, despite the poor battery life, it really is well worth the money for those not needing a music powerhouse. Worth getting two if you watch films etc on a laptop or tablet.I got my first one when I got a MacBook Air, I really liked it for YouTube podcasts: voices are clear and the speaker is really light and comfortable in the hand, or pocket, when moving rooms. The pause/play button works with YouTube and BBC Sounds, if on a YouTube playlist, then it's possible to skip tracks or go backwards.The power on/off button just needs a brief press and the speaker powers up and connects quickly. When I got an iPad Mini 6, I found switching between MBA and iPad very quick and easy with a press of the Bluetooth button and connecting in the Bluetooth section of MBA or iPad. With the iPad, I get a little battery icon, next to the headphone icon.When a video's audio and sound are in sync, there is almost no noticeable latency. The Surf is capable of producing a lot of volume, this is mostly useful for audio sources that aren't very loud: you will never struggle to hear for lack of volume.The Surf will turn itself off after maybe 15 minutes of inactivity; it does so without a sound, making it a lovely speaker to fall asleep with.Bluetooth connection stability is really good, I get very few (if any) dropouts. I did connect to my old Windows laptop which is Bluetooth 4 point something and discovered that I had to control the volume form the speaker as I couldn't from the laptop. This is not the first time I have had this experience with a Bluetooth 5 product connected to Bluetooth 4.Strangely, when poking around in my MBA's sound preferences, I noticed that the onscreen stereo slider was all the way to the left, moving the slider to the middle did give a little more bottom end. I was very glad I discovered this, as it came into play getting a stereo pair working.This speaker is not something I would reach for to listen to music. As other reviews will tell you, the battery life is pretty poor; I did try a Tribit Max Sound Plus, which was a far superior sound for music but had too much latency for my needs and I already had a stereo pair of EarFun UBOOMs, which are fantastic for music.I bought a second Surf as having a second one charged and ready to take over was more appealing to me than plugging in a power bank to maintain portability. I was also really curious to find out what a stereo pair of Surfs would sound like.I did have some difficulty getting the stereo pair working and getting what I thought should be the left speaker to be the left speaker. I had to go back into my MBA's sound settings and I found that slider all the way to the left again, centring the slider got the stereo working.I had the speakers on side tables, either side of an armchair, roughly four feet apart, with some toe in, my ears about six feet away, when reclined in the chair seemed to be the sweet spot. It's possible to get the speaker to sit on its rear feet, so it's pointing slightly upwards. It's a bit tricky to do and needs a flat surface or something under the speaker to prop it up. You may or may not like the difference it makes but it does make a difference. The Max Sound Plus was much easier to stand on its rear feet.Listening to music for the first time in stereo, I can state that it is far more than twice as good as listening to one speaker. Voices and acoustic instruments are very clear, stereo imaging really good but bass guitars have no presence and drums are dull HOWEVER I was expecting some additional latency to be introduced, as that's what happens with my UBOOMS when paired up (one speaker is a master, sending a signal to a slave, hence added latency).Being surprised at how low the latency was as a stereo pair, I watched some scenes from The Expanse on Amazon Prime.Wow.I have watched countless hours of films on a single bluetooth speaker, but never before a stereo pair. So much more immersive. The Surf's natural sound signature of clear vocals and weak bass made for an ideal late night viewing experience, without resorting to headphones. Latency was very slight, if you're looking for it, then it was there however the latency was so low that it is not distracting. I'm saying that as some one set up with Aptx Low Latency, for headphones.I am really impressed with the stereo pair for films and will be using them often in the future, when I don't want to use one of my headphone options, or I have company.

Firstly let me just say this is cracking good value and how it generates the volume and clarity it achieves is amazing. However, I ended up returning mine because I realised I’m fussy about audio quality and it wasn't great for me. I needed to spend more and probably get something bigger.It took me a while to work out why I didn’t like it because it’s a very competent speaker providing exceptional clarity. I realised the issue was there was no warmth to the sound. I found myself track jumping where I’d normally listen through to the end. There was only one way to summarise it. I found it irritating instead of engaging.If you want extreme portability and great value but your not too fussy get this one.I’ve now bought the Tribit Stormbox instead and I love it.