Rocksteady XS Portable Bluetooth Speaker (V1.5)

I bought this speaker for a few very important to me reasons. I wanted a BlueTooth speaker that was rugged, had replaceable batteries and was LOUD for my workspace. I work in a noisy, rough and rather small workspace and this speaker is PLENTY loud. For this I am very pleased. Replaceable batteries are very important to me. I just cannot understand spending a lot of money on more expensive bluetooth speakers only to become chagrined when the batteries are no longer useful. What do you do with an expensive speaker when the batteries cannot any longer hold a charge or recharge ?You can purchase replaceable batteries from the manufacturer of this speaker. In the owner's manual there are ordering instructions.I would recommend initially buying a pair of backup batteries right away for this product if you will be planning to play it for long periods of time drawing from battery power. From my experience, the useful playtime I get from this speaker is about 8 hours. But I like to blast the music so my time is a bit shorter than that. Whenever possible and practical, I will use this unit under power to save my batteries.I would not expect this unit to fill up a large room with sound, but it can do a decent job inside a home.But for me, I would want to blow out my windows so inside my house I will use my amplified speakers hooked to my power receiver.This unit can play off a USB stick. But it is limited. I tried playing off my USB stick with over 250 songs. This unit cannot possibly cache that many music files as the o/s inside is very limited. But this is not what I bought it for. I think the unit could only process about 5 songs.I do use this units Bluetooth feature but also use a speaker cable as well when playing off my MP3 player which does not have Bluetooth.Overall, I am extremely happy that I now hvae a speaker that performs extremely well.AND, I avoided having to spend $300 on a Bluetooth speaker.If those units were more rugged and had REPLACEABLE BATTERIES, I may have thought and considered a bit longer about spending more.This unit does everything I need it for.Months later, I am still very pleased with this RockSteady Bluetooth speaker.I needed something to take on the road with me without having to commit to $hundreds$ of dollars for the big major brands. I have plenty of good sound in my home, having it on the road for my limited purposes would have been extravagant for my wallet. I am very happy with the resiliency of this speaker, the ruggedness and the enduring quality so sound. A great buy for affordable money.

Works great as an office/home speaker that needs to be moved from room to room.If you intend to use it for use where there is no power (worksites or campsites) getsome extra batteries and a charger. The batteries are easy to swap when they needto be replaced. (unlike most wi-fi speakers with BUILT-IN rechargeable batteries)After a lousy experience with an speaker where the battery died, was a nightmare toreplace, I will no longer be purchasing any products with built-in rechargeable batteries. (JBL, Anker aregood examples of the problem)

I have returned maybe 3 things the entire time I have used amazon. This is one. I got it and the charger cable wouldn't fit into the system. I got it to go eventually. It charged a couple times and then stopped. I sent it back. For the same price get a set of drivers (speakers), a scooter battery, a mini amp and a female aux port and you can build your own. It will have Better sound. It will be bigger, it will be louder, and it will be way more fun.

Based on the popup description of what the stars represent I chose "I like it" at 4 stars.I wasn't as blown away as I'd expected to be after reading the other reviews, but given it's size and weight it's not bad.Of course the bass is limited, but with placement near a wall you can get a little more.It's loud enough for casual listening, sounded very nice with Bluesiana Triangle, which is piano, sax, drums, bass, and vocals.With the volume all the way up on both the speaker and the iPhone it started sounding harsh but cleaned up with a notch lower on the phone volume. The end-mounted speakers give it some discernible stereo separation but you'll need to keep the ends away from walls or other solid objects or it will negatively affect the sound.It has a couple of points that, IMHO, put it head and shoulders above the competition at this price point and below and should certainly be a top choice if this is the most you want to spend.1. Build quality is unmatched by the cheap, plastic BT speakers that all look awful. One-piece aluminum body with steel(?) grills looks great and could definitely hold up to everyday bumps. Wouldn't hesitate to throw in a backpack. Any extra weight added by using stronger materials is insignificant at this amount and toting it around certainly wouldn't be a burden.2. The battery idea is genius! I gave the Rocksteady to my son and ordered a couple extra batteries from eBay for five bucks. Of course I say genius because I've thought for years that someone should use those common, flat, li-ion batteries that were in the millions of Nokia phones for something else, the genius isn't in thinking it though, it's in doing it. The battery in most BT speakers is inaccessible and usually soldered in. IF you can even get to it most folks aren't up to speed with soldering, so an expensive trip back to the manufacturer is often the only option.The awesome thing about these batteries is that they're small and flat, it would be simple to charge a couple extra to take on a trip where you might be away from AC to plug the charger in.3. Play files from Flash Drive!4. Bike mount option.I've heard much worse bluetooth audio reproduction, and the range was acceptable. This would be great for very specific uses but don't expect to replace your 2:1 desktop speaker system. My idea of the perfect user of this system would be someone who needs a small mobile system to follow them throughout their day, could easily play their morning music or streaming radio, should be loud enough to listen to while showering, would be great in a cubicle or small office, but doesn't need it to rock out. (I don't think any of the speakers in this price range or size rock too hard anyway.) This could easily become a day to day workhorse due to the excellent battery life, ease of battery replacement, mounting options, speakerphone, and what I perceive as sturdy construction.If Killer Concepts keeps at it I'm hoping they introduce a slight larger version. Larger drivers and a little more power. There are other standard batteries that they could use that would deliver the extra oomph needed for a more powerful amplifier and retain the user swappable feature.Maybe the same length, just bigger cross-section profile.Some final random notes:*The battery compartment will come off easier if you use a small tool to push the tab. Don't push farther than is required to disengage it as it's only plastic, it doesn't seem like cheap plastic though. The cover and battery are held tightly in place, probably to keep them from vibrating during bass-heavy passages.*Includes wall-wart, charging cable, line-in cable, and decent instructions.*Packaging is nice.*Upon opening I followed the instruction to charge fully before using but the red light didn't come on. Must've shipped with a fully charged battery as it lit up as expected when I tried charging it again after some use.*A remote would be cool.