ECOXGEAR – ECOROX Rugged and Waterproof Wireless Bluetooth Speaker – Black

If there’s one thing I’m a huge fan of, it’s rugged gadgets.  I purchased this because I recently went on a camping trip and the el cheapo blue tooth speaker I purchased just stopped working. I realized that it had gotten a little wet. not soaked, mind you, just a little wet.

But it got me thinking, if I were to fall into a stream while crossing it, or maybe my pack gets soaked from the rain and seeps through, or maybe my pack rips and falls, or when in a raft my pack gets wet….well…under these circumstances, rugged and water “resistant” just won’t cut it. I need water proof.

Without doing a ton of research, I focused on strictly waterproof blue tooth speakers and this little guy popped up. Really, I shouldn’t need a speaker while backpacking at all, but when you’re out alone, sometimes a little music can cheer you up, and headphones can be a tad scary since you can’t hear anything else. Since the smart phone’s speakers are horrendous, a small bluetooth speaker is a reasonable compromise.

This guy is a lot smaller than you’d think. That carabiner you see in the photo is the same as the small ones you see at sports store. it feels sturdy and a good weight for its size, though still light enough to disappear in the pack.

I just took it hiking in the emigrant wilderness, and it was really great. I won’t take it on every camping trip I go, but if the rest of my pack is light, it’s a good little morale booster to have with you.

Sound quality, because it’s waterproof, is a tad…uhhh…I guess you could say it’s a tad muffled. But all in, surprisingly decent. the bass comes through okay, but treble comes through muddy and muted. violins and flutes sound like you’re listening through a wall, sort of. but even at that, the sound is dramatically improved over using a smart phones speakers.

It’s small enough to fit in the top pocket of most packs, and disappears into most small backpacks and shoulder bags too.

Surprisingly, this also has a microphone. doesn’t really work that well, but I guess you could use it as a speaker phone in a pinch.

All in all, this was a rock solid purchase and I’m glad to have found it.

If you want waterproof (because you just never know), and you want as small and compact as possible, with surprisingly good sound for its size, than this is definitely the one to get.

The battery lasts a good 6+ hours right now. Don’t know if it’ll last that long in a year or so, but for now, I’m satisfied.