Swag: Boombotix Boombot Review

Boombotix, an outdoor speaker company, recently sent me a Boombotix Boombot speaker for review. Now and then, I think it might be fun to sit around a fire under a dark sky while listening to some Trampled by Turtles, Bon Iver or maybe a little Neil Young. Or during a training paddling, listen to music via speaker instead of via headphones. This speaker offers a semi-waterproof way to make that happen.

Here’s what Boombotix says about the speaker:

The Boombot1 is an ultraportable speaker that offers incredible BOOM for the buck. The Boombot1 fuses Japanese urban design with acoustic technology in a palm-sized portable package. It works with ANY audio source via a 1/8-inch standard audio jack and the included cable. The Boombot1 is rechargeable, loud and durable enough to withstand the abuse of your lifestyle guaranteed.

Now, I’m not an audiophile  I just like to listen to music and have it sound good to my ear. I don’t want equipment that I have to mess around with (I just learned about bluetooth speakers, btw), and this thing plugs into my mp3 player or smart phone.  It sounds good enough — not as good as my home stereo or my shop radio, but it’s small and only weighs 5.4 ounces with the cord, so what can I say other than it fits into a kayak and is light and it sounds good to my ear. It also kicks out some bass for such a small speaker. One downside is that it has an internal battery that recharges via USB. If you’re carrying solar panels then no worries, but if you’re not, then it could be an issue depending on how fast you exhaust its 8 hours of battery life. Or in other words, don’t leave it on in the kayak during camping trips.

What really interests me from this company though is their new outdoor speaker, the Boombot REX. The REX is an upgraded speaker that runs on bluetooth and doesn’t look like something out of a kid’s show. It has a couple of speakers in it which should make it sound more stereo-like, it’s water resistant and I could see using this in my kayak on a training run. Right now the Boombot REX is on Kickstarter. You can pick one up from an $80 pledge.

Don’t want to spend $80, then you can pick up the Boombot for about $40 on Amazon right now.