Here we go again, another season, another Fugoo speaker. Fugoo is a wireless Bluetooth speaker maker that has always been just outside  the heavily advertised mainstream of Beats, JBL or Bose. That’s too bad, because Fugoo consistently makes some of the best wireless speakers available. For this long, hot summer of 2017, Fugoo has improved on their original Style speaker with the larger and much more powerful Style S speaker—but not without some trade-offs.

It’s been fun to watch Fugoo evolve from dedicated individuals with a single (but incredible) idea for a speaker that was unlike any other at the time to a company intent on broadening their market. Fugoo now makes four different models—three based on that first speaker. First was the original Fugoo speaker which consisted of a single speaker that could be housed in three differently styled shells. That was followed up by a twice as big XL version of that same idea. And it worked—loudly. Then came the Go speaker—a more affordable departure from the form and function of the previous speakers. The Go has it’s plusses and minuses, but it’s the least expensive speaker Fugoo makes and still sounds great for its size and purpose.

However, Fugoo’s speaker lineup had a gap between the original and much larger XL models. Which is where the Style S fits. The Style S sits between the Style and Style XL in both price and size. Visually, it looks just like the other Style designed speakers, but there are some important differences under the hood. More on that later.

Like all the other Fugoo speakers The style S is IP67 waterproof rated, which means the speaker can be 3 ft. under water for 30 minutes and come up sounding just as good—pretty impressive. Plus, it will float if it falls into the water—always a good thing.

The Style S weighs only 1.7 lbs., so it’s easy to tote around. It’s wrapped in a light brown burlap-type cloth that grips easily. If I know Fugoo, other colors will follow. The top of the speaker has the usual volume and play/pause buttons that are shaped like a + and —. Rubberized end caps hold discrete on/off and Bluetooth pairing buttons on one end with AUX and mini USB charging ports at the other end. The ports are protected from the elements by a thick, rubberized cover. The speaker can be tethered to either bicycle handlebars or a tree or pole with an optional mounting kit that attaches to the speaker’s base.

There are four speakers inside the Style S—two full range drivers and two bass radiators. The original (and cheaper) Fugoo speaker has six speakers and the Style XL has eight speakers. However, it’s not the number of speakers that’s important here, it’s the quality of sound the speakers make. The Style S has a 20-watt amp versus the original Fugoo’s 6 watts, which makes a big volume difference whether used indoors or out. The Style S can be cranked up to 93 decibels—pretty loud for a small speaker. All this power comes at a price though. Battery life in the original Fugoo speaker is an insane 40 hours vs. the Style S’s battery life of 15 hours. That’s still long enough for any outdoor party, but it will need recharging more often. Also, unlike the original or XL speakers, the Style S does not have matching speakers on both sides for true 360° audio. The front of the Style S has both drivers with one of the bass speakers. The rear has only the other bass speaker. I don’t think whether the audio is 360° or not is that big of a deal, but it is worth noting.

The cloth covering on the Style S didn’t feel like there was as much cushioning underneath as on the original Style speaker. It made me wonder if the covering will wear out with repeated use over time, especially in spots where fingers are placed when gripping. Only time will tell. The original Fugoo speaker’s cover just feels better to hold—and two years later, it still looks and feels new. Note that the Style S shell is not removable as on the original or XL speakers.

Bluetooth pairing is quick and simple whether it’s a smartphone or a computer. But here’s what makes the Fugoo Style S so cool—stereo Bluetooth. Sure, most single Bluetooth speakers are technically stereo, but you can’t really hear the separation. But pair two speakers together for true left and right speaker Bluetooth and that makes all the difference! Granted, this requires buying two Style S speakers (Fugoo offers a second speaker discount when purchased together).

When I reviewed the Fugoo Go speaker with its stereo Bluetooth, I marveled at how there seemed to be an invisible middle speaker when listening to music. The same holds true here, but it’s much better sounding—mainly due to the better sounding speakers inside the Style S and more powerful amp. As I said in the other review, I don’t even get this invisible speaker sensation with my regular desktop speakers and those are excellent sounding!

Pairing in Stereo Bluetooth is not as easy as standard Bluetooth pairing. There’s a step-by-step process involving pressing certain buttons in a certain order, but I still had issues with it either not connecting properly or one of the speakers periodically dropping the signal. Sometimes, it could get frustrating. However, once the connections were successfully made, it worked flawlessly. Once again, I cannot state how much of a difference there is in the audio between using only one speaker or using two working in stereo tandem. It’s positively addicting, especially when seated between them at my desk. Wow.

The tonal characteristics of my music was quite pleasing with the Style S. Whether I was listening to classic rock (my favorite genre) or more modern tracks, the Style S didn’t play any harsh notes. In fact, it handled some brighter sounding treble-happy songs with ease. For instance, some early Byrds recordings from the mid-60s can be harsh sounding with some speakers. The Style S exhibited none of that unpleasantness. Their songs sounded smooth with a decent amount of bass without being muddy or too bright sounding.

Frank Sinatra is a standard bearer of quality music and quality recordings—there’s a difference. He had impeccable taste in material but also, his recordings have held up as benchmarks of how to do it right. That’s why his music is often used to test audio equipment. On the Style S, Sinatra’s voice sounds both intimate and expansive, especially in stereo mode.

An obscure song that’s been a favorite of mine is “A Miner and His Music” by Mohave. It’s an eclectic mix of styles and almost scatological stream-of-conscienceness singing that plays well on the Style S. The song makes you feel like you’re on stage with the group as the instruments play around you in space. This song shows off a wide soundstage when in stereo mode.

Fugoo has another winner with the Style S. Even though it works and sounds great as a stand-alone speaker—when paired for stereo, both speakers are much more than the sum of their parts. So if you get two, they can be independently carried around the house and paired together when the music demands some serious listening.

The Fugoo Style S sells for $139.99 and is available now. Visit Fugoo for more information and Amazon to order.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Bluetooth speaker

Fugoo Style S portable Bluetooth speaker review originally appeared on on June 27, 2017 at 9:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

It really wouldn’t be summer without Braven dropping a new speaker on us. And 2017 is no different. True to form, Braven has gone 360° full circle with their new STRYDE 360 portable Bluetooth speaker.

Braven has crafted a soda can shaped speaker to fit into any active lifestyle where water, salt, sand, and snow are as plentiful as air.

The STRYDE 360 is a speaker made to take on the elements with a full IPX7 waterproof rating and with a shockproof exterior for truly roughing it outdoors. Its cylindrical shape will deliver 360-degree sound from dual passive radiators with custom, in-house tuning—all on a 12 hour single charge from its built-in 2500mAh rechargeable battery. The lightweight and vertically shaped STRYDE 360 easily fits in cup holders and water bottle cages as well as backpacks, sport bags or purses. There’s also built-in voice control that works with a smartphone to give a command or make and take calls hands-free.

“Our BRAVEN team believes that you should be able to listen to your favorite music everywhere you go, rain or shine,” says Kristin Archer, Marketing Director BRAVEN Audio. “With the STRYDE 360, our customers are finally able to have a speaker that is compact and portable enough to bring anywhere with sound loud enough for all of your indoor and outdoor summer activities.”

The STRYDE 360 is available now in Silver/Electric or Slate/Crimson for $99.99 US at BRAVEN.com and Amazon.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Bluetooth speaker

Braven performs a 360 with the new STRYDE portable speaker originally appeared on on June 23, 2017 at 7:25 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Everybody, their brother, and their brother’s next-door neighbor makes a Bluetooth speaker these days, or so it seems. Some are merely OK and some are just downright awful. Very few are actually worth your hard-earned money. Where does the Nekteck NK-S1 fit on this scale? Read on to find out…

I have been looking for a good and affordable Bluetooth speaker to replace an aging Logitech model. We love to stream music (think Sunday night kitchen dance parties while cooking for the next week) or news or comedy as an antidote for the news. Our qualifications for a speaker are pretty basic: it has to sound good, it has to be portable and battery powered (so we can use it while grilling in the backyard), and it has to be so simple to operate that we can start it up and promptly forget about managing it. Oh, and it has to be reasonably priced.

Let’s get the least subjective qualifications out of the way: at about 7.5 inches long, 3 inches high and 3 inches deep, it is a small speaker on par size-wise with speakers like the Jabra Solemate Mini or the Cambridge SoundWorks Angle. And at 1.5 pounds, it is a little on the heavy side compared to most but certainly, will not break your back carrying it around. It has a bigger battery than most portables which probably accounts for the weight difference, and the practical upshot of that is that you get longer play time before you have to charge. In my book, that is a win for the Nekteck speaker.

Next, it has to be reasonably simple to operate. I want to plant the speaker near where I am doing something and then use my streaming device to control audio, etc. I am an Android guy, so the main drivers for the speaker are my Galaxy S8 Plus and my Galaxy Tab S2 tablet. Both support Bluetooth 4.x as does the Nekteck, so the speaker responds almost instantly to changes I make on the phone (like sound profile via PowerAmp’s built-in equalizer, track or volume changes, and even input switching when I want to head over to the news on the Sirius app). The connection range is on the high side – my previous Logitech speaker had to have a pretty clear line of sight to the streamer, but the Nekteck has maintained a clear connection with the speaker in the kitchen and my phone in the living room – and this in a 100-year-old house with lots of interesting electrical wiring (think interference) and lathe and plaster walls. I think that qualifies as easy to operate and goes a step further by giving me more freedom to move around.

In the end, though, you buy the speaker because it sounds good with your devices. And this is where the Nekteck excels above and beyond the rest of the pack. It just sounds great, period. Our Sunday night kitchen dance parties stream Reggaeton and Latino music courtesy of Daddy Yanqui, Enrique Iglesias, and Gente de Zona. Think bass with complex vocal lines. Most speakers will either muddy the bass or muffle the high notes, but on the Nekteck they come through clear and strong. Even at louder volumes that inevitably happen towards the end, there is no distortion or degradation of the music.

Personally, I prefer songs from the 60’s and 70’s, which no doubt showcases my age. Less about the drum, more about the guitar and bass together. Again, the Nekteck delivers great, clear sound worthy of a much more expensive speaker.

And given the events of the last few weeks, staying on top of what is happening in the world is a must. I have partial hearing loss, and while music comes through clearly for me, I often have trouble with normal conversation. Many speakers and Bluetooth headsets have a tendency to muffle or distort vocals. I don’t know if that is some sort of noise dampening algorithm in effect or just bad frequency response in the speaker. But honestly, listening to (and comprehending) the news through the Nekteck is much easier for me than through my much more expensive Bose Bluetooth headphones.

The speaker also comes with a cable to allow you to connect via old technology (aka the headphone jack), and that greatly increases the battery life. For me, the wireless connection gave me about 6.5 hours of playtime on a single charge, and the wired connection took me to almost 10 hours. As a result, I bought a phone dock for the kitchen with a wired audio out connection to keep the dance party going.

If you connect to a phone, the Nekteck can also connect via the handset profile and become a speaker phone. The microphone is OK, though – the few times I used this feature I felt like I had to yell when I was a few feet from the speaker in order to be heard. But, this is more above and beyond the mission I would buy the speaker for, so I am completely fine with the feature as-is.

There are some quirks, though. You knew there had to be, right? The first seems to be a trend in consumer electronics these days. The speaker comes with an 18 inch USB mini cable to charge but no wall plug. I generally don’t charge my speaker on my laptop since I use it more with mobile devices. This means I have to go looking for a wall plug whenever I want to charge it. Yes, I know there are other solutions out there (like the AluPlug I recently reviewed) – but, to me, the point is that I shouldn’t HAVE to go looking for one. Minor fail, and one I can’t lay entirely at the feet of Nekteck – but they could buck the trend.

Also, when you move out of connection range, the speaker gently tells you in a female voice with an English accent that “connection lost”. She will continue to do this even when you move back into range. In fact, the only thing that will get her to stop telling you this is to either power cycle the speaker or go into the Bluetooth settings on your device and reconnect from there. It just doesn’t want to reconnect consistently.

Finally, there is an equalizer button on the top of the speaker. I believe the settings are Off, Classical and Party. To me and everyone I show this to, Off sounds like the volume lowers a little while the other two settings raise the volume a touch. The actual sound profile doesn’t change.

If you are on the market for a great all-around Bluetooth speaker that will play a variety of entertainment well, the Nekteck NK-S1 needs to be on your short list. It is a great all-around streaming speaker and the price to feature ratio can’t be beat.

The speaker reviewed was provided by Nekteck.  For more info visit their site or visit Amazon to purchase.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Bluetooth speaker

Nekteck NK-S1 Bluetooth speaker review originally appeared on on June 13, 2017 at 4:19 pm.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.