Back in December I reviewed the Bose SoundLink Mini II and praised it as one of my favorite Bluetooth speakers of all time, at least it was, until I got to experience the Specter AQSTIX. The Specter AQSTIX is a rugged, waterproof, Bluetooth speaker that is rated to last 12 hours on a single charge.
The exterior of the speaker is made almost entirely of a soft touch rubber and metal, providing both great looks and sturdy construction. The great build allows the speaker to work fully submerged up to three feet under water. Connectivity is provided via Bluetooth, Aux, or a micro-SD card. The built in battery not only provides a rated 12 hours of battery life, but thanks to a full size USB port, can also be used to charge your mobile device. The speaker also has a built in microphone to use for voice commands and phone calls.
Throughout my use of the AQSTIX speaker I experienced some of the best Bluetooth connectivity I have ever seen. While outdoors I had no problem walking 30 or more feet from the speaker before experiencing any issues. The waterproof rating also holds true as I was able to fully submerge the speaker while listening to music. As for the 12 hour battery rating, I actually feel that it is under rated. On the first charge I was able to get just over 12 hours of listening at over half volume the entire time. Subsequent charge showed the same or even slightly better performance. While I did not test the physical durability of the speaker, I have no doubt that it would handle any drop or fall from counter height and possibly even higher.
So the speaker is durable and packed full of features, but how does it sound? First off, this thing gets loud, like put most other portable Bluetooth speakers of this size to shame loud. It has no problem filling a room with sound, even with numerous people in it chatting. Sound quality is also among the best I have heard from a portable speaker. It creates a ton of bass for its size while keeping the mids and highs crystal clear even at high volumes. The only time I heard distortion was at the last volume step.
Overall the Specter AQSTIX is an awesome speaker. It is built well, waterproof to three feet, has plenty of input options, has the ability to charge a mobile device, looks classy, gets loud, and sounds great. If you are in the market for a Bluetooth speaker, I highly recommend looking at the Specter AQSTIX which can be found here.