Not too long ago, we reviewed some earphones by BlitzWolf and they were pretty good. BlitzWolf was kind enough to send us one of their wireless speakers, the BlitzWolf BW-F2 Outdoor Speaker, to review. It has a rugged design with an IP65 rating to protect it against water, dust, and shock, so drops won’t be an issue. The design is small enough to be carried anywhere when you go out and about and need to play some jams. Enough with the spoilers, let’s take a look at the review below.
Specs:
The BlitzWolf BW-F2 Outdoor Speaker includes the following features and specifications:
- Operation range: 10m
- Charge time: 3-4 hours
- Aux: 3.5mm audio in jack
- Output: 5W
- Power input: Micro USB 5V, 1A
- Battery: 2000mAh (8-10 hour playback)
- Connection: Bluetooth 4.0 Class II, A2DP V1.2 and AVRCP V1.4
- Waterproof rating: IP65 water resistant, dust and shock proof
- Dimensions: 98 x 90 x 50 mm / 4 x 3.5 x 2 inch
- Weight: 286g
What’s in the Box:
- BlitzWolf BW-F2 wireless speaker
- microUSB Cable
- 3.5mm AUX cable
- User manual
- Warranty card
Design
The BW-F2 reminds me of the CRDC Life S100C speaker I reviewed a while back in terms of design. It has that squarish look to it but also has its own added aesthetics to it that make it different from any other wireless speaker of the same design. I prefer this look over the CRDC with its black only color and minimal design. BlitzWolf did an excellent job on making the design look cool and should attract others who are looking for something with a mixture of colors but also wanting a small wireless speaker to carry around.
While looking at the front of the speaker, the speaker grill is front and center with a black and blue color scheme going all around it. Towards the top, BlitzWolf has their logo and just above that is an LED window where you’ll be able to see that the speaker is ready to be paired or already paired. I like the way the LED was placed instead of like some other speakers where the LED was behind the grill and you can only see a small flash of blue light letting you know the unit is ready. On the top part of the speaker is where you’ll be able to control the unit with. The power button is on the far left with the volume down button to the right of it along with the play/pause button and volume up button. On the far right of the top is a hole where the built-in rubber strap is placed. If you don’t want the strap to be there you can take it off with a Philips head screwdriver and use your own if you’d like.
The backside of the speaker is the same as the front without the company logo and the right side is blank while the left side has a rubber flap to shelter the microUSB port and 3.5mm AUX port from water damage. Lastly, the bottom has a place where you can screw the BW-F2 to a tripod.
Ease of Use:
Pairing took a few seconds, but that wasn’t a big deal. The unit chimes letting you know when it’s paired and from there I started to play music. Learning the functionality of the BW-F2 really isn’t that hard. Once paired, just play your music and go from there. Adjusting the volume is done by pressing (not holding) the volume up or down and to play/pause the music is a simple press of the button too.
If you’re wanting to skip the current song or play back the previous song, long press either the volume up or volume down if you’re unable to get to your phone. As for answering phone calls, short press the play/pause button and to hang up, do the same thing again. It took me a few tries to get used to that when I wanted to answer/end a call, but it’s not hard after a few tries. Now, if you need to call the last person back, long press the play/pause button and it’ll start dialing for you. Do keep in mind that this feature will only dial out to the last person you spoke with.
Speakers:
Only one 50mm 5W driver is placed inside the unit and I don’t blame them considering one is all you’ll really be able to place in there since the speaker is small. I changed my usual music playlist with some EDM and it sounded pretty fair. With heavy drops, I didn’t hear much from the what felt like nonexistent bass. Trust me, there was some bass there, but not a lot. At the same time, it’s coming back to that there’s only one 5W speaker here so don’t expect to fill an entire room with floor shaking bass. Other than that, the rest of the sound was nice, so no further complaints.
Call Quality:
This isn’t the first Bluetooth speaker to have a mic on it for phone calls and it certainly won’t be the last. When I was making phone calls they started out just fine where people could hear me but as soon as about one minute passed I was told that I sounded really low or far away. I didn’t move myself or the speaker to another place in the room so it was weird that I sounded quieter than a minute ago. I powered off the unit and powered it back on to see if it was just a fluke, but it still continued. I really don’t think I would use this speaker for phone calls but if you’re the kind of person that does, just use your phone. It’ll make life easier instead of you having to repeat yourself.
Battery Life
BlitzWolf says the playback time is 8-10 hours and they hit the nail on the head. They even go on to say that you can have the volume at 70% and the battery life will still last 8 hours. I was able to stream music for a combined total of eight (8) hours or so. I had the volume at or around half which is where I always leave the volume on wireless speakers but remember that battery life can vary depending on usage and environment.
Price/Value
Bluetooth speakers of this size don’t really cost a lot out of pocket and that’s a good thing because not everyone wants to spend $100+ on a Bluetooth speaker and use it every so often. The BlitzWolf BW-F2 wireless speaker comes in at $20.99USD, so you don’t have to break the bank whatsoever. It’s not a bad price for this little guy either considering the amount of sound that comes out of it.
Wrap Up
So, over the entire time I used the BlitzWolf BW-F2 wireless speaker I liked it other than the call quality. If you’re not looking for anything too flashy and small to store in a backpack or bag, definitely go with this guy right here.
