There’s no better place to listen to music than on the beach, while in the pool, or for some people, even the shower or bathtub. Our Scosche BoomBuoy review takes a look at a small floating waterproof wireless speaker and checks out the sound quality and just how waterproof it is.
Specifications
The Scosche BoomBuoy Floating Waterproof Wireless Speaker has the following features and specifications:
- Wireless Bluetooth range of up to 33 ft (10m)
- Durable IP67 waterproof construction
- Rugged outdoor design with shock absorbing silicone body
- Floating design for safe, easy retrieval
- Carabiner hook for a convenient carry solution
- Battery: 500 mAh, 3.7v li-ion rechargeable battery, up to 7 hours playback time
- Operating range: 33′ (10m)
- Power output: 3W
- Charge input: DC 5V, 500mA
- Impedence: 4Ω
- Frequency response: 200Hz – 20KHz
- Communication: NFC, Bluetooth v3.0 Class 2, AVCRP, A2DP
- Dimensions: 85mm x 94mm x 34mm (3.35″ x 3.70″ x 1.34″)
- Waterproof rating: IP67 rated, up to 1m in depth
What’s in the box
- Scosche BoomBuoy Floating Waterproof Wireless Speaker
- EZTIP Reversible Micro-USB to USB charge cable
- Carabiner
- Instruction manual
Design
The Scosche BoomBuoy speaker is circular in shape and roughly the size of a hockey puck. It also features a hard lime green plastic shell with a metal speaker grille on the top. The speaker grille has the Scosche logo embossed in the middle. A small LED indicator light is inset into the outer right side just outside of the speaker grille. The bottom of the speaker has four rubber feet to prevent slippage when placed on a surface.
The outer side of the speaker is covered with a soft grey rubber band. On the left side of the outer ring, you’ll find your power and play/pause button while on the right side you’ll find the next track/volume up and previous track/volume down buttons. The “top” of the outer ring has a carabiner clip, while the “bottom” is where you’ll find the covered charging port.
Scosche has included a thicker flat style reversible Micro-USB cable so you don’t have to fiddle around with trying to figure out which way the USB cable connects to recharge the speaker.
The design of the BoomBuoy is definitely waterproof as long as you make sure the charging port flap is closed tightly. No matter which way you drop it into a body of water, it floats speaker side up quite well in the water.
Ease of Use
Like most Bluetooth speakers, the Scosche BoomBuoy is simple to use. Press and hold the power button to turn it on until you hear a tone prompt and you can then pair with Bluetooth in your phone or tablet settings, or with an NFC enabled device by holding it close to the NFC zone between + and – buttons.
Once paired, the controls are self-explanatory. Tapping the + or – button will skip to the next or previous track while holding them down will increase or decrease the volume. The play/pause button is used to play or pause the current track, and the speaker can be turned on and off using the power button. The BoomBuoy will also shut down after 5 minutes with no Bluetooth connection or after five minutes of activity when there is a Bluetooth connection.
Sound
The Scosche BoomBuoy is surprisingly loud and fairly clear for being such a small speaker. The one thing it is lacking majorly in though is bass, and even with bass levels and bass boost cranked up on an equalizer, the bass was definitely still lacking. Other than that, it can be turned up quite loud and features independent sound controls which allow you to find that perfect volume. Of course, when dunked the sound distorts due to water covering the speaker holes, but a good shake and then gently placing it on the surface of the water is the way to go.
Battery Life
The Scosche BoomBuoy comes pre-charged and ready to go. With the 500mAh battery, Scosche claims you can expect up to seven hours of battery life and during our testing, we hit about 6 – 6.5 hours before needing to recharge the unit. It’s not an overly long time but should get you through the better part of the day before needing a roughly 1.5 – 2 hour recharge.
Price/Value
Decently priced at $39.99USD, you really can’t go wrong for a small, portable, waterproof, floating Bluetooth speaker.
Wrap-up
The Scosche BoomBuoy Floating Waterproof Wireless speaker is a decent little affordable speaker great for the pool, camping, or floating down the river.
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