If you’re an outdoor enthusiast, there’s a good chance you’ve seen one of these speakers pop up in the background of your social media feed, or, more likely, in the foreground of your most recent fishing trip. This sudden surge of speaker emergence comes as no surprise to us; especially after finally getting our hands on one ourselves. In our latest gear review, we’ll be going over the outdoor speaker that delivers Texas-sized sound, and is as tough as the Lone Star State itself. Below, see what we had to say about the Turtlebox Outdoor Speaker.
Upon Opening:
When the cardboard box with the Turtlebox logo finally landed at Flylords HQ, we were ecstatic to say the least. The clutch of winter had just begun to creep in from the Rocky Mountain Range, and consistent snowfall was becoming a weekly regularity in our little valley. At the same time, however, we weren’t ready to trade in our streamers for nymphs just yet, and wanted to capitalize on the last of the carnivorous tenacity of pre-spawn browns. More often than not, our days floating down our local rivers were met with snowfall, rain, or sometimes a wonderful mixture of the two. Add strong gusts of wind and an inexperienced drift boat captain behind the oars (me.), and you’re not exactly looking at the safest environment for a Bluetooth speaker (so we thought…).
Upon opening up the packaging, we dug out a charger, an instruction manual (which we read through thoroughly), an aux cord, and of-course, one Turtlebox speaker. Immediately, the structural soundness of the box itself was noticeable. The frame itself is IP67, which means it’s 100% sand proof, dustproof, and most importantly waterproof. The box also had an enforced rubberized handle, as well as 4 rubberized feet to keep it firmly stationed wherever you choose to put it. There was pretty much no set up required for the box besides connecting a phone via Bluetooth, and figuring out which Billy Strings jam we were going to break in the new speaker with. Immediately, the office was flooded with ripping banjo and the sweet delight of some fast grass. Out of this, even at wall-shaking volume, the sound was crystal clear and totally distortion-free.
Field Testing:
While it was nice having an in-house concert speaker, it was time to put the product claims to the test. So, we rigged up our 6-weights, packed the cooler full of frothy bevs, and dropped our new Turtlebox into a custom low-sided dory from Boulder Boatworks — a chariot worthy of a king. Immediately on pulling up to the boat ramp, we got down to business. Before even slipping off our boots, we walked over to the nearest eddy, said a prayer, and tossed the box into the water. The sweet melodies being emitted from the speaker were immediately silenced as it was plunged towards Davie Jones’ locker. Immediately, the box surfaced again, still bellowing a crystal clear guitar solo from our friend Mr. Garcia.
After a couple more submersions, including a few where we held the box to the bottom in a semi-sadistic fashion, we gave up in trying to best the box. This thing was sealed tight. With that test out of the way, we were ready to hit the water. As we floated down the river, we were incredibly impressed by not only the sound distribution, as the boat could be used as an echo chamber, thus creating a surround sound effect, but the battery life. Not once did we have to worry about the battery giving out, and at a few knocks below max volume, this thing was really chugging along for a full day on the water. Thank the fish Gods too, especially considering the blizzard to follow.
With what started as a few flakes received on extended tongues and cheery cheeks, turned into a full-frontal onslaught of snow and wind and whatever else the good heavens could muster up. Thankfully, we didn’t have to worry about the integrity of our speaker, and as “Wait so Long” by Trampled by Turtles crawled into the front of the Spotify queue, we were more than grateful to have the proper background music to fuel the blind mad-dash to the finish line that ensued behind the oars. We’re not saying that anything bad would’ve happened had we not had the speaker to fuel our drive, but then again, there’s nothing to prove it wouldn’t have.
One additional feature that we consider an essential mention would be the co-speaker Bluetooth pairing capability to create a true right and left surround-sound speaker experience. If you don’t have a boat stadium like we did, or are just looking for a true concert experience, you and a buddy can link the two speakers seamlessly and get to blasting your favorite tunes how they were meant to be experienced.
Final Review:
Element Proofness:
Volume:
Audio Clarity:
Portability:
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User Friendliness:
Price:
Looks:
Conclusion:
Overall, we had a blast testing this product. In short, the Turtlebox speaker is one of the most well put together, best performing pieces of outdoor equipment we’ve ever had the chance of testing. It’s a product that speaks to what why we love the outdoor industry, in that by putting the bells and whistles aside, it’s engineered to perform to the pinnacle of the consumers expectation, and not get caught up in the other nonesense. If you’re looking for a speaker that’ll last a lifetime no matter what you put it through, we definitely recommend heading over to Turtlebox and trying one of their speakers yourself.
To get your own Turtle Box Speaker, CLICK HERE.
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