Back in December 2017, I wanted to be able to play music in my room but didn’t want it from my phone’s speakers. I decided to go online to find a bluetooth speaker and found Elliot Audio Rugged. Rugged is a compact water resistant bluetooth speaker made by Elliot Audio. I have never heard of them before but the design looked simple and sturdy so I ordered mine off of Kimstore.
Got the Elliot Audio Rugged speaker in my hands after 4 days. Picked it up from a TechnoPop branch so no shipping was necessary. It had a 3 month labor warranty and a 3 day replacement. At that time, the item was 799php.
I just checked Kimstore while writing this and the price has gone down to 599php.
Elliot Audio Rugged Out of the box
The speaker is 2.3in x 3.5in x 3.5in and 245 grams. It comes with a USB cord to charge it, a thick string (more of a black shoelace really) used to hang the speaker, and a small manual for use info. That is pretty much everything in the box.
Functions
The top has all the buttons as well as the mic and USB charging slot. The slot is covered by a piece of the rubber case. So far the flap is sturdy and not showing any sign of tearing. The speaker can be held easily but it feels solid because of it’s weight.
A red light will show up on the bottom of the power button when charging while a light will be blinking fast on top when waiting to be paired. The top light will blink slower once it is paired. The speaker will also tell you when it is waiting for connection, paired with a device, and have low battery.
Another not mentioned in the manual is that a long press of + or – goes to the next track. If you press them quickly, it is for volume. The speaker will beep when you hit the max volume.
The box mentioned IPX5. Did some googling and found out it was a rating for particle protection and liquid protection. X means there isn’t enough data to tell you the level of particle protection. The number “5” means that it is protected from jets of water. You can see more detailed info on the wiki page of IP Code. It is an interesting read.
I haven’t tried splashing water at it since I mostly use it indoors. Although I have seen people on youtube pouring water on theirs. I bought this because the cheaper ones looked and felt flimsy. I’ve dropped this once but the rubber covering definitely lessened the impact.
Sound
This small speaker can be rather loud. I play it in my room and do not max out the volume on my phone. Vocals come out nice and clear. Unlike a lot of the small speakers I’ve used before, there is no can-like sound. Bass isn’t very strong but for the price, I didn’t mind. I liked certain music on it like some acoustic guitar or pop songs.
I did notice something odd though. The song would start getting choppy when near my router. I put on the ground and it stopped.
All in all
I was honestly not expecting it to be this good specially since I can’t find much information about Elliot Audio online. A lot of songs’ sounds range from ok to good on it. Only encountered a few songs that I couldn’t listen on it. Usually the epic full orchestra with electric guitar type. Never had a problem connecting with our devices but all the ones we have are Bluetooth 4.0.
The price of this little speaker is down to 599php too! I highly suggest trying them out if you are looking for a cheap but good bluetooth speaker.
Elliot Audio Rugged Bluetooth Speaker
Pros
- Feels sturdy
- Good sound
- Under 1000
- Vocals sounds nice
Cons
- Only one side to hang it from
- Weak bass
