Shandy A—June 22, 2025
Great speaker so far. Pros: Loud, good for the beach or the boat Handles water and sand Durable (so far) Decent battery life Cons: Lots of bass (maybe a pro for some.) No discernable difference between "indoor" and "outdoor" settings App is only for LED cast Love the speaker so far. It's loud which is great for the beach and boat. There is a lot of bass which sometimes makes it hard to get just the right volume. The app is only for the LEDs, wish it had an equalizer option and more LED customization. Battery life is affected by volume and LED use, but it usually lasts. I've never time it, but it lasts several trips on the boat 4-6 hours at mid-high volume without needing a recharge. Lasts 7-8 hours at the beach at full volume and still has 2 "bars" of battery. Overall, compared to the bougie option, it's a solid choice and comparable. Have had several people ask what it was cause it sounded better than their expensive one. Read more
RM869—July 22, 2024
This new speaker ROCKS! its has amazing sound... especially for its compact size. I decided to try this out over Turtlebox because I own another of their units from years back which I got at Costco and it still works. These guys really know what they are doing. its completely waterproof. My son was taking the speaker to the bottom of the pool and letting it float back to the surface. its a rock solid unit. Heavy and sturdy handles on the side. The LED lights are very bright. If you swim at night they create great lighting effects in the water. More fun. The LED button is a little annoying to scroll thru all the options. But i found they have an app in the android store that lets you control the colors and sequences . The app makes it much better. As far as sound quality goes, its Insanely loud. The bass response is very deep. I have only played with the EQ settings a little bit. But its nice that they are right there with a touch of a button. I dont think Turtlebox has that. Plus the unit will connect and sync to my Golf cart speaker. We had it on the boat and it was louder than the motor. it was fun to have it floating in the lake with the speaker floating speaker up. We got back to the dock late and it was dark. So I turned on the flashlight to help me tie up the boat and put the cover on. Its just a fun smart design... Read more


LB—August 11, 2025
PERFECT!! We play outdoor beach volleyball and we MUST HAVE TUNES! We have never cranked it up to over 100 decibels. Nice to know it has the power. Sometimes Bluetooth will be weird on Apple devices where it won’t pair. Don’t freak, just “FORGET DEVICE” and try pairing again or turn off turn on unit. That’s the ONLY issue. A tiny rare issue. I use my iPad as a digital scoreboard when we play and I plug into the unit to keep it charged. We have never, ever run out of battery power and we play for SEVERAL HOURS and it keeps my iPad charged. I don’t care about the light show it offers but if you like flashing colored lights that’s a bonus. It really is rugged in the sand hit by water and a volleyball this thing is tough! Love the bottle opener! Hilarious opening a Classic Glass bottle of Coke! My highest rating! Read more
John H.—September 2, 2024
I purchased the Defender after hearing a turtlebox on the beach one day. After a bit of research, I noticed a lot of people said the defender is just as good and maybe better than the turtle box. The fact that it is roughly $150 less did help as well. I must say that the speaker sounds amazing and half volume is plenty loud for most occasions. We used it just yesterday on a sandbar at the edge of the ocean and had no problem hearing the music at half volume, even with other people playing their own music and waves crashing. It did get sandy and splashed a little but it was no problem at all. The LED presets are a nice touch but download the app for a ton more options. I can’t speak much to battery life as we only used it for a few hours but I feel it will be plenty. Another plus is that it can connect to my sound extreme soundbar on my golf cart to enlarge the sound stage for backyard parties. Overall the performance surpassed my expectations, the weight is very manageable, and I feel it’s the best value for money in this speaker segment. Read more
Michael Robertson—July 28, 2024
The media could not be loaded. I was not paid for this review and i paid full price for the product. I don't normally do reviews, but it's refreshing to see a quality product with obviously custom and thoughtful design so here it goes. Take the highest quality powerful speaker that puts out huge sound to fill the biggest space and add an intuitive well designed interface and you have the Ecogear defender. It's tempting to buy cheap knockoffs but it won't have the sound quality. Even at max volume, the bass is full. Unlike many systems with just a couple of non descriptive buttons, this has a big row of intuitive buttons for easy music management without using a phone app. Many quality touches you'll only appreciate after using like backlit buttons. So nighttime usage is easy. And the LED lightshow is fun at night too. If you're conditioned to questionable Chinese knockoffs that last one season, you'll be blown away by the quality. This is solid with 2 enormous comfortable handles with tie down holes plus 4 big rubber feet. Every aspect feels solid and well worth the money. Read more
SeanTheGuitarPlayer—August 2, 2025
Seems sturdy, really does float, as loud as I ever need. I wish it had a handle on top. I made one out a boat fender rope. Also, this thing as voiced a bit bass heavy. Two of the three settings seemed a bit muffled and bassy. The third setting is great for almost all music. Definitely voiced for modern, thumpy rap inspired production. I wish one of the settings could better handle older “real” music with real bass and drums. I gave it 5 stars but prolly 4.5 stars is more realistic. Read more