By far the best bang for your buck in bluetooth speakers, and I've owned dozens!
This thing rocks. For its size, it puts out amazing sound that's full bodied and very pleasing. There's no bass boost feature or options for different sound fields, but you know what - it doesn't need any of that. It's tuned just about perfectly without complication. Bass is very deep (for its size) and upper and mid frequencies are buttery smooth. Bottom line is it blows away every speaker I've ever had that is this big or even slightly bigger. And it puts to shame speakers that are smaller. It delivers the fullness and loudness that I expect from a much larger boombox style speaker. It's kind of like Goldilocks, meaning that it strikes the perfect balance among size, convenience and sound quality. In fact, it's all the sound I ever really need. And when I do want more, that's when I turn to my way larger Earfun Uboom X. So don't waste your time and money experimenting with other speakers this size and smaller (unless you absolutely need something more compact), because they all sound sound thin and tinny compared to this. I know because I've tried about 10 other speakers roughly this size or smaller. One of those is the JBL Flip 7 that costs over $100, and the Vortex annihilates it. The main reason is because this thing has girth and weighs a very hefty 2.5 pounds, a telling sign of quality. In fact, Josh's Gadgets put it up against the Beats Pill among others, and the Vortex Blast reigned supreme. That says a lot. My guess is it could probably hang with the JBL Charge 6. And of course that speaker is about $175. So the Vortex at $18 is quite a bargain. I'd be happy to pay triple that price. And that crazy low price allowed me to easily buy 3 for myself and 7 more for family members. I pair 2 of mine together in tws and keep them on the kitchen counter. 2 in stereo are pure bliss. As good as this speaker sounds, it does however have several shortcomings, and I'd be remiss not to share them. Fortunately, I can live with these flaws, only because the speaker sounds so darn good and is so inexpensive. But if you're not willing to overlook these issues, go right ahead and splurge for a JBL Charge 6 to the tune of $175. That being said, here's a laundry list of concerns: •Battery life is relatively low compared to much of the competition. I just make sure and plug it in right after I'm done with a listen. No biggie. •Build quality is lacking. Some of the housing next to the buttons is slightly separated from the mesh fabric. •The start up and shut down prompts are annoying loud. •I wish the buttons were more visible. •The lights come on every time you turn on the speaker, whether you like to have them on or not. But it's easy to shut them off with 2 double clicks of one of the buttons. •It comes with a lanyard that if attached, keeps you from setting this speaker on its feet on the side. That's never been a problem for me because I always keep the speaker upright. And that's where this form factor really shines, because inverted, it takes up hardly any room on a counter or table. And that allows a lot of flexibility and the possibility of placing a second speaker nearby to play in tws for an incredibly immersive listen. Read more
