With summer slowly approaching, there’s one thing that is for certain, I’ll be poolside. And courtesy of the ultra-portable Monster Superstar Backfloat Bluetooth Speaker, I’ll be able to to enjoy the warm weather with a few of my favorite tunes.
The Monster Backfloat is a portable all black speaker with chrome accents that’s about the length of an iPhone 6 plus, and about two inches thick. After fully unboxing the Backfloat there was one feature that stood out to me the most, and that was the fact it’s labeled as waterproof. Now some people think waterproof is just splashproof when it comes to a bluetooth speaker, so I wanted to test this theory. The first place I went for this was Youtube. And the first video I saw was Shaquille O’ Neal, who is a Monster spokesman, throwing his backfloat into the water. It was then that I knew I wanted to try it out.
While it’s obviously too early to take it to the pool since it’s not Memorial Day weekend yet, I was able to test the Backfloat in my shower as well as sitting in my sink with water and it produces GREAT sound. There was a bit of an issue when the speaker was fully immersed with water, or when you ran water over it. The volume quality did decrease, but it looked great to see the water dancing on the top of the Backfloat until the sound quality came back to normal. So imagine being in the pool with this speaker. “But how?” If you haven’t caught on yet, the Backfloat does indeed.. float on top of the water.
But does it need batteries to charge? What’s covering the charging port? Well the waterproof rubber material has a cover flap that completely protects the Micro USB port and the 3.5mm auxiliary port for when you decide to plug in the speaker to your laptop, phone, or media playing device. The flap wasn’t hard to get off, but it certainly stayed in position the entire time I had the Backfloat in water. And since the rubber material surrounding the speaker is 1mm thick, you’ll be hard pressed to see this baby have water touch it.
Turning the phone on and connecting via Bluetooth was interesting. You have a pleasant sounding lady announce after you’ve held the device for three or so seconds “Power on”, which makes it know it’s ready to try to connect to your device. Once this has been done it says “your device is connected.” Simple right? The sound quality is GREAT for it’s size. I shower with the Monster-made speaker daily, listening to podcasts, and I’ve been using it in my living room as well and it surely fills the room. Turning the volume all the way up, you will get a slight distortion, but this is a portable speaker, that even though it does bass REALLY well, it’s truly meant for people who want close listening, or maybe for a few people’s ears for the best quality.
The battery lasts 12 hours if charged up to 50%, and 26 hours with it fully charged. Now this is a bit different if you use the auxiliary cable option, and of course once it’s plugged up you’ll have a slightly different listening experience, as a result of it being physically attached to your device. The Backfloat doesn’t come with a charger included, but they were nice enough to give you a mesh bag so you can carry it to the beach, as well as a two-foot-long Micro USB cable. Because I’m sure you already have enough charging dongles you can use, including your smartphones.
Straight out of the box, the speaker works perfect. Coupled with a one-year limited warranty, and being water, shock and “spill” proof, the Backfloat is an awesome speaker for grilling out on the patio with friends for Memorial Day weekend, to even a day out at the pool listening to whatever you desire. It’s lightweight and easy to carry, and needless to say affordable at less than $200. You know the saying…you get what you pay for. And this is certainly one of those cases. I cannot wait until the pools open to use mine!
If you’d like to get one for yourself, head over to monsterstore to grab yourself one.
Source: manufacturer supplied product
What I Like: The quick charge of the Bluetooth was awesome. 12 hours at 50% charge? Yes.
What Needs Improvement: nothing