{"id":5526,"date":"2014-09-06T11:06:43","date_gmt":"2014-09-06T18:06:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/?p=5526"},"modified":"2014-09-07T15:37:14","modified_gmt":"2014-09-07T22:37:14","slug":"23-roker-sound-cube-portable-bluetooth-speaker-by-donald-burr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/23-roker-sound-cube-portable-bluetooth-speaker-by-donald-burr\/","title":{"rendered":"$23 Roker Sound Cube Portable Bluetooth Speaker by Donald Burr"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B00H3JTT30\/?tag=otakunocast-20\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/podfeet.com\/NosillaCast\/NC_2014\/NC_2014_09_07\/roker.jpg\" alt=\"Roker Sound cube looks exactly like a jam box, with textured sreen edges made of parallelograms\" style=\"float: right; margin: 5px;\"\/><\/a>Roker\u00aeSound Cube Portable Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Speaker review<br \/>\n\tLink: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B00H3JTT30\/?tag=otakunocast-20\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B00H3JTT30\/?tag=otakunocast-20<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The problem to be solved<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I like to listen to podcasts while doing chores, relaxing in the poul, etc.<\/li>\n<li>iPhone 5 has a fairly loud speaker, but it&#8217;s not quite loud enough to cut through the noise when doing certain chores (washing dishes, laundry, yard work, etc.) <\/li>\n<li>Needed an external wireless speaker, because I tend to need to remain mobile while doing chores, so can&#8217;t be tied down by a wire.<\/li>\n<li>In the case of the pool, I have a waterproof case for it, but you can&#8217;t hear the speaker through the case, meaning you have to wear earbuds.  I know they have waterproof earbuds but I&#8217;d just rather use a speaker.\n<\/li>\n<li>There are a plethora of Bluetooth speakers on the market.  Prices have come down a lot, and decent ones can be had for around $100.  Unfortunately that&#8217;s a bit over my price range at the moment.<\/li>\n<li>While browsing Amazon I found these Roker speakers at $22.99, and since they were Amazon (i.e. no-hassles return policy) I figured I&#8217;d roll the dice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\nDescribing the unit<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This is clearly a ripoff of the Jawbone Jambox Mini<\/li>\n<li>Almost identical styling, even down to the box it comes in<\/li>\n<li>Same general size and shape as the Jambox Mini<\/li>\n<li>Square, about 6&#8243; x 2&#8243; x 1.5&#8243;, weighs 8 oz.<\/li>\n<li>Top and bottom are made of a rubber-like material<\/li>\n<li>Speaker grille is metallic<\/li>\n<li>On the top are controls for previous, play\/pause, next, and phone<\/li>\n<li>On the right are the power switch, mini USB connector (used for charging only,) an Aux In jack, and what looks to be a Micro SD card slot<\/li>\n<li>Red and blue LEDs to indicate the status (power, pairing mode, etc.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Features<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bluetooth 3.0 + EDR, up to 33 feet range<\/li>\n<li>Built-in 800 mAh LiIon battery<\/li>\n<li>two 40mm speakers, total 6W<\/li>\n<li>Has an Aux in port, which means you can use it as speakers for other devices (including your laptop, etc.)<\/li>\n<li>Supposedly it can play MP3 files on a Micro SD card that you insert into the slot, but I didn&#8217;t have a chance to test that feature<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Pros<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Build quality is surprisingly pretty good<\/li>\n<li>Feels solid, doesn&#8217;t creak when you squeeze it, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Pairing couldn&#8217;t be easier.  Turn it on, a voice announces pairing mode, open Bluetooth on your device, and you&#8217;re done.<\/li>\n<li>Amazingly good sound quality<\/li>\n<li>Clear, not mushy<\/li>\n<li>Can get really loud without noticeable distortion<\/li>\n<li>Decent battery life.  Got about 4 hrs. Takes about 3 hrs to charge using an iPhone AC adapter.<\/li>\n<li>Comes with all the cables you need (mini USB to regular USB, and 1\/8&#8243; aux audio cable)<\/li>\n<li>Price!  (You get a lot for only $22.99)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Cons (maybe)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Although the sound quality is good, there are limitations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Lack of stereo separation. Two speakers, but they are close together, so you don&#8217;t get effective stereo separation.<\/li>\n<li>Weak bass &#8211; If you&#8217;re getting these just for music, or if you like bass-heavy music, this is probably not for you<\/li>\n<li>For my use case (mostly podcasts\/audiobooks with some music) the sound quality is quite acceptable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Poor speakerphone sound quality<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Listening to the other caller sounds okay<\/li>\n<li>However my voice comes out somewhat muffled and hard to understand<\/li>\n<li>Not a deal breaker for me, since it&#8217;s not really what I intend to use this item for.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>Not dust\/waterproof<\/li>\n<li>Range<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>Advertised range is &#8220;up to 33 feet&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>In my testing I have found only about 10-15 ft, and that&#8217;s outdoors, no obstacles, etc., before Bluetooth started cutting out\n<\/li>\n<li>But my iPhone was in my pocket, and since we humans are &#8220;ugly giant bags of mostly water&#8221; (Star Trek reference!) I was probably blocking some of the signal<\/li>\n<li>10-15 ft is more than enough for my use case, so I&#8217;m okay with that<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>&#8220;Okay&#8221; battery life<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>Amazon description lists two battery lives, 4 hours and 8 hours<\/li>\n<li>The actual battery life was about 4 hours, so maybe a typo?<\/li>\n<li>Seems to discharge very quickly, i.e. if you leave it off its charger, but not use it, it will still discharge at a fairly quick rate, requiring you to plug it in and recharge it.<\/li>\n<li>Given my needs and the low cost of the unit, these are acceptable to me, but may not be for you.<\/li>\n<li>Less than stellar On-device battery indicator<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>There is no on-device battery indicator, only a voice that comes on when the battery is low<\/li>\n<li>Bluetooth battery indicator:  It sends battery life information over Bluetooth, which appears as a very tiny battery bar next to the Bluetooth icon on iOS devices.This is very unreliable; sometimes it appears, sometimes it doesn&#8217;t, sometimes it shows bogus values (i.e. almost empty when I in fact just charged up the unit)\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>Flashing blue light<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>Some reviewers found it annoying; I didn&#8217;t<\/li>\n<li>One reviewer said that it is annoying when being used in a car at night; I don&#8217;t drive so I wouldn&#8217;t know about that.<\/li>\n<li>Another said it makes it impossible to use in a bedroom.  I don&#8217;t really see that as being a problem, since I would very rarely, if ever, use it in this kind of situation.<\/li>\n<p>Lady&#8217;s voice announcing &#8220;In pairing mode&#8221;, &#8220;pairing successful,&#8221; etc.\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Some reviewers found it annoying; I didn&#8217;t.<\/li>\n<li>It is awfully loud though!<\/li>\n<li>This is something that only happens once when you first pair it, and once every time you turn on the speaker, so no big deal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>Can only be paired\/used with one device at a time<\/li>\n<li>No way of triggering voice control\/voice dialing\/Siri\/etc.<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>Phone button can only answer, reject, redial<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>Does not come with a power adapter<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>Use your Mac (slower), or your iPhone\/iPad charger (faster)<\/li>\n<li>Takes about 3 hours to charge from empty using a AC adapter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>When starting playback, the first second or two of audio gets cut off, but that might be a Bluetooth thing<\/li>\n<li>But bear this in mind when reviewing these cons: the price is only $22.99!<\/li>\n<p>The Verdict<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Very good performance.<\/li>\n<li>A few cons but not deal breakers, especially considering the price of the unit.<\/li>\n<li>A definite Buy!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Roker\u00aeSound Cube Portable Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Speaker review Link: http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B00H3JTT30\/?tag=otakunocast-20 The problem to be solved I like to listen to podcasts while doing chores, relaxing in the poul, etc. iPhone 5 has a fairly loud speaker, but it&#8217;s not quite loud enough to cut through the noise when doing certain chores (washing dishes, laundry, yard [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5526"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5529,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5526\/revisions\/5529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}