Fugoo (Style, Sport, Tough) review

A lot of Bluetooth speakers claim to be splashproof or able to handle the occasional knock, but we’ve yet to see one that matches the extremely ruggedized Fugoo. It can withstand being completely submerged in water and, with the right jacket installed, survive being dropped and kicked around with impunity, making it the most durable waterproof Bluetooth speaker we’ve seen thus far.

The Fugoo’s ‘core’ speaker is packed with far more drivers than its rivals. It has six in total, with two tweeters, two mid/woofers and two passive radiators to provide its punchy sound. The two tweeters are placed on opposite ends of the Fugoo with a mid/woofer and bass driver pairing facing both front and back. This helps the Fugoo to deliver sound in every direction, rather than just forwards as is the case with many portable Bluetooth speakers.

Fugoo’s modular approach is somewhat unique, with its ‘core’ speaker that’s common to its three variations; Style, Sport and Tough. The fabric-covered Style (£150) is the smallest of the three (165x66x54mm, 442g) and is available in a range of colours including charcoal, red and sand. Attaching a Style jacket is the easiest of the three, as the core simply slides in place with a satisfying click.

Sport (£170) has rubberised edges that offer a degree of impact absorption while maintaining a reasonably small size (187x73x59mm, 519g) but is only available in one design that uses a combination of turquoise blue and black.

The Tough (£190) adds significant extra bulk (197x73x59mm, 624g) with the benefit of considerably more impact absorption. It’s also the trickiest to attach, as it requires the use of a hex key to remove four screws. The jacket comes in two halves that encase the core and we found it relatively difficult to get on. The Tough jacket is rated to shrug off 3ft drops but we were far more vigorous in our testing. The speaker survived being tossed 6ft as well as being kicked around, all without skipping a beat. We also dunked the speaker in a bucket of water and, while the sound could no longer be heard, the music continued to play without a hitch. The Fugoo can withstand being submerged up to 1m for 30 minutes.

Having separate jackets means you can start with any variation, then buy a different jacket at a later date if you decide you want to throw your speaker around a bit. It also means that if your Tough jacket picks up some scuffs you can just replace the jacket rather than the entire speaker.