Scosche BoomBottle review

The Scosche BoomBottle is built to slot into a bicycle water bottle holder and is rugged, water resistant and available in a wide range of colours, including a variety of bright acid tones that’ll be easy to spot if it accidentally rattles out into the mud. Fortunately, that’s not very likely, as the BoomBottle Bluetooth speaker remained secure in our bottle holder and comes with a karabiner to hold it in place.

Silicone covers protect the volume controls and pairing button, while a flap at the back protects the USB charging port and 3.5mm stereo input for connecting non-Bluetooth sources. The speaker drivers, protected by dust-proof covers, are positioned at either end of the tubular BoomBottle. You can position the speaker either horizontally or vertically, but it’s more stable upright.

Like the majority of portable Bluetooth speakers, the BoomBottle uses the standard SBC audio codec rather than the higher-quality aptX. However, given that this is a small stereo speaker designed to be heard while rattling down mountain bike trails, SBC’s sound quality is more than good enough for its intended purpose. The speaker did a good job of keeping us entertained in our test labs.

The BoomBottle is at its best with music that has a fairly compressed dynamic range, which describes most modern pop and dance. It’s got a strong, if not particularly detailed, mid-range and there’s even a bit of bass, thanks to a passive radiator. Our most complex metal and orchestral tracks lost some detail, particularly on high frequencies, but vocal harmonies were warm and pleasing to listen to. The only distortion we encountered, even at high volumes, affected occasional high notes in some overdriven guitar solos, but the problem cropped up rarely.

Using the BoomBottle is a much safer alternative to the reckless practice of cycling with headphones on. It’s loud enough to be audible without drowning out the sound of your surroundings, although on a fast downhill section, you’ll find that the wind drowns out the speaker. The BoomBottle is worth having even if you never go near a bike. Its sturdy, shock-absorbing design makes it well-suited to all kinds of high-impact activity, so it’s a good option for campers and festival-goers, too, while its practical shape will fit into the water bottle holder found on many backpacks.

The speaker’s battery life is truly astonishing. It clocked up an unprecedented 33h 24m in our continuous audio playback test. In combination with the BoomBottle’s tough but surprisingly lightweight design, that makes this our first choice for an outdoor speaker.

If, on the other hand, you do most of your listening around the home, Cambridge Audio Minx Go is less resilient but sounds better.