TaoTronics Soundbar Red
- 36 Inches of Deep Bass Audio: Size doesn't matter...until it does! Measuring 36 inches in length the TaoTronics Soundbar houses four powerful speakers. While two covers the full audio spectrum, the other two specialize in the mid-low frequencies in order to bring out the bass for a more immersive sound reproduction.
- Control with Buttons or Remote: Operates via the in-unit buttons or included remote; LED shines in different colors matching the functions
- Dual Wired & Wireless Installations: Stream audio over Bluetooth from up to 33 ft / 10 m or connect via line in, RCA, or optical with the included cables
- Ultra Slim, Sleek Sound Bar: Similar to how the fastest sports cars feature the sleekest, most attractive designs, the TaoTronics Sound Bar packs powerful sound in an ultra slim
- Ultra Slim, Sleek Sound Bar: Elongated construction blends in perfectly with your home theater setup by matching the slim profile of your TV
Be entertained while cleaning yourself,
Hi,
This is my review of the Taotronics Bluetooth Shower Speaker. Model: TT-SK03. Amazon lists the product as:
TaoTronics TT-SK03 Water Resistant Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Shower Speaker (Bluetooth 3.0, Hands-Free, Built-in Mic, A2DP/AVRCP)
I evaluated this product for a couple of weeks to give a detailed review. I have also taken a set of photos to help show what it looks like out of the box and when installed.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND UNBOXING:
The product comes in a box with contact information on the backside for North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. It is FCC and CE certified and compliant to work in these countries.
Inside the box that this product comes in is the shower speaker wrapped in a plastic bag with the suction cup held down by a card board box cutout. Inside the box is the thick user manual that supports English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese, each about 10 pages.
The USB power cable has an end specifically for the shower speaker. It’s not an industry standard USB cable that has a micro or mini USB connector on the other end. I would’ve liked the shower speaker to have a more common connector to plug in and charge the shower speaker. I leave that as a suggestion. I start to wonder if I were to lose this cable, what type is it and where can I find another one?
Some notables in the user manual are:
SPECIFICATIONS:
Bluetooth Version 3.0
Bluetooth Profile: A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, HFP
Range: 33 feet (10 m)
Battery: 3.7V 500mAh polymer lithium battery
Working time: Up to 5 hours
Charging time: 2 hours
Dimension: 3.4 x 3.4 x 2.4 in / 85 x 85 x 60 mm
Weight: 110 g / 3.88 oz
The charging cable measures about 40 inches long end to end.
Looking at the shower speaker, it can fit within the palm of my hand and gripped all around with my fingers and thumbs. The buttons are clearly visible by the symbol with the power button in the center and the volume control, play/pause, and skip tracks all around. The charging port is covered by a flap that can be pulled out or pushed in, giving some protection against splashes.
This product has a rating of IPX4 meaning that it’s water resistant, not waterproof. So it can handle splashes, but not submerged into water. I will mention about a test that I tried later on in the review.
The suction cup is fairly strong. It works great on granite and glass walls based on my tests.
USAGE:
First thing to do is to charge the shower speaker to full. This can be done with your PC, laptop, or with what I used, which is a charging station or wall charger that takes a USB connection. While charging, there will be an LED light in the center of the shower speaker buttons that turns red while charging. It will turn off to indicate that it is fully charged and ready to unplug for use.
The next step is pairing the Bluetooth speaker to the smartphone or tablet. Since I had an iPhone, I went into the Bluetooth discovery mode while the shower speaker was turned on by holding down the power button for 2 seconds. The device is listed as Taotronics TT-SK03 in the Bluetooth settings. Once that is paired, then you can find a radio station or song in your Music app to play to test out the audio going through the shower speaker.
I noticed that the volume control is separated from the smartphone’s volume control. So, by holding down the + or – buttons on the Shower Speaker, it is possible to raise or lower the volume separately than the volume bar on the smartphone. You will hit the end point on either the highest or lowest that it will go when you hear the double beep sound. This can be sort of useful for when you’re in the shower and you can’t reach your phone because you are in a wet area or it’s out of reach to be able to press the volume buttons on the shower speaker.
I tested different radio stations and music played through the shower speaker. It does a very good job with the audio quality. I set it at halfway on my smartphone’s volume controller while showering with a shower head and I can hear the music just about right over the sound of the water hitting my body. I have not tested maximizing the volume, but this is a pretty good audio output from the shower speaker for listening in the bathroom. It is better than the mini Bluetooth speakers that are sold online that are not meant for showers nor have water resistant protection.
Turning ON or OFF the shower speaker was very responsive and easy. Just pressing down the power button for 2 seconds makes some alien like noise with blinking blue LED flashing quickly to pair, then once paired, it makes a beep sound and slowly flashes blue. When you turn it off, it makes a sprinkling bell sound to signal…
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|If you will use it for what it was designed (shower speaker), you won’t be disappointed.,
– The suction cap did not hold on my furniture too long, but there was no issue in the shower. I sprayed a little water on the tile, that made the suction more powerful.
– The speaker wasn’t standing upright, like on the picture, it was nodding instead. I found this little aesthetic defect pretty useful in the shower: the water can easily leave the speaker.
– I felt a little too bass in the voice, until I turned it on in the shower. When you are in a small, closed room, surrounded by warbling water, the voice has different attributes.
There are two things the location couldn’t fix:
– Don’t expect that you can use this speaker as a hands free device for you phone. The microphone is so weak, you should almost swallow the speaker to be heard. The shower makes it more difficult to hear you. You can use it for emergency (For example: ” I’m in the shower. I’ll call you back.”, or ” I felt in the shower, and lying on the floor. Please help!”), but other than this, the microphone is useless.
– It has five buttons, all are hidden under one gray, rubber disk. The position of the different functions indicated on the disk so lightly, it is hard to see where are they. The blue light just makes it more harder to see.
I remove one star, because the design of the buttons. I don’t mind the week microphone. I’m not using it for phone calls, so I enabled it for media playback only.
The battery life and the radio connection was better than I expected. I was able to listen my music for 7 hours. For this test I used the default volume, which is not the maximum. If you turn it to the max, you will probably be closer to advertised 5 hours.
The users manual says, the range of the Bluetooth connection is 33 feet. It is true if there is no wall or other obstacle between your phone and the speaker. Although when I used it in the shower, my phone was in the bedroom, and there was no issue at all.
Overall it is a nice speaker for using in areas, where you don’t want to take the risk and willing to sacrifice some quality for the water resistance, like in the shower, at the bath tub, on the poolside, or on the beach.
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|Taotronics shower speaker,
Customer Video Review Length:: 5:15 Mins
Included in the box with the shower speaker are the instructions, and a DC plug/USB cable (approximately 3 feet, 3 inches in length). I would have preferred the connection for charging the speaker to be a micro charging cable instead of this USB/DC connector as it limits this to finding a specific replacement cable if this one goes bad.
Charging the speaker took about 2 hours to fully charge. A red LED indicates charging and turns off when fully charged. To power on and pair, hold the power button for a few seconds until the LED flashes blue. Pairing with my S4 was quick and easy and battery life is at about 5 hours of playing time. The speaker has in addition to the power button on the front, the volume controls (next/back), play/pause and an answer call button. The buttons are large but the symbols indicating the function of the buttons are difficult to see and blend into the white silicone. The charging port is covered by a rubber cover to protect it from water. The suction cup is pretty strong and holds well on most smooth surfaces I tried.
I initially tested this with several phone calls and calls were clear and understandable on both ends of the call. The music was clear with distinct vocals and instrumentals and had a decent amount of bass considering it is a small shower speaker. The one difference with this shower speaker from others is that the speaker is vented on the front as opposed to the rear, which makes for better sound but less water resistance. Due to the openings in the front of the speaker, this would not handle being dunked in water or have water flowing directly over it. So you should place this in an area that is the least likely to get splashed heavily. Bluetooth range was also very good and the speaker worked without interruption as far as I could walk away from the phone in my home.
Overall, this is a nice sounding speaker that has good Bluetooth range, works well as a phone call answering device. I do wish the speaker had a micro-USB cable as opposed to the DC/USB power cable that is specific to this device and the buttons should be marked so that the function symbols are easier to see and use. I also think this is priced (currently 50 bucks) a bit high versus other similar speakers.
4 stars
I was provided a sample for review and I do not promise a good rating in return, nor am I affiliated with this company or compensated in any way. I am just a regular Amazon customer who shops a lot on Amazon.
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