A lot of people might haven’t noticed this, but there’s actually a big market for portable wireless speakers. They are great in scenarios were your smartphone speakers aren’t cutting it, but you don’t want to carry around a fussy large speaker with cables dangling around.
To cater to those needs, there are tons of companies out there who are now making these kinds of products. Some of them have large speaker drivers, fancy RGB lighting, doubles as a power bank, and what not.
However, what we have here is pretty simple and straightforward — the Tronsmart Element Splash Bluetooth speaker. This thing doesn’t have all the nonsense bells and whistles (i.e. talking feedback with the weird accent), but it does have some cool features that contribute to its overall usefulness.
But before we get into that. Let’s talk about the basic stuff first, shall we?
Let’s start with the design. The Tronsmart Element Splash has a circular body. In the pictures, it looks like your standard laptop-speaker replacement, pocketable wireless speaker. But seeing it in person, you’d be surprised by how large it actually is.
The Tronsmart Element Splash is almost 43mm thick, almost the size of 5 stacked up smartphones. However, it’s thickness is forgivable considering the power that the actual speakers provide. This product has a 7W speaker, which also has audible bass and loud volume.
It can easily fill up a room with its loud volume. And since it is an outdoor speaker, you can also use it in summer getaways. Let’s say, your in a cottage at a resort, on the beach, or during a picnic. The volume is loud enough to make it audible even in open areas.
Speaking of outdoors, one of the Tronsmart Element Splash’s best features is its ruggedness. This speaker has an IP67 waterproof rating. Meaning, it can withstand being soaked in the rain, or being accidentally dropped into the water.
The Tronsmart Element Splash is wrapped in rubber on the sides to protect it from water (and possibly in minor accidental drops). Meanwhile, the microUSB port and the microSD card slot in the bottom are also guarded by a flap.
I tried submerging it under water, and it didn’t have any problems dealing with it. In fact, the music was still playing although it sounded a little muffled due to the water that messes with the speaker drivers inside. But after drying it out a little and making sure it was in an upward position to make sure the water spills out from the speaker grills, it sounded as good as before after a couple of minutes.
To complete its take it anywhere feature, Tronsmart included a carabiner in the package so you can hang it in your backpack while traveling, or wherever you want to place it when using it in outdoor locations.
Next feature I want to talk about is its True Wireless Stereo (TWS) capability. This lets the user pair two of these speakers and turn it into a stereo setup — without the need of a dedicated app. You just have to turn them on at the same time, hold it for a couple of seconds until you hear that special beep sound, and voila! You can spot the two speakers as one on your smartphone’s Bluetooth settings.
Upon testing, TWS really works great. The stereo setup is perfect for watching videos on your mobile device or laptop as it adds good directional audio. Since there are two of them, the audio volume also gets doubled, perfect for larger locations or bigger groups of people.
Probably another great thing about this speaker is its battery — which is actually one of the most important parts of gadgets like this. Well, you don’t want your music to easily go off in a middle of having fun or chilling out.
According to the included documentation, the Tronsmart Element Splash can last for up to 10 hours of music playback. When I tested it out, it pretty much lived up to its promise. The device lasted me around 9 to 11 hours of usage.
During the test, I played music over my iPhone 7 via Spotify for the majority of the time. Sometimes I would switch it to my MacBook Pro as I watch YouTube videos, then switch it back again to my iPhone to play music. The volume was set to around 60% to 80%.
When it comes to connectivity, the device comes with Bluetooth v4.2. It is not the latest by today’s standards, but it was still able to do a decent job. Tronsmart claims that it has a range of up to 15m which is often more than enough for most use cases.
I tested it by going to another room, and my smartphone was still able to remain connected. In real-world usage, be rest assured that you don’t experience connectivity issues unless you deliberately go too far away.
As I stated earlier, this speaker has loud volume, audible bass, sturdy build, plus dust and water resistance. It might not be pocketable, but this thing doesn’t really belong in that category. It’s something to be kept inside a bag or small purse. Despite that, it’s relatively small that you can carry it around with the help of the carabiner.
In conclusion, I really think that the Tronsmart Element Splash is a really great wireless speaker. The best part about it? It’s priced at just Php999. I have to say that this is one of the best, if not the best, Bluetooth speaker you can get for the price. It’s now available in the Tronsmart stores and authorized dealers in the Philippines.