My husband has a lot of gadgets so I decided to get him an accessory for his birthday. He often streams music on his phone, but the sound quality is mediocre. I wanted to give him something that would allow him to better enjoy his mobile music, especially since he recently uploaded his whole music library to Play Music (formerly Google Music). I purchased the Rocketfish SPX15 Stereo Bluetooth Speaker, after being impressed with the device while using it over the last few months at work. My husband loves his new speaker!

Design
The Rocketfish SPX15 Bluetooth Speaker is a portable speaker that looks like a miniature center home theater speaker. The speaker makes up the entire face of the unit, which has an entirely black exterior. There are five buttons at the top of the speaker, two of which control the volume (+ and -) and another two of which replay and skip tracks. The centermost button allows you to play or pause the audio, and doubles as the power/pairing toggle when held down. There is an LED light on the top center edge of the speaker which indicates the unit’s power and pairing status. There are small rubber feet on the bottom of the speaker, which prevent it from sliding on any surface. The design is very sleek and fits in well in any space. My husband uses it in almost every room in our house and often places it on his desk at work. At my job, it fits discretely in the center of two workspaces.

The speaker is portable enough to carry anywhere and even comes with a little black drawstring carrying case. It measures only 2” high by 1.5” wide by 6.5” long, which is small enough to fit in a purse or a jacket pocket. The weight of it is pretty negligible since the speaker weighs less than a pound. My husband often stores it in the front pouch of his laptop bag for convenient access on-the-go. Some of my coworkers carry the speaker in their back pocket to keep the music close while they clean.

Connectivity
The Rocketfish SPX15 Speaker is a great portable speaker for phones, MP3 players, laptops, and other gadgets with audio output capabilities. It has an option for connecting devices wirelessly or using a traditional wired connection. The speaker supports Bluetooth version 2.1 (A2DP, AVRCP, HFP and HSP) for connection to Bluetooth-enabled devices such as phones, some MP3 players, and some laptops. The connection works within a 33’ range, which is sufficient for my husband to use within the entire loft at his workplace and one to two rooms in our apartment.

Pairing the speaker with your Bluetooth-enabled device is very easy. The speaker switches into pairing mode when you hold down the power button, which is confirmed by the LED light flashing red and blue. Upon searching for devices, the speaker appears in the list as “rf-spx15” and pairs within a few seconds of selecting it. My husband and I have successfully paired it with our Android phones (Thunderbolt and
Droid Incredible) and my husband’s iPod Touch. I have also had no issue linking the device to the Blackberry Torch and iPhone 4/4S at work.

This device also has a 3.5mm audio input, which works with just about any device that has an audio output. Wired connection requires a 3.5mm auxiliary cable (male-to-male audio) which is not included.

Both connections seem to provide the same sound quality to the speaker. I haven’t experienced any lag with the Bluetooth or the wired connection. The only disadvantage to the auxiliary connection is that it does not permit control of the input device via the buttons on the speaker. The volume buttons still work to control the output sound level, but it does not allow you to play, pause, or advance tracks from the speaker itself.

The device is easy to use and its operation is self explanatory. Once the speaker is paired (which only takes the few aforementioned steps) or plugged in, using it is as simple as knowing the universal symbols for play, pause, etc.

Sound Quality
The sound quality of this speaker is excellent, particularly for a device of this size. Music sounds crisp and clear, far superior to the quality from the speakers in my husband’s phone, iPod, and laptop. The sound is very full with a surprising amount of bass for a speaker of this size. My husband often uses the speaker to play streaming Pandora Internet Radio and his own music library on Play Music (formerly Google Music) from his Android phone and prefers the audio integrity of this speaker. He’s a huge fan of metal and his experience is much better with this speaker than with his tinny phone speaker. He’s about to enjoy Metallica so much more with bass.

In addition to media playback, the speaker can also be used for phone calls. It has built-in speakerphone with noise reduction for clearer hand-free talking. The incoming call quality is very good and there have been no issues with the other party hearing speech through the speakerphone. It’s a handy feature, but one of which to be mindful. There have been a few times that my husband has dialed me and heard our conversation coming through the speaker on his desk at work before remembering he hadn’t disabled his Bluetooth!

The speaker can be played rather loud. At maximum volume, I can hear my music well from the farthest point in the adjacent department at work (about 35 feet away). My husband regularly uses it while running on the treadmill and can hear his music over the noise of the treadmill and his footsteps.

For the audiophiles, the frequency response of this speaker is 200Hz - 16kHz, +/- 5dB.

Power
The Rocketfish SPX15 Speaker can be powered using the AC adapter/USB cable or the rechargeable lithium ion battery. I love the flexibility of having multiple power options. When I’m home, I can leave the speaker plugged into the wall for continuous music. Since the included charger is a two piece mini
USB cable and USB wall adapter, there is also an option to charge the speaker through a connection to a computer’s USB ports. When external power isn’t available, the battery provides up to ten hours of battery life and only takes a little over an hour to recharge for the next usage.

In the Box
Rocketfish Mobile SPX15 Stereo Bluetooth Wireless Speaker
USB charging cable
USB Wall Adapter
Carrying Case
Owner’s Manual

Price
This speaker was regularly priced at $99.99 but I bought it on sale for $69.99. The item has a one-year manufacturer’s warranty.

I thought it was an excellent deal, especially in comparison to similar speakers on the market. The sound quality is superb for a device of this size and its portability definitely makes it convenient to use. I would say the price I paid was reasonable and I’ve definitely gotten my money’s worth considering how much my husband enjoyed it.

Recommended: Yes