Altec Lansing’s Bluetooth Shower Speaker ($80) is, as its name suggests, a Bluetooth speaker designed to hang from a shower head. Packing a single 1.5″ driver, Altec Lansing’s speaker is IPX5 certified, meaning it’s water-resistant, but not submersible. The speaker gets up to five hours of average battery life, and it comes with a micro-USB cable for charging. Altec Lansing claims the onboard speakerphone eliminates shower noise, and a voice Caller ID feature tells users the phone number of an incoming caller.
For better or worse, Altec Lansing’s Bluetooth Shower Speaker is specifically designed to hang on a shower head, or some other hook within a shower. There’s no suction cup for affixing the speaker to a wall, and resting the speaker on its back is awkward at best. The speaker also points slightly downward, so it’s most effective if the shower head is up high — or if the person showering is short.
But if you’re looking specifically for a speaker that fits well in most standard showers, this design will fit the bill.
The white, rubberized speaker is about 8.25” at its longest point, with the diameter of the speaker cone roughly 4.25”. A rubber band can be removed at one end to hook the speaker onto the shower head. Controls on the speaker include an on/off button that doubles as a speakerphone button, and volume up and down buttons. The volume buttons double as next/previous track controls, which can be activated by holding the buttons down. A covered micro-USB port for charging is found on the back of the speaker.
The audio isn’t bad for what you might expect from an $80 shower speaker, but it is treble-heavy, pumping out just enough bass to get by. Compared to G-Project’s $50 G-Drop, the difference is clear, as Bluetooth Shower Speaker sits comfortably in the midrange, while G-Drop thumps away.
For most people standing a few feet from the speaker, this won’t be much of a concern, but others might be better served to simply keep a speaker like G-Drop in the shower.
Altec Lansing’s much-ballyhooed speakerphone function, designed to cut out shower noise, mostly fell flat for us. While it’s true that our caller couldn’t really tell whether or not the shower was on, it didn’t really matter; the speakerphone performance was poor either way. The voice Caller ID function, however, worked well — it announced the phone number of the caller, as advertised. So if you’re a person who still remembers phone numbers, that could be a helpful feature.
Bluetooth Shower Speaker is a straightforward, solid solution for users looking to add a speaker to the shower without much fuss. While the sound isn’t fantastic, it’s definitely good enough for the shower, and you won’t be concerned with damaging the speaker. We had no issues with making a Bluetooth connection, either.
