In a few short months, my youngest son will graduate from high school. You DO know what this means, right? A party. And, at every good party, there is music. You just can’t have a party without it! We have a nice stereo and speaker system inside the house but since the party won’t be inside the house, I wanted to find something that would fit the bill. I was looking for something that sounded good, was portable, had Bluetooth capability, and was budget-friendly. I thought I was asking for the moon. Imagine my surprise when I found the iLive Bluetooth Tailgate Party Speaker ($70 on their website, but I found it for $44 from Walmart and Amazon).
This speaker has a built-in, retractable handle and roller wheels so you can easily transport it. However, it is super light so you may not even need to use the handle and wheels very often. It also has fun color changing LED light effects and a microphone input for extra entertainment. As for Bluetooth, it supports v5.0 with a wireless range of about 60 feet. The unit has voice prompts that announce the speaker functions which helped make the Bluetooth pairing of my phone easier.
I listened to a variety of songs from rap to country and I thought it sounded decent. For the price range, it sounds good. While typical listeners will be pleased with this speaker, true audiophiles will not be happy with the sound as the bass does not hit very hard. The volume is loud, but there are no tone settings on the unit, either. That woud be nice to have.
The unit includes a built-in 8” speaker, FM scan radio, micro SD slot, and USB port. Additionally, the rechargeable lithium-ion battery has a life of about 6 hours when playing it at 50% volume and about 2.5 hours when playing it a 100% volume. For my party, I will just be sure I have the charging cable with me. While I don’t expect to be playing the music at 100% volume the entire time, I want to be sure I also have enough battery life to last the entire time or I will be toast! I’ll be keeping this iLive speaker for our family and using it for the party and other fun events. If you’re looking for a speaker that is functional, simple, fun, this one is for you!
