I just picked this up to replace a Klipsch BT speaker I’ve used for over 10 years.
Why do I own a BT speaker and how do I use it? I’m a photographer and knowing the model’s music preferences, and having a service like Apple Music or Spotify, allows me to play music during the shoot to help put them at ease and bring out a bit of rhythm to help with posing, especially flow posing. Carefully adjusting the playlist can help bring about desired body language and facial expressions.
The sound isn’t great but it’s very, very good, with a prominent midrange and inoffensive treble with sufficient baritone and bass notes. It’s been tuned well for its size and should work well with most any genre of music. Despite being designed and advertised as “360 degree sound,” the tweeter is clearly front-biased while either a port or passive radiator is rear-biased.
Listening to Duffy “Rockferry” and Caro Emerald “Deleted Scenes From the Cutting Room Floor” both sound great. I’m not ashamed to break this out for a studio portrait or conceptual art shoot.
The buttons could be better labeled with the industry standard rather than proprietary choices, but once you figure it out, it’s fine. I don’t need the water resistance but it’s nice knowing it’s durable. The exterior of my Triple Black unit is delightfully understated. Battery life is serviceable… I’d expect a unit of this size to have at least double the advertised runtime, so a charging base is already in the shopping cart. The lack of USB-C quick charging, especially in this latest, version II release is a huge letdown.
The inclusion of a 1/4”-20 thread in the base, the standard thread for photography, is a huge boon, especially for photographers and using while outdoors as it can easily be mounted on a tripod or light stand for better sound performance.
Ultimately, it all comes back to sound. It’s far better balanced than the Beats Pill and is able to be played at full volume, unlike the Beats, of which the bass heavy tuning causes the full range drivers to rattle and flutter at full blast. While the Revolve II is clearly directionally biased, it’s not as bad as unidirectional speakers like the Beats Pill. I’m able to set this up on a tripod in the studio, connect Apple Music, set volume to half and never have to touch it again as the sound is delivered in all directions.
For the price, it’s one of the better portable BT speakers available. If you need more volume and higher fidelity, I’d recommend the Plus version, as it is large enough to accept Bose’s signature tuning and does sound better overall. However, for my purposes, the non-Plus version fits perfectly in my camera bag, alongside my lenses, making it perfect for studio and on-location use.
It’s the best collection of compromises for the price point and sounds almost as good as it looks. The sound is actually so mid-focused and clean, I’m considering buying a second one to use in stereo with my iMac, just plucking one off it’s charging base whenever I head out to the studio or location.
If you want a $200 portable BT speaker, you’d be crazy to buy anything besides this, unless you’re an uncompromising bass head. If that’s the case, buy a Sony and avoid the Beats Pill.
Product contains recycled material.
As certified by
Recycled Content Certification for Electrical and Electronic Equipment
Recycled Content Certification for Electrical and Electronic Equipment certifies the total percentage of recycled material in covered products. Covered products are required to achieve certification with more than one recycled material input to promote the use of more recycling inputs and most material impact. The minimum total recycled content to be eligible for the certification ranges from 10-50% depending on the product type. This certification is third-party verified by SCS Global Services.
