Roq Bloq portable speaker review

Hi everyone! Today I’m going to talk about a small yet mighty little portable bluetooth speaker called the Roq Bloq.

Roq Bloq is made by Rugged Tec. A couple of months ago a rep from Rugged Tec asked that I test the speaker.

The Roq Bloq came packaged in a nice sturdy box. One that can be reused to transport or to store the unit. The package included a charging cable (mini usb to usb connections), speaker input cable & small instruction booklet.

Connecting the Roq bloq & Roq-ing out with this speaker is quick & easy!

The instructions suggest charging the unit before first use. It should be charged for 6 hrs but no more than 12 hours. Of course I wanted to try the speaker right away. Instead, I followed manufacturers instructions & plugged the Roq Bloq in the USB port of my laptop.

While charging: To charge — connect the usb cord to the back of the Roq Bloq & then into a usb port on a computer. Or if you have a usb wall plug charger for your phone or other mobile device this will work as well.

I want to note — the back of the speaker ports are protected by a rubber flap. Nice part of the design to keep the ports clean & dry.

A small red light is lit inside the front grill which indicates charging. The instruction say, Once the device is charged the light will go off. After charging for 6+ hrs. Then using the speaker & charging again — the red light never went off or turned green.

I emailed my contact at the company and I was informed the manufacturer is working on this for future changes.

Otherwise the unit charges as it should. For the first time I let it charge 6 hours before using the device. Each time after that I have been charging it for at least a couple of hours up to 6 hours.

Connecting to device via bluetooth:
I’ve used the Roq Bloq speaker quite a bit by pairing it via bluetooth to a Nexus7 tablet. Have also paired it to my phone which is a Samsung Galaxy S3.

To do this, make sure the Roq Bloq is powered on (see diagram below). Then on my phone I tapped on the bluetooth option. It showed that it was paired to Rugged Tec in the bluetooth menu. When I tapped on Rugged Tec after a few seconds it showed that it was connected.

The process to scan & connect to bluetooth devices on other mobile devices may vary.

Once the mobile device is connected to the Roq Bloq you are ready to turn on any music player to start streaming music to your portable speaker! Each device I have had no problems connecting & streaming to the speaker.

Connecting via Audio cable:
To me laptop speakers are not so good for listening to music — so this is a nice option to add a quality sound when using a laptop. To connect the Roq Bloq – I used the microphone port on my laptop & then inserted plug to the designated port on the back of the speaker.

Using the Roq Bloq
Below is a diagram from the manufacturers site that explains how the functions work via the buttons on top of the device.

To turn on the speaker hold the button down until you hear a high pitched sound. Same goes for turning it off – it will toot toot a different pitched sound.

For volume. Once I set the Roq Bloq to a level of my choice — I then used the mobile device to control volume in small increments if/ when needed.

When streaming with Pandora – pressing the + button advanced to the next song.

Answer call mode: When the Roq Bloq is connected via bluetooth to my phone – I was able to conduct the phone call via the Roq Bloq speaker. There’s a microphone located in the front of the speaker that picks up your voice.

To take it off the speaker mode during my call I was able to tap the “headset” button off on my phone. With different model phones this may vary.

I noticed if I walked away too far from the speaker with my tablet the connection got a little jerky. So distance may be a factor depending on device and/or if a wall is between the mobile device & the roq Bloq. However, when out on my deck placing my tablet at approx 16ft away from the speaker I did not see any performance issues.

Playing time: My tablet started showing a low battery before the Roq Bloq speaker showed any sign of slowing down. I played it for at least 3-4+ hours a few times.

I want to note that when the speaker is active / playing music a blue light is lit on the front.

Tech Specs
Here’s info from the manufacturers site

Pros & Cons:
Pros: sound quality, ease of use, features, design (It is kinda sexy looking ;) packaging, size & weight.

Cons for me is —
the device does not indicate when it is fully charged.
Instruction booklet wording for my old eye is very tiny. When I Looked on manufacturer site at the time I did not see a link to read instructions online. Hopefully this will be addressed in the next version.

Overall impression;
The Roq Blog is small in size but powerful in sound. Sound quality like taste is subject to each person but I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this little box.

It’s built tough & designed with the intentions to go along with you on your outdoor activities or endure those backyard parties. It’s water resistant, dust resistant & shock proof.

From experience I can say it is tough. I placed the Roq Bloq on the edge of a shelf approx 5ft high off the ground. Well, I guess it was a bit too close to the edge. Next thing I hear is – BANG! on to a hardwood floor. The little speaker was laying on the floor still playing.

To me its has so many uses! Made to use outdoors or indoors. Bring it camping, in your vehicle, backyard, mobile office or become mobile around your house.

For more info about the Roq Bloq – here’s a link to the manufacturers site: http://ruggedtec.com/roqbloq-waterproof-bluetooth-speaker/

Thank you for reading & your support!

About the author: Article by Claire Walters CEO Outdoortrailgear
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