Rugged Turtlebox Ranger Portable Speaker Withstands Outdoor Adventures While Delivering Exceptional Audio Quality

There are oodles of portable Bluetooth speakers on the market. Some are small enough to stash in your pocket; others are larger but have different carrying opportunities. All have unique sounds and features.

I’ve reviewed many of these speakers over the years, and until now, most haven’t had as full or crisp of a sound as the new Turtlebox Ranger Portable Speaker. The Ranger has an IP67 waterproof rating (fresh and saltwater) and is submersible up to three feet for 30 minutes.

Tip: It doesn’t float! It’s also dustproof and can survive falling off your vehicle more than once. Will its pros outweigh a stiff sticker price and a boxy 2.4-pound weight?

The Robust Ranger’s Specs

The Turtlebox Ranger Portable Speaker has tons of features. It has an oversized easy-to-carry rubberized top handle and heavy-duty rubber magnetic points to affix it onto metal surfaces, like my Mitsubishi Pajero’s ARB front winch bumper.

The top and bottom collars are also rubber. Great for preventing scuffs and a pleasing grip, but not great for collecting dust particulates.

Turtlebox’s Ranger also has a bottom-mounted stainless-steel tie-down and rubber feet to easily secure it once at camp. Its dimensions are 9.5” H x 3.15” W x 3.15” D.

The Ranger portable speaker creates an impressive 105 decibels of rich and full, yet sharp sound generated by two high-quality 2” woofers and a Class D digital amplifier with enhanced DSP tuning for ideal audio performance. It was tested indoors and outdoors in a variety of settings.

The Turtlebox Ranger Portable Speaker boasts a 25.2 Wh Li-ion battery charged by a short USB-C cable (wall connector portion not included). Turtlebox says it has 12+ hours of battery life, but I continually got much, much more with our gray-colored tester (up to 26 hours and 45 minutes of Bluetooth-streamed playing time).

On average, it took me about four hours to charge it from zero percent battery life. It didn’t matter if I charged it at home or on the go with my EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus power station.

Different Modes

Not only can this portable speaker be played as a solo device, but it also has Party Mode sound to connect multiple Ranger speakers to form one big sound system. Additionally, it boasts true wireless stereo (TWS), providing classic left and right stereo pairing. These modes are included in the Ranger’s overall button layout (from bottom up):

• · Party Mode
• · TWS (stereo pairing mode)
• · Bluetooth
• · Next (back and forth)
• · Volume (plus and minus)
• · Power

There is a four-light battery indicator alongside the Ranger’s buttons. They are brilliant green, although they’re not constantly illuminated. Four solid green lights and you’re fully charged. One green light and you’re nearly out of juice.

You can press a button to check the battery level, but short pressing the power button will shut off your music. Pushing the Bluetooth button will disconnect your Ranger from whatever device you’re streaming from.

I’ve used either volume button to check battery life. It’d be beneficial to have the battery life indicator constantly on so users can monitor low-battery situations. Additionally, having an audible low-battery level noise would also be helpful. If there was one, I didn’t hear it as I listened to tunes from around the world.

Note: Once any button is pressed, the green battery indicators light up for approximately 10 seconds, so look quickly.

Thoughts: Turtlebox Ranger Portable Speaker

I didn’t have the opportunity to try out TWS and Party Modes as my tester was a single unit. However, my solo device held its own and produced incredibly clear and full sounds. I didn’t witness distortion or a lack of treble, mid, or bass if I played techno, folk, jazz, pop music, alternative, or Groove Salad from soma fm.

However, when I turned up tunes from the bass-heavy Brazilian-style rhythms of Bossa Nova, I heard slight distortions when above the 75% volume mark.

But then again, I rarely found myself using the Ranger at that volume or above anyway. It produced more than enough high-quality soundwaves to fill surroundings with full-bodied and clear music.

Nothing so big should come out of something so small, sound wise. The bulk and price are a more-than-fair price to pay for a rugged, robust, and well-built portable speaker. And it can also charge your devices, too, as long as you have a USB-C compatible charger for it. Price: $250

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