The Ranting Reviewer does not get paid or receive any revenue from manufacturers or retailers of products reviewed. I occasionally receive products that I am asked to use and see what I think. I take a look, try them out and tell you all about them.
A box arrived the other day from JLab Audio. If you are unfamiliar with the company, they are designers of portable audio accessories such as bluetooth speakers, ear buds and headphones that both work with an active lifestyle and produce a high quality sound.
Inside was JLab’s latest bluetooth speaker, the Crasher Slim.
The Crasher Slim is the newest in Jlab’s line of portable bluetooth speakers. It is packaged securely and comes with a USB charging cable.
The Crasher Slim comes in a gunmetal grey (above) or blue and doesn’t have any unnecessary adornment.
To give you perspective, the Crasher Slim is relatively small, which is exactly what you want in portability. It weighs in at a half a pound, it measures 2.25×6.6×1″. I was able to easily slide it into any pocket on my backpack (including the outside mesh ones intended for a water bottle), the pocket of my winter coat and even my back pocket.
How about this for simplicity of controls? The plus and minus handle both the volume and will skip to the previous/next track if you hold the button for a second. The middle button handles power, play, pause and hands free.
On one end has both the line in and USB ports. There is also the microphone (yes, you can use it with your phone).
Also on the side is the indicator light. It shines blue when powered on and red when charging.
Time to put the Crasher Slim to work. Literally. I took it to the office and tried it out. It is so small and unobtrusive, it really blended in. Being respectful of others in the workplace, I wanted to see how it performed at lower volume levels. In a word, great. Good clarity. Decent bass. Easy to increase the volume when no one was around and decrease when they were back. One touch and my song paused for me to take a call.
The Crasher Slim boasts a 10 hour battery life. My testing proved it out as I was able to play music the whole work day without recharging. When you do, though, you’ll see the red battery indicator light. The light goes off when it is fully charged.
Another great application is for those who have an older car with an older stereo. No bluetooth connection? No audio in? No problem. Simply play your tunes. In this application, the top end of the volume was tested as road noise can drown out any stereo. The Crasher Slim blew me away. It had more than sufficient volume and kept its clarity even at higher settings.
The Crasher Slimis rugged, allowing you to take it on the go without concern of breakage and is splash proof. Take it to the pool or use it in the kitchen and don’t worry that a little errant splashing will do it in. Crasher Slim can take it.
My Take: I loved it. It was the right size and weight and was so easy to take with me wherever I went. I wish there was a strap or a cut-through where I could loop one through as I could see it would be easy to hang from a hook or tree. It had surprising heft for its size and was sturdy enough that I didn’t have to fear it would break when I threw it into my backpack.
The most important part, the sound, was impressive, especially for such a small speaker. While not likely to fill a ballroom of sound, it easily fills any room in my house and is perfect for the house, office, dorm room or any smaller outside gathering.
I did try the phone capabilities and while the speaker part was great, the mic was not as strong as a pair of bluetooth earbuds I have. I liked using the Crasher Slim when working at home for conference calls that I mainly had to listen to, but not ones I was leading. I think the mic would be best suited for occasional use or for a group of people talking into it.
I think this is a great buy. Like to listen to your own music at the office but don’t want to be wearing earbuds all day? Have an old car but tired of the radio? Have a boat, a pool or just like to hear some tunes outside? The Crasher Slim is a great solution for all of those. You can purchase it at a variety or retailers, including Amazon or directly from JLab Audio here.
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