Divoom Voombox Outdoor Review

The Divoom Voombox Outdoor is, as its name suggests, an outdoor-ready Bluetooth speaker best suited for those who like rugged pursuits.
When I first laid eyes on the Divoom Voombox Outdoor, I wasn’t that taken with it. The all-black model sent to me for review isn’t that impressive to look at, and with a carrying weight of around 680 grams it’s more or less a house brick of a speaker. It looks somewhat like the Jabra Solemate, but with a little less style.

Part of that heft is part of the appeal of the Divoom Voombox Outdoor, namely that it’s a water resistant Bluetooth speaker. That’s different to waterproof, so you shouldn’t go swimming with it per se. It would sink rapidly, for a start. It’s rated at IPX44, which technically means it should resist sprays but not immersion, so rainshowers shouldn’t impede its playback ability.
The Divoom Voombox Outdoor certainly feels solid, but not necessarily premium in a field where there’s absolutely no shortage of Bluetooth speaker options. Top controls cover power, playback and speakerphone options, and they’re quite simple rubber switches with only moderate response. The Divoom Voombox Outdoor is also relatively unique in that it’s the first speaker for a long while that doesn’t use voice tones for anything. Everything from pairing to powering up is handled with rather harsh beep tones.

One of the definite strengths of the Divoom Voombox Outdoor is the battery life. Divoom rates its 3200mAh battery as being good for up to twelve hours of playback, and my own tests with a paired LG G3 providing the music certainly reflected that. You might pay a bit in heft terms buying the Divoom Voombox Outdoor, but it makes up for it in playback longevity.
Audio quality from its twin 7.5W speakers is adequate without being thrilling. It’s not quite as ordinary as, say, the Dell AD211 Bluetooth Speaker, but it’s still relatively flat sound, especially on bass-heavy tracks. Outdoor audio is always going to have some interesting echo characteristics, but even bringing it indoors showed that it was an average, rather than great speaker.

It’ll also double as a speakerphone when paired with your smartphone, but again that’s all but an expected capability these days. Pickup from its microphone was reported as fine by those we called through the Divoom Voombox Outdoor, which is all you’d really want.
Online pricing for the Divoom Voombox Outdoor runs from around $90-$110, which is quite reasonable for a specifically ruggedised speaker with decent sound quality. You could spend a little more for a really impressive speaker, but they’re rarely built for long-term playback in rougher conditions. If you’re an outdoors type who wants to take your music with you and share it, it’s a good choice.