January 14, 2016

Outdoor Tech Buckshot Pro Portable Speaker Review

The Buckshot Pro is a rugged wireless speaker, flashlight, and portable charger built into one.

Photos by Outdoor Tech.

PRICE $79.95 USD
FIND IT AT outdoortechnology.com

The Buckshot Pro is an all-in-one Bluetooth speaker, flashlight and power bank. The big brother to the Buckshot speaker (reviewed here), the Pro ups the sound level and adds features like light and power, making this a very handy device to bring on wilderness outings, bike rides or just around the home. Available in six colors.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS
The Buckshot impressed with its sound quality in a very compact size. The Pro is bigger for sure, but still very portable and includes the handlebar mount for your bike. Yes, you can use the light as a bike light and have the speaker pointing back at you while you ride. The sound quality is quite good, the bass is deeper than the smaller Buckshot and the dynamic response is on par, albeit louder than the former. Bluetooth connection is fast and strong, with little interference or dropped signal in normal use. Including a powerbank means your phone or other USB device can be charged directly from the Buckshot Pro. It’s water and shock resistant with an IPX5 rating and the tactile coating adds to the rugged feel of this device.

WISH LIST
In a direct comparison of sound quality between this and the standard Buckshot, I had to admit I like the sound better on the smaller device, even with the lower volume level. I was surprised by this! The difference is not vast, it just sounded a little crisper to the four pairs of ears I had listening. At exactly twice the price, the Pro overcompensates with all those well-placed features mentioned above.

SUMMARY
Including the powerbank and the light was a stroke of genius. Not only is this a flashlight, but a strobe (to really be seen) and, the best part, a camp-light with high and low settings. The quality of light is really nice, soft and neutral. Lots of control on the device itself for volume, song skip and a built-in microphone for speaker phone capability. OT claims a 10 hour run time, but I seem to find the charge lasts longer than I expect. Speaking of, on the few occasions where my phone ran out of juice in mid-bass-drop, I was able to get a charge off the Buckshot Pro as advertised and keep the music going. There are a number of Bluetooth speakers in and around this price, but usually not with these extra features. The Buckshot Pro is very well designed, stood up to my repeated outdoor testing and has a real cool factor in its relatively unassuming design.

David Niddrie is the Creative Director at Momentum Mag and loves to kick out the jams at any opportunity. @DavidNiddrie.

2 Comments

Josh
January 15, 2016
I have owned a Buckshot now for nearly two years now and although a fun product to use, I do have some modifications I feel could take it from “good” to “great.”
One adjustment I would make centers around the volume (and other) buttons. I would propose making them larger and more tactile. As they stand, they are extremely difficult to feel out to turn the volume up (or use other button features) when riding and nearly impossible to even feel when wearing gloves in the winter. Maybe making them knobby arrows would help because as they stand, touch doesn’t resonate with what the feature is.
- Outdoor Tech
  May 4, 2017
  Hey Josh,
  We made the Buckshot 2.0, You may want to check it out. The buttons are bigger and in a different spot and it’s also louder than the original Buckshot.