UrbanistaMalibu Small Solar Bluetooth Speaker, 20W Wireless Portable Speaker, Infinite Playtime, IP67 Waterproof Speaker for Outdoor, Travel, Dual Pairing Speakers for iPhone, Samsung & More, Grey

The Urbanista Malibu Bluetooth Speaker is fairly compact, though heavier than most portable blue tooth speakers, likely due to its' large (rechargeable via solar or electric) battery. Thew sound is better than most, much better. I say this as someone who has tried dozens of blue tooth speakers, and who is fairly particular. It is not audiophile sound, lacking lossless blue tooth codecs, but it is very good sound. The sound is fairly balanced with a rich (but not pounding) bass. I was actually fairly surprised by the sound quality (not having expected such quality from a brand I did not know).... however, the Urabanista is designed in Sweden, and I have to say that I have discovered a number of excellent audio products, and new brands out of Sweden in the past year. This just adds to my reason to consider Swedish audio seriously going forward.Living in the Hawaiian rain forest I appreciate that it is waterproof. Of course that does make solar charging more of a challenge. but we do get nice days. For a portable speaker, the availability of solar charging is a real plus, because when you are on the road, at the beach, in a park.... the sun is typically more available than an outlet, and it keeps the speaker powered longer. It also charge via a standard usb cable which is convenient at home.Personally I think the single best reason to buy this speaker is the sound quality... but then when I review audio equipment that is always my top concern. While it is a bit more expensive than average, there are not many spweakers in the price range which compete, in terms of sound quality.It is very simple to use, but less flexible than some (not offering an sd card slot or aux in) but blue tooth connection was very easy, and the connection solid/ stable. The controls too are simple, but in black on black, not so easy to see. Fortunately most can also be accessed from your phone/ tablet/ audio player (I tested this with a Surfans, shown for size/ scale) and it connected without a hitch. That said, Digital audio players can be added to the list of devices it works with, which is good to know because some premier brands will only connect to a phone, and using a lossless audio payer typically gets you better sound quality. This does seems to be a brand which takes sound quality seriously.

The Malibu speaker has a lot going for it. It is very well designed and is aesthetically pleasing - it is somehow simultaneously rugged and refined. It puts out a good amount of sound for its size (see first pic with water bottle for scale) and is fairly lightweight. That, alongside an outstanding battery life (30 hours is pretty accurate for medium to low volume) makes it a great option for trips. It is also very tough and manages a variety of environmental conditions very well. The enclosure is made of a tough rubberized material that makes it very shock resistant, and the non-slip feet give it traction on almost any surface. The fact that it is so water resistant is also a big plus; you can easily wash it off in the sink if it’s got mud or dirt or anything on it.That said, there are a few things that keep this from being a 5-star product. First, the sound quality is only ok. I’m not really an audiophile, but I can definitely notice a difference in depth of sound between this and my HomePod or my old Bose Soundlink speaker. It seems to be a bit “tinny” and just doesn’t sound as full as other speakers of similar size. However, you can mitigate this a bit by downloading the Urbanista Audio app. It includes an EQ adjuster that is easily manageable and you can save custom settings. Just a few minutes of tinkering on my end resulted in a vast improvement in audio quality for me. Also, charging is weird. It does not seem to like higher wattage chargers, and it’s very hard to get an accurate idea of how much battery is remaining. There’s a little light on the back of the device, but it only goes amber if it’s below 30 percent. It could really benefit from being able to speak the battery percentage like other speakers do. It does sound a low battery tone when around 20% or so, and it does this every few minutes until you charge it. Far as I can tell, there’s no way to turn that off and it is quite annoying. I’d much rather hear a “battery 20%, battery 10%,” etc. just a couple times than that obnoxious reminder that gets in the way of my music. The app does display battery percentage, but it is only in increments of 10% and the app has a tendency to disconnect. Finally, the solar function is cool but, in my experience, doesn’t add a ton of functionality. It is an impressive feat of engineering for sure - the solar panel is just as rugged as the rest of the speaker and it doesn’t detract from the design at all. But, it just doesn’t help much with the battery. I had it outside in direct sunlight (few no clouds) for 5 hours and it only added about 45 min of playtime. See the screenshots attached. It went to “good” at the end of the day because the sun started going down. Based on that experience, it’s less of a solar charger and more of a battery extender (if anything).Overall, I’d say this is still a value, but it has a long way to go before I’d call it a 5 star product. There are a lot of things to like, but the “just ok” sound quality and the mediocre solar functionality were the big negatives for me. If you’re looking for a rugged, portable, long-lasting speaker for the outdoors, though, it’s hard to beat.

The Urbanista Malibu is a relatively small speaker that has some really cool features. I would say it's more of a medium sized due to the weight. It has a carry strap so it's portable and you can use this in many places. It has a waterproof rating so you can technically drop this in the water and it would be fine. The sound is loud, but sound quality is just okay. I'm okay with that since this is so portable and I don't really need to worry about it getting wet. What's really cool is that the battery lasts pretty long. It has some technology that charges it when it is under sunlight, whether indoor or outdoor. I'm not sure how fast this works, but it seems to work. It's really cool either way since I don't have another device with a self charging feature. Overall, slightly pricey, but with waterproofing and a slow trickle charge from sunlight, it's pretty decent.

Sehr guter Lautsprecher für unterwegs. Er hat auch eine vernünftige Tonqualität. Empfehlenswert

Si tratta di un altoparlante bluetooth wireless di dimensioni contenute, prodotto dall’azienda svedese Urbanista, specializzata nella produzione di dispositivi audio, tra cui cuffie, auricolari e altoparlanti, alcuni dei quali alimentati anche da energia solare attraverso un piccolo pannello fotovoltaico collocato sul dispositivo, come nel caso di questo modello Malibù.Si tratta di un altoparlante portatile ben rifinito e robusto, realizzato utilizzando in parte plastica e altri materiali riciclati. La forma è tondeggiante con i bordi arrotondati in gomma, le dimensioni contenute di 14.5 x 14.5 x 6.5 cm e il peso di circa 1 kg, consentono di trasportalo agevolmente servendosi di un pratico e robusto laccetto.Il dispositivo è impermeabile, il livello di protezione è IP67 quindi in grado di resistere all’acqua e alla polvere, consentendo di utilizzarlo tranquillamente all’aperto anche in condizioni climatiche e ambientali non ottimali, come in spiaggia senza doversi preoccupare che sabbia o polvere possano danneggiarlo. Nella parte superiore è presente un piccolo pannello fotovoltaico capace di contribuire alla ricarica della batteria attraverso la luce solare o la luce artificiale presente nelle abitazioni. In questo modo è possibile estendere l’autonomia della batteria oltre alla capacità nominale di circa 20 ore. Gli altoparlanti sono disposti a 360 gradi attorno al dispositivo per assicurare una migliore diffusione del suono. Mentre i comandi sono collocati sul bordo superiore e consentono di abbassare e alzare il volume, riprodurre e mettere in pausa, mentre sul retro sono presente la porta USB di tipo C per la ricarica della batteria e un tasto di accensione, oltre al già citato cordino per il trasporto.Per un maggior controllo della cassa è necessario l’utilizzo della semplice app Urbanista, disponibile sia per dispositivi Android che iOS. L’app è ben realizzata, intuitiva e facile da utilizzare, è in grado di fornire informazioni riguardanti il livello istantaneo di ricarica ottenuta attraverso il pannello fotovoltaico e il livello di carica della batteria interna. Ma oltre a questo è possibile impostare e modificare uno dei 4 programmi presenti nell’equalizzatore per adattarli alle proprie preferenze.Considerando le dimensioni, la potenza della cassa è discreta, sono 20 Watt (2 x 10 watt) che potrebbero sembrare pochi, ma sono più che sufficiente per un dispositivo portatile di questo tipo e la qualità del suono è molto buona. Ho apprezzato molto l’impegno dell’azienda per la sostenibilità ambientale, la presenza delle celle solari oltre a permettere di ridurre i costi di ricarica permette di aumentare l’autonomia della batteria.

Già dall'imballo si percepisce la qualità del prodotto. All'interno, oltre la cassa, troviamo la classica manualistica.Ero molto entusiasta nel provare questa cassa BLUETOOTH (ver. 5.2), prodotta dalla Urbanista, azienda svedese.Con un PESO di circa 700 g, è realizzata con materiali riciclati, ha dei profili gommati, è resistente all'acqua e alla polvere (IP67), può essere sommersa fino ad 1 metro per 30 minuti. Vanta un CINTURINO da polso intrecciato, quindi è portatile, peccato non sia anche tascabile, è infatti larga circa 15 cm.Sul fronte sono posti i TASTI con icone in rilievo, funzionanti ed utili se non disponiamo dell'applicazione.Fondamentale quindi, è l'utilizzo dell'app URBANISTA AUDIO, che consente di aggiornare il firmware, impostare l'equalizzatore, monitorare il livello della batteria, scegliere la modalità "risparmio energetico" e spegnerla da remoto.Vanta una BATTERIA da 1800 mAh, ma arriva con metà dell'autonomia. La RICARICA è lenta, avviene tramite presa USB-C posta sul retro, oppure tramite celle solari che consentono di ricaricarla con la luce, sia interna che esterna. Un ciclo completo conferisce circa 20 ore di autonomia.L'ACCOPPIAMENTO con lo smartphone è rapido e stabile con il nome "Urbanista Malibu", il ritardo è pressoché assente, inoltre la funzione STEREO LINK, consente di accoppiare 2 altoparlanti Malibu per raddoppiare la potenza con effetto stereo.Nell'ASCOLTO mi è piaciuta, soprattutto nei BASSI che prediligo, merito del boost. Buoni i MEDI, come gli ALTI, anche se poveri di dettagli. Poca distorsione nelle tonalità alte, senza fastidiose compressioni.Peccato non possa riprodurre audio in alta risoluzione e manchi della codifica audio lossless.La CONFORMAZIONE di questo altoparlante, munito di 2 diffusori da 10 W, consente di estendere il suono a 360°, anche se all'aria aperta, tende a perdersi un po, il che spinge l'utente ad acquistarne un secondo per raddoppiare la potenza sonora.In CONCLUSIONE, mi è piaciuta molto anche come oggetto di arredo, ricorda molto i dispositivi intelligenti di Alexa, anche se il logo è molto invadente. Non COSTA poco, ma il prodotto è molto funzionale, ottimo come idea regalo.

Noch vor dem Auspacken fällt auf, das ist was hochwertiges. Das Auspacken erinnert direkt an das Erlebnis wenn man ein Apple Produkt auspackt, hier hat sich der Hersteller wirklich Gedanken gemacht. Alles ist sehr solide gefertigt, von der Verpackung bis zum Produkt. Die Materialien wirken sehr hochwertig und es klappert nichts. In dieser Preisklasse zwar nicht überraschend aber (leider) auch keine Selbstverständlichkeit.Der Lautsprecher kann zwar via USB C geladen werden, aber dank Solarzellen ist das nur eine Option. Daher ist im Lieferumfang auch neben einer Kurzanleitung und den Lautsprecher kein Kabel enthalten.Ich konnte den Lautsprecher bei bewölktem Himmel auf der Fensterbank voll laden, und seitdem habe ich mir keine Gedanken machen müssen wo er liegt, er ist einfach immer ausreichend geladen. Beeindruckend. Höhen wirken angenehm klar, und tiefen sind sehr solide. Perfekt für einen Grillabend oder die Party im Park oder am See. Das Ganze steckt in einem relativ kompakten Gehäuse und wiegt durchaus etwas.Die Klangqualität ist ab Werk beeindruckend, lässt sich aber auf Wunsch auch via Equalizer und Smartphone App einstellen. hier lässt sich auch der Akkustand abfragen und weitere Einstellungen wie Firmwareupdates vornehmen.Der Lautsprecher ist mit rund 150€ nicht billig, angesichts der überragenden Qualität und dem sehr cleveren Ladesystem aber jeden Cent wert. Von mir gibt es eine klar Kaufempfehlung besonders für Leute die viel draußen unterwegs sind.

This speaker is brilliant! I've been using it all day today and playing as many different genres of music as can think of. It's handled the bass well and then in the app I've used bass boost for even more chunky sound. Treble has been crisp and clear and vocals sound brilliant. The app is really good for tweaking the levels for various songs but if you don't fancy it then the presets do a pretty good job of it. I'm finding the sound fills the room just as well as my Sonos speakers.I'm also really impressed with the build quality. It feels great in the hand and looks contemporary sat on my work desk with its chunky curves. It's sturdy and can see how it is great for outdoors.I like the sound of the powerfoyle and I hope that as it's sat in the conservatory on my desk it will just keep topped up with solar power.All in all this is an awesome speaker!