Soundcast VG5 Review - Review 2022

Almost of the portable, outdoor-friendly Bluetooth speakers we test are on the fairly minor side—y'all can throw them in a backpack, or perhaps fifty-fifty a glaze pocket. Then there are the offerings from Soundcast. The water-resistant Soundcast VG5, reviewed here, stand 17 inches alpine and packs some serious audio firepower. At $499.99, it's not the priciest outdoor wireless speaker we've tested, but information technology'southward upwards there. The good news is, information technology earns its toll and then some. If you're looking for an outdoor-friendly speaker that will bring seriously thunderous sound to your party, the VG5 is an excellent option, and our Editors' Selection.

Blueprint

The overall design of the VG5 is more functional than anything else. Its matte black contour measures 17.0 by 7.8 past 7.8 inches (HWD) and weighs a hefty eleven.7 pounds. At that place's a hand grip under the height panel, on the dorsum end, that makes carrying it less awkward. Like many outdoor-friendly speakers, it has several rubberized surfaces, some of which concenter quite a bit of dirt and dust. The speaker has an rating of IP64, which ways information technology's completely protected from dust ingress and is splash resistant, but you shouldn't go throwing it in the pool.

The front panel houses an NFC pairing zone, while the angled meridian console is home to a capacitive affect control pad. There's an array of backlit buttons for power, Bluetooth pairing, mute, play/pause, and book upward/downward. At that place are no controls for track navigation, which is a bit of a bummer given the price. The mute push, when held downwardly for v seconds, functions every bit a child lock, and you can program the speaker to motorcar-lock after three minutes of inactivity. About the controls, an LED array provides a visual readout of volume levels and battery life. There'southward no congenital-in speakerphone function.

On the rear panel, near the base, in that location'south a covered expanse that houses a 3.5mm aux input (an audio cable is included), a USB port for service, a pinhole reset button, and the connection for the included Air-conditioning adapter. In add-on to the power adapter and 3.5mm audio cable, the VG5 ships with a generous array of international wall plug adapters for the AC adapter—five in all, and so you should be able to power information technology up only almost anywhere.

Soundcast VG5 inline Internally, the speaker tower houses dual 3-inch Neodymium drivers pushing out audio in a 360-degree array, too equally a single six-inch down-firing woofer. The drivers are bi-amplified and receive 60 watts total. Near the base of the speaker, there are ported slots for air to escape through, allowing for more efficient driver movement.

The VG5 uses Bluetooth 4.2 technology, with support for howdy-definition AAC and aptX codecs. Playback runs through what Soundcast refers to as its own proprietary 24-bit digital bespeak processing (DSP). 2 VG5 speakers can be linked to class a stereo pair.

On a full charge, Soundcast estimates the VG5'due south battery life to be up to 10 hours, but this volition of course vary with your volume levels and your mix of wired and wireless playback. Information technology takes iv to five hours to fully charge the VG5's bombardment.

Functioning

On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the VG5 delivers admittedly thunderous bass response. At height, impressively loud levels, there is no baloney, and at more moderate levels, the bass is notwithstanding quite intense. If you're playing it indoors, the bass will likely vibrate floors and rattle walls. Outdoors, things volition notwithstanding seem quite powerful, but tamed just slightly. The bass response and power don't seem to lessen when removed from the power adapter—the battery pumps out just as much bass depth and volume.

Bill Callahan'southward "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a beter sense of the VG5'southward overall sound signature. The drums on this track audio thunderous and huge through the VG5, and Callahan's baritone vocals are delivered with added richness in the low-mids. The balance of crisp high-mids and highs with the lows is solid—the guitar strums and college-register percussive hits sound vivid and things never get muddy, despite the bass boosting.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the boot drum loop gets plenty loftier-mid presence for its sharp assail to remain punchy and push through the layers of the shell. Possibly we'd prefer it to be a little more than crisp here, but it's certainly never dulled, and the audio is once again powerful. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with slightly less ability than the drum loop itself, which likewise gets enough of added bass depth—this tells us the DSP dials back the sub-bass frequencies somewhat in sure scenarios, while lows and low-mids nevertheless get some serious boosting. The vocals on this track are delivered with fantabulous clarity in the high-mids and highs without sounding overly sibilant.

Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, get an almost unnatural level of bass presence, really pushing the lower annals instrumentation forwards in the mix. The higher register contumely, strings, and vocals aren't overpowered, only the lows definitely vacate their supporting part and take stage front end and center alongside the college-register instruments. In other words, the VG5 isn't for purists. Information technology's primarily ideal for popular music, and less so for orchestral tracks—it's going to exist a crowdpleaser at parties, not a become-to for audiophiles.

Conclusions

The VG5's bigger sibling, the very expensive Soundcast VG7, distorts on some tracks with deep bass at high volumes and is fifty-fifty more than massive than the VG5. The VG5, while not inexpensive, is far more affordable than its sibling, and does not distort, fifty-fifty at summit volumes. It may not be for audiophiles looking for accurate response, but it is definitely ideal for those who want to fill their outdoor parties with music at high volumes, and with plenty of bass depth.

If you're looking for an outdoor speaker with perhaps a little less power—or a lower cost tag—the JBL Charge 3, Bose SoundLink Revolve+, and Ultimate Ears UE Megablast are all outdoor-friendly options that are more than traditionally sized than the VG5. Merely if you demand a weather-resistant animate being to power your next pool party, this model is 1 of the more than powerful options we've tested, delivering on its price and earning our Editors' pick award.