Hands-on: Outdoor Technology Turtle Shell Bluetooth boom box (photos)

The Turtle Shell adheres to IP5X standards, which means it's built double-tough to keep away dust, grime, water, and whatever else you'll encounter on the road.

OT recommends you connect a Bluetooth-enabled device for wireless playback, but you can also listen from a wired source using a 3.5mm audio cable plugged into the port on the side.

Side-mounted controls double as volume buttons: quick taps for volume, longer holds to change tracks.

A threaded tripod mount on the bottom lets you attach the Turtle Shell to almost anything--like a Joby GorillaPod.

I had a chance to briefly listen to some tracks streamed wirelessly from the crew's demo unit, and while their sound engineers are still tweaking the final audio specs, my first impression is that the dual drivers and subwoofer certainly offer worthy competition for existing portable Bluetooth speakers.