Divoom Voombox Travel 3 review: A splashproof wireless speaker for a shockingly low price

Divoom's Voombox Travel 3, a Bluetooth speaker that's about the size of a creme-filled doughnut, can be found online for a mere $20 (this exact model doesn't appear to be available in the UK or Australia, but versions of the Travel are available in the UK for around £20).

7.5

Divoom Voombox Travel 3

The Good

The Divoom Voombox 3 is an inexpensive mini Blueototh speaker that's splash- and shock-resistant and sounds decent enough for its low price and small size. It also has speakerphone capabilities and a built-in carabiner for clipping onto a backpack or belt loop.

The Bad

You get what you pay for: It distorts at higher volumes, and the bass is limited.

The Bottom Line

For its ultralow price, the Divoom Voombox Travel 3 delivers more than you'd expect.

No, this little guy didn't blow me away with its sound, but I don't expect that much for 20 bucks, and the Voombox Travel 3 slightly exceeded my low expectations. I noticed an uptick in sound quality from the original Voombox Travel I reviewed a few years back, but it's not a big leap.

Enlarge Image

Like all these micro speakers , it's strongest in the midrange, so it sounds best with your favorite soft rock and acoustic material (it did well enough with several tracks from Sting's "The Last Ship" album, for example). Its 5 watts of power allows it to play reasonably loud -- enough to fill a small hotel room -- but once you start throwing more complicated songs at it, your music will fray around the edges and distort a bit. There's some bass but not a lot. It certainly sounds better than your phone's or tablet's speakers.

You can lay the speaker flat, but I found it sounded better standing vertically and pointed directly at me (I used its built-in carabiner to hang it from a hook). It's splash-resistant and rated to deliver six hours of battery life, which is decent enough for a speaker this size. A microphone is on board for speakerphone calls.

This competes with such speakers as the now-discontinued Logitech X100, which also retails for less than $20 and is similar in shape. The Divoom speaker feels more durable, and -- unlike the old Logitech -- it's splashproof. But I can't say the Divoom sounds better than the X100 or is a definitely better choice than that speaker. It's just a little different -- and both are recommendable at their low price points if a a tiny portable speaker is what you're looking for.