Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore - Wireless Portable Outdoor Bluetooth speaker

I’m super picky about my Bluetooth speakers. I used to have a wonderboom and was happy with it until it finally croaked. I wanted something with long battery life, that was waterproof and decently rugged, and that had good sound quality. I initially bought another wonderboom but hated it! I did tons of research because I needed to replace it with something. I bring my little speaker everywhere and use it all the time. I’m so glad I gave this a shot. It’s perfect for my needs. I expected good sound quality, but I think that the sound quality on the Beosound Explore is *great* when you consider where it’s coming from. Everything is super balanced, and the app is useful if you want to do a bit of “fine tuning” to the EQ. It charges via USB-C. And I love that it comes with a little strap and carabiner. I use that all the time, actually, and it’s super convenient. The design and craftsmanship on the whole is stunning, and something I really appreciate. I feel like the machined aluminum casing probably lends to the sound quality this little thing can produce, but I’m not a sound engineer so this is just speculation. I got this for a steal of a deal on prime day - I think I paid like $130. For that price, I don’t think there’s anything better. If this speaker had a microphone, I think that would take it to the next level and make it worthy of some extra cash, but it’s not something I really need. My only two gripes are the design of the top - it collects water since there is a lip around the edge. The other is that it did sound a little “tinny” once when I probably turned the volume up way too much on one particular song - by way too much, I mean all the way up, like 100%. So unless you frequently do that, you’ll probably never experience it. Update 1 year and 2 months later - the speaker has started failing. It is distorting whatever audio I try to play. I have not done anything crazy with this - it’s never been dropped or exposed to any really extreme environments. Super upset as now I need to find a new portable Bluetooth speaker, and I won’t be going with B&O this time :(