Turn the dial on the Soundboks Rider to 11 and, by the reviewer’s own account at Wired, you start worrying about a noise complaint. Harry Rabinowitz took it outdoors in New York City and could manage full volume only briefly before wondering whether a neighbor would phone 311. Five or six on the dial was plenty when he was alone.
The Rider is the smallest speaker in the Danish brand’s lineup, and it can push out 118 decibels. Wired compares that to a rock concert. Its verdict is mixed in an interesting way: excellent, but overkill for most people, and priced at $600.
Built like a tank
Wired praised the construction without reservation. A steel front grille, silicone rubber corners and a thick plastic cabinet make up the body. In a drop test, Rabinowitz wrote, he was more worried about the speaker breaking his stairs than the stairs breaking the speaker. The battery is replaceable, charges over USB-C and swaps in seconds. The speaker carries an IP66 rating against dust and water.
It weighs just under 6.5 kilograms, which Gearnews put at less than half the weight of the original Soundboks design. Inside is a single 8-inch woofer and a 1.2-inch tweeter, with a maximum of 118 dB against 126 dB for the Soundboks 4. A full charge gives up to 35 hours of playback at moderate volume. The amplification is a dual Texas Instruments Class-D system, 72W and 20W RMS, covering 40 Hz to 20 kHz. Three modes, Bass+, Indoor and Power / Outdoor, adjust the sound to the setting.
Sound, app and annoyances
Loud is not the whole story. Across the volume range the Rider sounded clear and detailed to Wired, with big bass that never swamped the mix, a fit for its understated, PA-style look. The Soundboks app controls nearly everything remotely, including volume, sound profiles, EQ modes and power, and Gearnews notes a custom EQ.
Pairing was another matter. Rabinowitz had to pair, unpair, re-pair and power-cycle several times before the app and speaker would talk, and after a firmware update the app asked him to forget the speaker and start over. He expects such glitches to clear within a month or two of updates, but called it less premium than $600 suggests.
Carrying it is awkward too. There is a single grip on one corner, and the strap costs extra. He would have liked a handle on each side, as on the Sony ULT Field 7.
Unlike the larger Soundboks Mix and Soundboks 4, the Rider is a stand-alone speaker. It has no SKAA TeamUp multi-speaker connection, no speaker stand mount and no XLR input.
Who should pay for it
Wired says it beats most rivals on loudness, durability and battery life, including the Sony Tower 5 and JBL PartyBox Club 120. But for most buyers, cheaper options such as the $500 Sony ULT Field 7 and the $330 JBL PartyBox Encore Essential 2 would do fine. Gearnews, meanwhile, reported the Rider open for pre-order, shipping within two weeks of its September 8 piece.
Sources
- I Am Scared to Go Full Volume on This Portable Party Speaker
- Soundboks Rider: This Compact 8-Inch Speaker Packs a Punch
