“Though the Rock Steady delivered some pleasant moments here and there, we couldn’t get past the issues with the upper register.”
- Deep Bass
- Superior Stereo separation
- Extremely bright treble
- Lack of features
This product was reviewed as a portion of a bluetooth speaker round-up.
The Rock Steady XS won the award for Deepest Bass. Though none of our mini speakers offered much response below the 300Hz mark, the Rock Steady had some fairly impressive bump for its size in the lower midrange, sending some tangible vibrations through our coffee table from its passive 2-inch subwoofer.
On the flipside, however, the Rock Steady’s extremely bright treble, and almost total lack of midrange created was a turn-off. Even on hip-hop tracks like BIG’s Hypnotize, the sibilant upper register rendered snare snaps and cymbals with an ear fatiguing, brittle tone.
The best feature of the Rock Steady’s sound was its superior stereo separation, thanks to side-firing speakers positioned on either side of its rectangular frame. The wider stereo image offered some welcome space on tracks from artists like Radiohead and the Beatles that was missing from its competitors. Still, though the Rock Steady delivered some pleasant moments here and there, we couldn’t get past the issues with the upper register.
We were also fairly unimpressed with the features of the Rock Steady XS. Though it does have a 10-hour quoted battery life, aux input, and Bluetooth 3.0 compatibility, it doesn’t offer a smart phone charging port, and it was the only unit in the group without a mic for hands free calling. The Rock Steady XS matches the lowest price of the bunch, but for a few extra bucks you can get more from its competition.
Highs:
- Deep Bass
- Superior Stereo separation
Lows:
- Extremely bright treble
- Lack of features
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