Music festivals are skyrocketing in popularity with more weekend-long events popping up around the U.S. each year. With 4 day long camping trips becoming more important to our lives, the gear and products we choose to take with us increase in importance too. Power banks are an absolute necessity for avid music festival attendee. Your smartphone needs charged ~4 times a weekend if you choose to leave it on. If you are a member of the press you will need to charge Go Pros, lap tops, camera batteries, cell phones for live social media posts, etc. Almost every campsite at these large festivals that draw over 100,000 people all summer long have some brand of wireless Bluetooth speaker. We are on vacation to listen to good music, so we will do that from the moment we wake up at our camp until 5am when the neighbors make you turn it off. We live in a world that is constantly connected, even if we wish to get away to good music out in the middle of no where for a few days. With music festivals becoming less a fad and more a lifestyle, it’s important to our wallets to purchase quality products at reasonable prices. We were very excited to take a look at the Braven BRV-Bank and Braven 855s portable outdoor speaker to see if it would fit into your budget and lifestyle.
Braven-BRV Bank
The Facts
MSRP $129.99
IPX5 water-resistant rubber exterior means it is protected against water projected at all angles through a 6.3 mm nozzle at a flow rate of 12.5 liters/min at a pressure of 30 kN/m2 for 3 minutes from a distance of 3 meters [Wikipedia]. Meaning a rainstorm shouldn’t be a problem.
PROS
Battle-tested rugged exterior will hold up under tough conditions.
6000 mAh and 8000 mAh option available. For reference, an iPhone 5s battery is ~1570 mAh, meaning you will get 4 full iPhone 5s charges with the 6,000 mAh option, and 5 with the 8,000 mAh.
USB compatible flashlight comes standard and is handy for night time use around your campsite.
1A USB and 2.4A USB ports mean you can charge two devices at once (2 phones, 1 phone + 1 tablet).
CONS
Price. It’s expensive.
Not actually water resistant when you are charging a device and the water-safe seal is open and ports are exposed.
IS IT WORTH IT?
Maybe.
It’s a cool, handy, well-made gadget with a great look and some awesome add-ons, but I can’t say I feel the BRV-Bank’s bells and whistles are worth their $129.99 price tag. The bluetooth + app add-on is sadly more of a marketing technique than it is helpful in my opinion. Not that it’s a complete waste, it will locate your power bank for you if you lost it and the power is on. If it was cheaper, I would have no complaints. If you have money to throw around and a cool-looking, rugged power bank that can withstand a rainfall when nothing is currently charging and the water-safe seal is shut, this is exactly what you’re looking for. A frequenter of the outdoors would like something like this. If you can afford the price tag, you are going to be purchasing a quality product.
Braven 855s Rugged Portable Wireless Speaker
THE FACTS
MSRP $299.99
PROS
Can act as a power bank for charging your cell phone and tablets.
Sturdy. Made from aircraft-grade aluminum.
Battle-tested rugged exterior will hold up under tough conditions.
Good battery life. Will play for ~20 hours.
Daisy chaining allows you to pair several Braven 850 or 855s speakers together for true left and right wireless audio experience.
Volume packs a punch. Good for outdoors.
Sound quality is good. Not great, but good.
Water resistant. Weathering a rainstorm won’t be a problem.
CONS
Price. It’s expensive.
IS IT WORTH IT?
Kind of.
Like the BRV-Bank, The 855s portable speaker is well-built, sturdy, weather-resistant and aesthetically pleasing… but over-priced. It does everything the company says it does, it looks good while it does it… it’s just $300. If this product was cheaper, I would have no complaints. I like this speaker a lot, it would just be hard for me to recommend that a financially middle-class friend pay $300 for it.
