[Review] JLab’s ‘The Crasher’ Bluetooth speaker; Giving Jambox a run for its Money

Bluetooth speakers are one of those products that I just can’t ever seem to pull my self away from. There are so many on the market that the choice is hard to ever just have one around. Some have additional features such as external battery pack charging abilities. Others Have better bass, while some leave you wondering if you were better off just using headphones or – gulp – your devices built-in speaker. We have shared a number of great speakers over the years and as time moves forward, technology improves and so does the quality of the device along with the sound.

JLab isn’t a new company by any means. They have been around for quite sometime. They were mainly focused on in-ear audio solutions but have branched out in the past few years. Releasing some new over the head headphones, waterproof MP3 player headphones and now a line of Bluetooth speakers called “The Crasher”. The speaker comes with a great little tag line on the box, “Hook it up. Rock it out.” When you first open it they added a second one that made us laugh a little, ” Personal Porta-Party.” Yes, I thought it said Porta Potty at first too.

The first thing you might notice is the design of the speaker. When I first opened the box I though of the Braven 600. Simply because it was a rectangular speaker unit with a metal housing and plastic end pieces. In all actuality they have a lot in common.

Lets talk technical specs first so we can get those out-of-the-way.

The Crasher

• 2 Drivers & Rear Passive Subwoofer
  
• 90dB Volume Max
• Full Size USB Port
• Speaker Phone with Mic
• 1,500 mAh Battery, 18 hours (Medium Volume)
• BT2.1 30ft Range
• Aux Connection
• On/Off Switch
• 4 LED power lights
• Micro USB charging port
• Volume controls
• Phone call controls
• Bluetooth pairing button

That is a pretty long list.

As for what you get in the box.

• The Crasher Bluetooth speaker (4 color variations to choose from)
• Cloth carrying bag
• Wall plug
• USB to Micro USB charging Cable
• 3.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable

The look of the speaker will depend on the color choice you make. They have your more traditional Midnight Black / Gunmetal coloring, the Air Aluminum / White one you see here, Sport Yellow / Gray and Miami Purple / Mint. The construction of The Crasher is outsanding. The all aluminum body gives you a peace of mind that it won’t break easily. The end caps where all your controls, pots and switches are house is made of plastic, but not that terribly cheap feeling plastic. It is definitely a solid brick of speaker. On the bottom you find two small rubberized strips to help it sit in one place and also prevent it from scratching any surfaces.

 

As for function, it works. No issues turning it on, connecting via Bluetooth or AUX cable and adjusting volume. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to operate a Bluetooth device, but there have been some in the past that have certain lights to look for and things. This was just a simple press and hold and off we go.

The sound was pretty great as well. It offered a round balance of mids, highs and lows with nothing out powering the other. The bass was definitely present, but I didn’t notice the usual distortion that tends to happen with various music styles. I ran through my usual mix of bands to hear a variety of genres pump through it. All sounded clean and clear and easily filled my garage with sound.

The JLab team put The Crasher to the test and did a comparison video against the Jambox by Jawbone. Take a look and listen for yourself.

 

You can tell the difference immediately. The Crasher doesn’t have the washed out over bass driven sound to it.  At half the price of a Jawbone and with the larger battery inside along with the charging port for your various devices, it is hard to not like this rocking little Bluetooth speaker. If it looks and sounds like something you are after, then by all means hit up the Amazon links below to pick one up. You can also visit JLabAudio.com for more information, other products and to order through them if you wish.