Intro:
In short, I'm unfolding why this Bluetooth speaker/alarm clock/FM radio sucks and is a nightmare to use.
Sound:
The sound itself is just okay - nothing remarkable, but luckily not too horrible either. Of course you can't expect any real bass extension due to the small size and the result is rather tinny/canny, even reminiscent of a typical radio alarm clock or a bathroom radio in the affordable price segment, although not necessarily that bad.
There's some warmth and an emphasis on the fundamentals, but you can't expect any actual bass. Not even upper bass. The loudspeaker simply rolls off too early for that.
All in all, the presentation seems to be a bit midrange-focused, although not overly mid-dominant.
A bit better than some cheap kitchen radios and radio alarm clocks I know, but my old TDK Trek Micro has the better resolution in comparison, sounds cleaner and has a bit more extension (however its passive radiator can sometimes hit the grille at higher volume and at very low frequencies).
The sound can still be described as usable for a radio alarm clock as long as one doesn't have high standards. So it doesn't suck completely in relation to the price, but it does suck somewhat.
All negative Aspects:
But now to the annoying things that really need to and improved in order to make the speaker usable:
- The jingle when switching on and the double beep when changing the mode (FM and Bluetooth) is very loud and cannot be reduced.
- The volume of the radio mode is not remembered when switching to Bluetooth mode and back and is quite high. Even this initial volume cannot be changed/saved. So you are forced to decrease the volume every time you are listening to the radio.
- The radio station scan is done automatically, as is the storage of the individual stations. A manual search or a change of the station memory is not possible. Since the speaker does not recognise some stations at all in my region and sometimes stores noise incorrectly as a station, this is obviously quite annoying.
- The stations can only be changed by pressing the volume keys for a long time. The time that passes before the station is changed is simply too long.
- If the antenna is not unspooled, the radio alarm clock's stand is wobbly.
- The loudspeaker is not really a real "radio alarm clock", because you cannot set a radio station to wake you up. Instead, it is only possible to create an "Alarm" folder on a Micro SD card and play its content.
- The volume of the alarm melody (standard melody: dull jingle with birds chirping) cannot be changed and is very high.
- A pure display of the time without being in any mode (USB-DAC, Bluetooth, 3.5 mm Aux In, Micro SD, FM-Radio) is not possible.
Conclusion:
Build quality is good for the price and it doesn't look too cheap. The sound is also okay for the price and size, at least for those who don't have high demands. However, everything else is implemented so poorly that the Reacher SoundCube speaker is quite unusable. Definitely not worth the money.