From the company's about us page:
Founded in 1988, VisionTek remains true to its suburban Chicago roots with offices in East Dundee and Schaumburg, allowing Tek Support, our warehouse crew, and our corporate team to work together efficiently. VisionTek’s rich history shaped the company into what it is today. Currently, VisionTek is focused on expansion of new products to diversify, compliment, and balance our core AMD product lines. VisionTek continues to offer state-of-the-art graphics cards, memory, and solid state drives, but has expanded the product offering to better serve the computing industry. The VisionTek product line now includes cables and adapters, power supplies, mini keyboards, gaming network cards, mobile accessories, and more. VisionTek branded products can be found at major retailers, distributors, PC system builders, and e-commerce sites across North America and in parts of Europe.
Hardware and Features
The SoundTube PRO features left and right channel stereo speakers, as well as a built in active bass. The speaker is Bluetooth and NFC-enabled for quick and easy pairing and has a transmission distance of 30 feet with an unobstructed line of sight. Battery life is listed between 6 to 8 hours with a charging time of 4 to 5 hours. Max sound level is 80dB. The speaker stands just under 191mm tall and weighs 560g.
Design
Let's kick things off with a look at the overall design of the SoundTube PRO by VisionTek.
What appears to be a regular power button is actually a multi-functional switch that allows you to power up and down the speaker, play and pause music and answer phone calls. That's right, thanks to the built in microphone, you can instantly take calls through the speaker at the touch of a button. On the opposite side of the speaker, nestled between two thin rubber feet, you will find a micro USB port for charging and a 3.5mm auxiliary jack to physically connect your device to the speaker. The bottom of the speaker also has a rubber base for those of you that prefer to stand the speaker upright. There is an extremely handy touch panel on the top of the speaker that allows you to swipe left or right to listen to the next (or previous) song without ever having to touch your connected device. Directly under the touch panel is a rotating bezel that acts as the volume control for the speaker.
Weighing in at just over a pound, the SoundTube PRO feels very solid without being awkward or cumbersome. The speaker is 7.5" tall and 3" wide with a rubberized plastic frame and features gray swappable fabric speaker panels that, as the name implies, can be easily swapped for optional red and black panels (sold separately). So, while most speakers these days come in different colors, once you settle on a color, there is no going back. If you want to change colors or damage your speaker cover, you are forced to buy a whole new speaker. VisionTek had the foresight to design the SoundTube PRO with removable speaker panels so that, if you did want to change the color of your speaker or one becomes damaged, you could simply purchase one of their inexpensive speaker covers that come in a variety of colors.
Another benefit of the removable speaker covers is that, not only do they provide added protection for the device itself, the covers are also washable. Seriously, who needs to worry about wimpy carrying cases when you can use your device as intended and clean the panels as needed.
Performance
We found the company's claims that you can get up to eight hours of play time on a single charge to be pretty accurate. We used the speaker with the volume at varying levels for seven and a half hours before the unit needed to be recharged. Using the Micro USB cable that came with the SoundTube PRO, the battery was fully recharged in just over four hours on a USB 3.0 connection.
During practical testing, we discovered that, with a clear line of sight, we could easily travel thirty feet or more from the iPhone 7 Plus we used for testing without signal interruption. Not only that, it was even possible to get clear reception at just over twenty five feet with two rooms between the source audio and the speaker.
Another great feature of the SoundTube PRO is that the unit has an IPX4 water resistance rating. Those of you unfamiliar with Ingress Protection standards, it is basically a rating system that lets you know what the water resistant capabilities are of a device like the SoundTube PRO. With an IPX4 rating, this unit can sustain a constant splash of water from any direction for up to five minutes and keep dust particles larger that 1mm from entering the case.
Rated at 80dB, the SoundTube PRO is capable of playing music surprisingly loud, especially considering the size of the speaker. For every day use, you can easily fill a medium to large room with music without having to crank it all the way up. When you crank up the volume you could easily have a large room filled with a dozen or so people without drowning out the music.
Portability is another huge plus. Due to its unique design, this speaker can be carried / stowed anywhere you can fit an energy drink or soda. Backpack? Check! Laptop bag? Check! Hoodie pocket? Check! Bicycle drink holder? Check! Baby stroller? Check!
Another great aspect of the design of the SoundTube PRO is something commonly overlooked by other Bluetooth speaker manufacturers; the automobile. Most people don't think about using a Bluetooth speaker in their car but there is a huge community of classic car owners out there that can really benefit from the design of the SoundTube PRO. Many of us in the collector car community are unwilling to cut up our classic vehicles to install aftermarket stereos so we are faced with very limited options. Thanks to the SoundTube PRO, all you need is a single cup holder and now you have a great sounding system in your car that can be controlled with the swipe of a finger and allows you to take calls hands-free while you are driving with the touch of a button.
Why are we placing so much emphasis on the "futuristic beverage can" design? Because, pure and simple, it's just plain genius. Try putting a pill shaped speaker like the UE Boom 2 and the Beats Pill in any of the places we just outlined above. It just doesn't work. The same goes for propping up your tablet on a pill shaped device, it just rolls off. Rectangular speakers are good for using on a table or shelf but they don't go well with pockets, cup holders, or dash boards and they don't serve well as tablet props either. Something that isn't discussed much when it comes to Bluetooth speakers is the "feel" of the device in relation to design and functionality. Operating the SoundTube PRO is effortless and it feels natural sitting in a cup holder. You can easily access the volume ring while driving and the touch screen on the top makes selecting the next song effortless without ever having to take your eyes of the road.
Sound Quality
Although sound quality is a bit subjective, we can state with confidence that the SoundTube PRO produces cleaner, crisper audio and has better bass than most portable Bluetooth speakers we've tested to date. We used the UE Boom 2 and a Beats Pill for comparison purposes and, unless you are an extreme audiophile, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the three devices. In fact, were you blindfolded, I doubt you could tell which Bluetooth speaker you were listening to. The kicker is that both of the aforementioned speakers cost up to twice as much and lack the portability options of the SoundTube PRO.
Conclusion
Overall, we are extremely impressed with the SoundTube PRO. The build quality is top-notch and it is obvious that an incredible amount of thought went into the design of this product. Everything from the button layout and the volume control ring, to the touch control panel on the top make this speaker extremely user-friendly. The ease of use is second to none and it stands head and shoulders above anything else on the market in its price category. If we could ask for one thing, we would like to see is more color options for the speaker covers, maybe something along the lines of blue, pink, yellow and orange.
The SoundTube PRO is available directly from the VisionTek website for $99.99, Amazon for $89.99 with free shipping, Best Buy for $99.99 with free shipping and Jet.com for $99.99.