Summary – Fugoo Tough Review
The FUGOO Tough is built like a tank and designed primarily to withstand extreme outdoor elements and whatever else you can throw at it. The entire speaker is crafted from fiber-reinforced resin and solid aluminium which makes it extremely durable. The FUGOO Tough is designed to be rugged with IP67 waterproof protection, which means that you can submerge this speaker into water for a depth of up to 1 meter without any issues. It is also specially constructed to deliver true 360 degree sound, with two tweeters, two woofers, two passive radiators and four active drivers. The acoustic drivers are titled upwards at an 8 degree angle to ensure that you can hear the music from any placement. The speaker can produce a total combined output of 95dB SPL-A volume. The FUGOO Tough also comes with a built-in microphone with full-duplex speakerphone functionality to operate Siri, Google Now, or take hands free calls on the go. On the whole, the FUGOO Tough is a speaker designed for heavy duty use and comes highly recommended for outdoor sound applications.
The Pros. The FUGOO Tough is literally one of the toughest speakers we have come across – with a fully waterproof and rugged design. It is the ultimate Bluetooth speaker that can survive virtually anything that you can throw at it, including the outdoor elements.
The Cons. Vocal performances can sound a little muffled or unnatural due to the tightly sealed design of the FUGOO tough speaker. It does not support micro SD card for mp3 playback.
Sound Performance
The FUGOO Tough is one of the rare speakers that can produce great sound out of a small form design. It can reproduce extremely high quality sound throughout the volume range and has a wide frequency response. The bass response on this speaker was amazing – it really does shake your table when streaming rock and bassy music, and you can feel the beats in your music being played out with good precision. We also liked the fact that it produces 360 degree sound which means that you can place it virtually anywhere and it will sound the same in any direction. This is great if you intend to use the speaker for parties or gatherings to play music in open spaces. The sound quality from the FUGOO Tough was spot on – the volume can get really loud and the sound feels accurate and detailed, with crisp highs and very good midrange. The bass is powerful and feels punchy, and does not muddy into the midrange or cloud the rest of the frequencies. We were really surprised at how good the FUGOO Tough sounded straight out of the box and could easily play a wide variety of music genres including country, folk and instrumental without sounding artificial or colored.
Durability
The FUGOO Tough is built for extreme waterproof resistance and can handle virtually anywhere you choose to bring the speaker. It is also shock and dust proof, so you don’t have to worry about handling the speaker under rough conditions. Because of its small form factor, the FUGOO tough is also very portable and perfect for water sports activities – you can take it kayaking, surfing or on a boat and it will work just as well. The entire speaker is rated IP67 which means that you can actually submerge the speaker into water for a depth of 1m for 30 minutes without causing any damage. In terms of durability, the FUGOO Tough ranks sky high among the best waterproof Bluetooth speakers you can find that will definitely last for a long time.
Battery Life
Where the FUGOO Tough stands out, apart from its unique design, is the battery life. The battery life lasts an amazing 40 hours of playtime on a single charge, which is the longest time ever measured for a portable waterproof speaker. You can literally take this speaker out for a camping trip for days and never run out of battery. The Bluetooth connectivity on the FUGOO was also very stable and consistent; we did not experience any dips in sound quality while paired with the speaker. The only downside is that our mobile device ran out of battery before the FUGOO Tough. The speaker does not support micro SD card, which would have come in handy to play music without any Bluetooth connection.
The Verdict?
You simply cannot go wrong with the FUGOO Tough if you need a heavy duty speaker – it is hands down an incredibly durable speaker with long lasting battery life of 40 hours of continuous music playtime. It produces phenomenal sound performance that will literally blow you away; the FUGOO Tough redefined the sound quality we could expect from a small form speaker. The highs and mids were crisp and clear, with very good bass response that literally shook the table when played at maximum volume. The speaker does not distort one bit at high volumes, which is a very good thing. The entire speaker is IP67 waterproof which means that you can submerge it to a depth of 1m for 30 minutes without damaging the speaker. It is a really solid Bluetooth speaker we have tested that will make a great companion for water sports and water based activities, and definitely delivers exceptional value for what you pay for.
Be sure to check out our top picks for the loudest Bluetooth speakers and best outdoor Bluetooth speakers that are designed to deliver high quality audio performance both indoors and outdoors.