The BRV-XXL/2 Rugged Portable Speaker Boasts An Integrated Subwoofer

Big, Rugged, and Built for Outdoor Use

Braven describes the BRV-XXL/2 as being “Rocky Mountain tested, expedition approved.” This speaker is clearly designed for outdoor use, but you might want to take turns carrying it on an expedition. The BRV-XXL/2 is just under two-feet wide and weighs 17.4 pounds. The design includes a solid handle, and there’s also an adjustable nylon carrying strap in the box.

The design is dominated by expanses of black speaker grill on both faces (audio is 360-degrees), surrounded by black plastic, with rubberized trim on the ends. One end includes membrane-covered controls — plus, an integrated, magnetic bottle opener. On the other end is a rubberized door concealing input ports, and a 2.4A USB Type-A output that can be used to charge a smartphone.

There are four beefy rubber pads on the bottom. They keep the speaker firmly in place, while elevating the bottom surface slightly (more on that shortly). Bluetooth connectivity is rated at up to 100 feet. It stayed connected to my phone from the deck during testing — about 40-50 feet.

Braven says the BRV-XXL/2 is IPX5 water resistant, allowing it to withstand heavy rainfall or splashing for up to 30 minutes. Or a good hosing down if it gets muddy. The company also says the speaker will float if accidentally dropped in water — although it’s not rated for surviving being submerged, so it would need to be fished out pretty quickly. I used it outdoors in snow and rain with no issues. I did not have the opportunity to verify the claim that the massive speaker floats...

Overall, the BRV-XXL/2 feels solidly built and has a reassuringly rugged appearance. Braven covers it with a two-year limited warranty.

Indoor vs. Outdoor Sound Quality

This is likely to be the most controversial section of the review. When you pay almost $699 for a wireless speaker, you are expecting exceptional sound quality. That means wireless tech matters. Speakers in this price range tend to support higher resolution Bluetooth codecs like aptX and AAC. Many offer Wi-Fi connectivity as well, for high resolution audio streaming.

You would probably expect to see woofers and tweeters at this price range as well, for more detailed and nuanced audio. Instead, the BRV-XXL/2 is equipped with four full-range drivers, and they’re positioned for 360-degree audio, so only two are aimed at a listener at a time. The bottom of the speaker does reveal an impressive, downward-firing subwoofer. According to my tape measure, it’s about 5-inches across. And it’s flanked by a pair of passive radiators. Having the chunky pads on the bottom of the speaker gives space for the subwoofer to do its work. Crank the speaker up, and you can feel the air moving down there. And with 100-watts of power on tap, you can really crank it up...

So this is where I make the distinction between indoors and outdoors, because there is a real difference here.

The BRV-XXL/2 sounds pretty good when used indoors under the right conditions. The bass that subwoofer should be pumping out isn’t really evident until the volume is turned up a bit. At 1/4 or so, it begins to make its presence felt, giving a real thump to music. But it never really gets up to the low frequency rumble that it seems it should be capable of. You can adjust bass and treble on the speaker, so there is some room to tweak things to your tastes. The full-range driver array produces decent results, but lacks in detail. If positioned too close to a wall, that 360-degree setup results in two of the drivers firing audio that immediately gets reflected. At high volumes, sound gets muddy.

Battery Life

To be truly portable, a speaker needs to offer decent battery life. The Braven BRV-XXL/2 does quite well on this front.

The battery inside has a capacity of 15,600mAh. That’s enough to power the speaker at about 50% volume for roughly 18 hours. If you turn it up — as it can be very tempting to do, especially outdoors — the clock starts sticking much faster. However, even at high volume, you should be able to play deejay for a full night without having to search for a power outlet. In my use in the back yard (where I was typically listening at a respectably high volume), I was getting roughly 10 hours of play time on a charge.

You can also tap into that battery power to top up a smartphone, although doing so obviously eats into the speaker’s play time.