Whether you’re partying at the beach, pulling weeds in your garden, or tailgating, you’ll crave music, and the Aiwa Exos-9 portable Bluetooth speaker is among the finest options out there.
It pumps out 200 watts of powerful, continuous stereo sound thanks to its five drivers which include a 6.5″ dual-voice subwoofer. The product is among the loudest Bluetooth speakers the manufacturer produces (actually the loudest).
Features
- Weight: 13 pounds
- Dimensions: 7.5″ x 11.7″ x 19.4″
- 5-band adjustable graphic equalizer +4 presets
- Up to 10 hours of battery life
- Power: 200 watts
- 5 powered speaker drivers: One 6.5″ subwoofer
- Two 1″ silk dome tweeters
- Two neodymium midrange woofers
- Frequency: 40kHz to 20kHz
- Bluetooth: 50 feet radius, A2DP
- Wireless NFC pairing
- Handle: easy to carry
- Playback controls
- Max SPL: 100 dB
- 3.5mm aux. input
- Class-D bi-amplification
- A micro USB port for firmware updates
- A USB port for charging
- Supported codecs: AAC, APTX, and SBC
- Touch-sensitive control panel + LCD screen
- Removable grille to protect your drivers
- 1-year limited warranty
Design
At only 13 lbs., the Aiwa Exos-9 is quite light. It also features a carrying handle at the top of its rear panel. Moving it to and from your car’s trunk will always be a breeze.
The Aiwa Exos-9 is sort of like a “new school” boombox. It combines the familiarity of easily recognizable design with the awesomeness of modern engineering. Whether you’re a teen or much older, you’ll love this speaker.
The unit arrives with a removable aluminum grille that serves to protect the system’s 5 drivers. You can leave the grille on during use or remove it.
On the front side (at the top), the unit features an LCD screen. There’s also a volume knob just next to the LCD screen which even a visually challenged person won’t miss.
At the back of this portable Bluetooth speaker, you’ll find input ports and a battery compartment. There’s also a large bass reflex port.
You’ll also see the power switch and an AC input. In addition, there’s an aux input so you can pair your speaker with various audio sources.
It gets better: there’s a USB port so charging your mobile or tablet won’t be a problem. Finally, you’ll get a micro USB port that supports firmware updates.
Sound Performance
The Aiwa Exos-9 packs a hefty punch in the sound quality and loudness department. Is it the loudest speaker in the world? Probably not, but it’s certainly one of the loudest Bluetooth speakers on the market.
In fact, pairing two speakers like these ones easily get you noticed by your neighbors. The local authorities might also show up and ask a few questions!
People buy speakers for their sound, and this product doesn’t disappoint. It pumps out powerful, punchy, but still clear bass. The mids are surprisingly detailed and the highs are amazingly clear. However, that only happens when the equalizer stays turned off.
Want to add a bit of bass or make the midrange distinct? No worries. Tinker a little with the product’s 5-band adjustable equalizer and 4 presets. You’ll easily crank out the sound you crave.
Here’s something I really like about this speaker. Even at the highest volume and deepest bass, the mids never get drowned out. Best of all, there’s very little distortion.
Sound Test Outdoors
Combine Two Speakers for Louder Sound
Want louder sound for a once-in-a-lifetime party? Simply bring together two Aiwa Exos-9 speakers, and everyone at the party will go wild. The unit’s Link buttons (found on the speaker) make that possible. Make sure to place the two speakers not more than 20 feet away.
The Link buttons enable you to link up your speakers easily, quickly, and wirelessly. The paired speakers can do either of two things. You can have them play the same audio for louder sound. Or, you can have them unite into a wonderful stereo pair. One of them in such an arrangement would play the left and the other one the right.
But how do I pair up the speakers? Simply press the Link button on one speaker and then quickly press the one on the second speaker. Then, kick the party off. And believe me, it does get loud.
It’s not possible to fire up this speaker and not have someone inch closer to ask where you bought it! Who wants to repeat the same boring story every time they have a party?
Ruggedness
Is the speaker rugged? Yes, but not as much. A textured plastic material is used to construct the speaker’s external parts such as the back, sides, and top.
Now given the material used, you’ll have to be careful while handling the speaker. Dropping it certainly isn’t a good idea.
But the toughness of the material allows you to haul the product around without any issue. In addition, the product comes with two protrusions (feet) growing out from its bottom. The feet keep the speaker stable throughout the party.
Battery Life
The unit delivers up to 10 hours of continuous sound thanks to its rechargeable lithium-ion battery. But if you’re playing at max volume while streaming music via Bluetooth, don’t expect 10 hours of playtime.
Instead, expect something like 6 hours. Good news: you can always buy Aiwa’s18+ hour battery. The battery makes sure you won’t have to suddenly terminate your beach party.
Pros
- Lots of useful features
- Loud sound and deep, rich bass
- Easy to pair
- Relatively cheap
- Bluetooth connectivity
Cons
- Not waterproof
- Control buttons sometimes not sensitive
- You’ll keep marketing the product for free because everyone will ask you about this Bluetooth speaker
The buttons on the control panel may sometimes misbehave. That’s something to keep in mind as you use the product. But touching twice solves the problem. Still, that’s a bit of a bummer and seems out of sync with the product’s overall awesomeness.
What’s in the Box
- Battery pack
- Bluetooth portable speaker
- AC power cable
- A stereo minijack cable
- A quick user’s guide
Warranty
The speaker comes with a 1-year limited warranty. Good news: Aiwa will extend the warranty to up to 2 years if you make a request. To do that, you’ll have to register your speaker with the manufacturer here.
Conclusion
If you derive lots of fun from throwing things into water, don’t buy the Aiwa Exos-9! Its IP rating for water is 0, so keep it away from moisture.
Buy the Aiwa Exos-9 if you desire deep, rich bass with crystal clear highs and prominent midranges. Given the price, the product is arguably the best loud Bluetooth speaker on the market.