XLEADER [Smart Touch] Mini Bluetooth Speaker SoundAngel A8 (3rd Gen) Premium Rose Gold with Portable Waterproof Case Mic TF Card Aux, for iPhone iPad Shower Electronic Christmas Xmas Gifts

I am enjoying my XLeader Bluetooth Speaker. My main purpose for ordering this speaker was to use in the bathroom while the shower is running. I like to listen to Audible Audio Books and my Bible memory verses while the shower is on. The speaker is not waterproof, but I didn’t need it to be. I place my speaker on the back ledge of the tub, away from the water end, and it does fine there. I have also hung it from the back side of the shower curtain ring, and it works great there, too. The sound is very clear and the volume is strong, and more than I need for my purpose.This speaker comes with a cute, round case, and includes a charging cable and an auxiliary cord to connect it to my iPad, if desired. I find the charge holds good and long on this little speaker. The color of the speaker is a metallic, rosegold pink, and the round speaker case is a soft pink. I like that I can drop it in my backpack without worrying about banging up the speaker, or scratching it. And in this cord-filled world, it is great to have at least one device with its cord safely stored with it.One negative point for me is that when using my Bible Memory App, there is a pause while the app switches from one verse to the next. When this happens, the speaker must pause, or something, because I always lose the first two or three words of the next verse as it starts up. This makes it so I can not effectively use this speaker for Memory verses. At first I thought there was something wrong with the speaker, but no, it works flawlessly for music and Audio books, so it has to be this particular app (VerseLocker) that it is not compatible with. I still find it a very useful and enjoyable speaker and will keep it for all of my other speaker uses. I do recommend this speaker and case.

Have not had it long, but it is so much easier to use than other speakers like this that I had to return. I got it to play music from a micro SD card. Other speakers had multi-function buttons that had to be pressed a certain number of times or hold down for a different length of time for different functions and mode, and it was tedious or impossible for me to get out of bluetooth mode. This one automatically defaults to SD card if one is inserted, the controls are intuitive, and the volume, pause, and track skip buttons are conveniently located on top Great sound for such a compact little speaker too. The rubber pads on the bottom keep it securely on the table. The included case is an added bonus for no extra cost relative to similar speakers too!

Update #3 from 08/03/21:Wasn't aware that company refunded my full purchase amount due to the issues I ran into. I didn't request a refund or return, so this was unexpected, and I missed it when it came through a couple of months ago.Amended my review to 4 stars since I was sincerely impressed with the item until it failed. Proactive refunds and assistance from the company definitely impressed me, as I wasn't looking to try formal complaints or start the refund process for an item that was priced so low to begin with.Update #2 from 05/02/21:Disassembled speaker out of curiosity, confirmed that a transistor on the board indeed blew out and melted, causing the strong electronic burning smell. Didn't want to bother with the return process on a less than $20 item, but still extremely disappointed. Will likely steer clear of this brand/case in the future for safety reasons.Update #1 from 05/02/21:Item's charging port or battery has failed. Red light comes on for charging, tried multiple cables, but item doesn't power on. Held it up to a fan for a moment and could immediately smell the ozone of burning electronics. Something has shorted out, and I've been very careful and gentle with this item (even using a breakaway USB adapter).Item has lasted less than a month, and I'm extremely sad and disappointed since it's functionality this whole time has been absolutely fantastic. Lowered to two stars because no matter how good an item's function, if it lasts less than a month due to QC issues, then it's clearly not going to merit 5 stars.ORIGINAL REVIEW:PROS- Small form factor- Nice, sleek design; "touchscreen" buttons are a nice extra, and LED auto-off saves battery life- Good Bluetooth connectivity- Great sound quality considering size (5W rating is legit)- Instant connectivity, swaps between aux and BT seamlesslyCONS- Battery life might not be as long as some larger wireless speakers due to size restrictions. Still gets a pretty decent lifespan, even under constant usage (15hr music rating probably based off of aux port usage, not BT).- Touch-activated buttons can cause issues if holding the speaker and accidentally touching any of the buttons. Kids grabbed the speaker and managed to skip songs and max the volume on some YouTube videos, which really tested the maximum volume capabilities of the speaker.- Downward-facing speaker placement is interesting for acoustics, but can cause issues depending on what the speaker is placed on top of. Hard surfaces clearly reflect the sound much better than soft ones (carpet, couch arm, etc.). Facing the speaker towards the listener also has a very significant volume impact, but placing the speaker on its side is slightly difficult due to round shape.Originally purchased specifically because of the form factor (was looking for something like a hockey pick to fit in a cup holder on my desk). Saw the 5W notation in the details, wasn't entirely sure I could trust that rating having worked with many a crappy speakers (wired, wireless, powered, automotive, etc.). Pleasantly surprised when I found that the sound was actually fantastic, and easily matches that of the Bose Soundlink Color that my wife used to use.The bass isn't anything to be ecstatic over, but with such a small size it's surprising that it delivers the volume that it does. Connectivity is fantastic, haven't had any issues with bluetooth pairing on the side of the speakers (issues with my PC/phone have occurred, but reboots fixed them). Range seems pretty good despite being bluetooth, I've carried it throughout the house with minimal drops (even through walls).Currently have it with a magnetic USB dongle, so I can break it away from it's charging cable whenever I want with almost no effort. Also keeps the kids from destroying anymore of my charging cables since they have been running over to steal the speaker off my desk and run around with it (whenever I'm listening to music). I HAVE learned the hard way not to keep the aux cable plugged into my Nintendo Switch, however, since they've yanked it off my shelf trying to run away with it.Hot swapping between bluetooth and the aux cable is seamless, so I'm able to swap between output from my PC to my Switch easily, which was a necessity since the monitor I'm tying each to doesn't have speakers or an aux-out. Definitely would purchase another, especially at the amazing price they're offering, and even read in the instructions that you can link two speakers together, so I might get another just to try that.Considering 3d printing a backhorn setup to take advantage of downward-facing speaker setup to redirect and amplify sound towards me vs reflecting from the tabletop.