I’m not a fan of radios on the beach or at the pool. But there’s always some guy with a portable radio blasting the type of music that most people can’t stand. If you’re that guy, you’ll want a portable radio that works well, has a great battery life, and can withstand things like sand and sun.

The new Libratone Zipp Speaker might just do all of those things. Take a look.

Zipp Speaker

It’s small, it’s easy to carry around, and it’s bright - what more could you want from a portable speaker that was meant, in all reality, to make people that like to listen to music at the beach happy? You can also bring this speaker to small gatherings if you’re responsible for music, but I wouldn’t choose a speaker of this size for a larger party.

So what’s the appeal here? First, it has a 10-hour rechargeable battery life, which is pretty great. This means that you can charge the speaker and it will keep going for as long as you want to lay out in the sun, and then you can pack it up and do it all over again without a second charge.

Two beach days is probably all that this speaker can handle before it needs to be recharged. The Zipp also has a 100-watt speaker which isn’t bad where portable speakers are concerned.

The Goodies

This speaker comes with everything you would want in a portable speaker option including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirPlay, Spotify options, and a USB port. Those are some great goodies to have when it comes to portable music and streaming options.This speaker also has an interesting option that allows you to place your hand over the control panel in order to stop the sound. As soon as you remove your hand, the speaker will begin playing again.

The one drawback to this little $249 option is that it doesn’t play well with other speakers. As far as sound goes, it does have decent sound for a portable streaming option, but don’t expect movie quality surround sound - you just can’t look for that with a portable speaker.

Stacking Up

There are really a ton of these little speakers out there. You can find them on Amazon or in a local electronics store. I highly suggest choosing the latter option, since you can listen to sound quality in an electronics store but it’s a bit harder to do through a site like Amazon - then again, you can read reviews like this one or see how people are rating speakers.

The one thing that many people make the mistake of is assuming that a small portable speaker will replace a much bigger one. It won’t. So if you don’t have the money to put on a surround sound system or a great stereo system, this isn’t the best option for a replacement. Instead, save your money and choose a speaker setup that will do what you want it to.

Who It’s For

As mentioned above, this speaker is great for anyone that wants some portable beach tunes. It’s also great for small office spaces (if you have a closed office and want to stream music, a portable speaker is a good idea). It’s not for anyone looking for serious home sound, but it could work well in a smaller room.