The Turtlebox Ranger makes no sense to me. As a lifelong musician, I always thought it was self-evident that high-quality audio means sensitive equipment. Improvements to durability must inevitably come at the cost of aural clarity — or so I believed.

My experience with the Ranger blows those assumptions out of the water. This speaker shakes off as quickly as I respond to Swiftie song requests. Based in Houston, Turtlebox specializes in rugged, waterproof speakers that still provide booty-bumping volume no matter the activity. With the Ranger, the brand offers its smallest-ever speaker, bringing high volume and durability into a lighter, pint-sized package.

The result is a Bluetooth speaker with such high audio quality that I found myself using it at home as much as for outdoor hijinks. From day-long paddle trips to mountain hikes to bike rides, the Ranger took it all like a champ, emerging as a new contender in the best portable speaker category.

In short: I’m not worried about the Turtlebox Ranger’s ability to withstand whatever punishment I can dish out. At 2.4 pounds, it’s still a bit heavy for backcountry trips, and doesn’t come cheap at $250. But if you’re a music lover looking for stellar audio during rough-and-tumble adventures, it’s hard to imagine a better speaker than this one.

Turtlebox Ranger Bluetooth Speaker Review

Let’s clear something up first: I’m not a fan of noise pollution in the outdoors. It irritates me to no end when I have to tolerate hikers blasting music on crowded trails or paddlers with a cooler-sized boombox drowning out every natural sound within a 100-yard radius.

But I spend most of my time in the outdoors by myself, usually in situations where I can count on not being bothered — and not bothering anyone else. And though I usually choose nature’s soundtrack over music, there are plenty of times (usually after hours of uninterrupted silence) when a bit of Gerry Mulligan sax quartet or Chad Lawson piano compositions fits the context.

That’s where the Turtlebox Ranger finds a sweet spot in my routines. Its 2-inch woofers bring aural variety to all-day solo adventures, provide exactly the right volume for remote working outdoors, and generally hold up against the beatings that most of my gear inevitably endures.

First Impressions: The Sound

The Ranger is certainly a tough, burly speaker, as we’ll see. But my first impression was of the speaker’s sound quality, which is the most important factor anyway, in my opinion. After all, what’s the point of hauling a durable speaker — adding another piece of gear to my kit — if it doesn’t sound great?

That’s not a problem with the Ranger. In fact, it’s one of the best-sounding speakers I’ve ever heard, portable or not. And I’m not just talking about overproduced modern pop music void of real instruments or non-auto-tuned voices (yeah, I said it). As a lover of jazz and classical music, I rarely hear speakers that accurately capture the breathy nuances of a trumpet or the muted tones of an upright bass.

So, I’m delighted to report that the touch of piano keys or a saxophone’s vibrato emerges clearly and delicately from a speaker that can also be submerged underwater for 30 minutes. I have no idea how that’s possible, but it’s a delight to experience. I rarely pumped the speaker up to full volume, as it’s more powerful than many larger competitors.

A Glutton for Punishment

Alright, alright, you say. Enough with the musical nerdery. What about the durability?

So far, the Ranger has met the high standards of its nomadic name and previous Turtlebox releases. It’s waterproof, meaning you can submerge it up to 3 feet for no more than 30 minutes without damage, according to the brand.

I tested that theory in a controlled setting with a glass of water and in the cold, unpredictable waters of Georgia’s Etowah and Chattahoochee rivers. After a few minutes in the water, the sound becomes slightly muted. But it’s a change you’re unlikely to notice unless you’re listening carefully. The sound returns to normal eventually, after the speaker has had a few minutes to dry off.

Note: This speaker doesn’t float, which is why you see it carefully tied to my SUP board in the photos. It’ll survive a drop in the river — but only if you can find it afterward. Also, the cover for the charging port must be closed to avoid water damage.

The speaker is also supposedly drop-proof and “crushproof.” So I (deliberately) dropped it down rocky paths on local hiking trails, rolled it through sand and dirt, and (accidentally) allowed my dog to knock it over repeatedly, often several feet from a table to the ground. It still doesn’t have a scratch. It works just as well as the day I took it out of the box over a month ago.

That last bit is significant. You’re likely to knock this thing over repeatedly, as the Ranger is meant to stand upright like a mini pillar. This dimensional shift represents a big departure from most other Bluetooth speakers, which tend to be squat and horizontal. But it’s a smart move, audio-wise, as the sound spreads more evenly in all directions.

At the same time, it means that lying the speaker down flat will block some of the woofer. That results in reduced volume and clarity.

The only time the Ranger didn’t immediately shrug off detritus was on the magnetic squares along one side. These are for attaching the speakers to cars, golf carts, or whatever else you can imagine. I didn’t use this particular feature, but it worked well enough when I stuck it to the side of my Honda CRV.

However, they can also collect minuscule pieces of metal from sand or river water. But with a little bit of effort using water, a sponge, and a cotton swab, I was able to remove most of it.

Comparison to the Competition

At 2.4 pounds, the Ranger still competes with its much larger cousin, the Turtlebox Gen 2. For her review, GJ contributor Erica Zazo put that burly, 10-pound speaker through the wringer, even letting it soak for a month in a water cooler (it still worked fine). But its size and weight mean it’s “best used when you only have to carry it short distances, like to the campground, beach, or pontoon,” Zazo wrote.  

“It’d be great if the brand debuted a smaller, more portable version of the Turtlebox in the future,” she added.

With the Ranger, Turtlebox has done just that. At less than one-fourth the weight of the Gen 2, the Ranger still provides 105 decibels of volume. Comparatively, Gen 2 only goes up to 120 decibels while costing nearly $200 extra. So, the Ranger’s balance of volume and portability makes a strong case for opting for this smaller cousin. It also improves the Gen 2 by ditching the proprietary charger and opting for a USB-C port.

Of course, the Ranger doesn’t claim quite the durability of the Gen 2. But most of us don’t need a speaker that can survive a trip to Atlantis, no matter how impressive. And with battery life that lasts all day, depending on volume, I never had an issue with suddenly needing to recharge.

Turtlebox Ranger: Final Verdict

The always-innovating marketplace of outdoor gear has offered many new options for waterproof speakers in recent years. At GearJunkie, we’ve tried and ranked many of the best in our guide to the Best Portable Bluetooth Speakers. The Turtlebox Gen 2 holds the top spot overall.

The Ranger, in my opinion, is even better. At nearly half the price, but with almost the same audio volume in a smaller, lighter package, it improves upon Turtlebox’s Gen 2 in almost every way. It’s also possible to use the speaker’s Party Mode to pair the Ranger with other Turtlebox speakers, including other Rangers, Original Gen 3s, or Grandes.

With a $250 price tag, the Ranger still doesn’t come cheap. It’s currently only available on the Turtlebox website (no Amazon yet). One of the four color options has already sold out since the speaker was released in February. Put simply, if you want to be moved by the music in the Great Outdoors with zero stress about equipment, this is one of the best waterproof speakers out there.