I spend my mornings with Terry Gross. Along with green tea and Puffins, listening to Fresh Air is just something I require to start my day properly. And what better place to listen than in the shower? The problem is, my iPhone speaker isn't loud enough to hear over the water, and many of the shower speaker options out there, like the Kohler Moxie($135.99 at Amazon), can be a bit pricey. That's where the Splash Shower Tunes from Freshetech comes in: Though it retails for $49.95, you can find it for half that amount, and it's a good deal either way. It doesn't have the best sound quality, but it's an inexpensive, versatile Bluetooth speaker that's great for listening to music and podcasts in the shower.

Design and Setup

Available in four bright colors, you can choose a Splash($16.95 at Amazon) that best complements your bathroom décor. It certainly doesn't have the same high-end look or feel as the Kohler Moxie, but it has its own fun, whimsical vibe. The speaker is made of matte, rubberized plastic that's grippy to the touch and does a nice job of beading off water.

The speaker itself measures just over 3 inches in diameter, and nearly 1.5 inches thick. The attached suction cup adds roughly another half an inch, so altogether the speaker will stick out nearly 2 inches from whatever surface you attach it to. And it's easy to stick the Splash virtually anywhere thanks to its super-powerful suction cup. I had no trouble attaching it to a tile wall, glass shower door, mirror, or even the melamine surface of a desk. So once you find the ideal spot in your bathroom, you won't need to worry about the speaker slipping off over time.

All of the physical controls are located on the face of the speaker. There are five buttons, most of which have multiple functions. There's a Power button at the very top, which lets you turn the speaker on and off. To turn it off you'll need to hold it down for about five seconds until you hear two series of beeps. There's a Play/Pause button in the middle, while Track Forward and Backward buttons do double duty to control volume. Simply press them once to skip forward or backward, or hold them down to increase or decrease volume (volume is controlled independently from your connected device). Finally, a Phone button at the bottom allows you to answer or hang up calls, or initiate voice commands on a connected device.

There's a proprietary charging jack on top of the speaker that must remain covered when not in use. The proprietary port is a bit of a letdown, since the speaker only comes with a short USB charging cable. On the plus side, the built-in lithium battery is rated for up to 9 hours of use, so you probably won't need to charge it more than once a week, unless you take extremely long showers.

Pairing the speaker via Bluetooth is simple. It enters pairing mode as soon as you turn it on. All you have to do is activate Bluetooth on your device, locate the speaker in the Bluetooth device list, and tap to pair. After pairing once, the speaker will automatically connect to your paired device whenever it is in range. For this review, I paired the Splash with an Apple iPhone 5s and an HTC One M8. On the iPhone, it automatically displayed a battery level indicator in the top right corner of the display.

Performance and Conclusions

Audio performance is pretty much what you'd expect from a sub-$50 Bluetooth speaker: serviceable. The Splash certainly isn't going to win any performance awards. It's not even going to beat out a tinny pair of desktop computer speakers. But here's the thing: Audio quality doesn't have to be spectacular when you're taking a shower.

The Splash certainly gets loud enough. Compared with the Moxie, which is a bit low, I was able to hear all of my podcasts on the Splash without issue, even though Terry Gross doesn't have the loudest voice. For music, the speaker doesn't distort, even when playing tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout."

On the other hand, the speaker doesn't produce much in the way of low-end at all, so even on the aforementioned track, it can sound a little thin. On tracks with more midrange, like Radiohead's "Paranoid Android," audio sounds a bit tinny and bright. But again, when the water is coming down and you're washing your hair, it's easily to overlook most of the audio shortcomings.

The speaker's multiple buttons make it easy to control what you're listening to, even when your connected device is in another room. And the speakerphone function is surprisingly decent; voices sound clear and loud through the speaker, though whoever's calling might have a little trouble hearing you over the sound of the shower. Bluetooth range is excellent; I was able to clear well over the standard 32 feet from the speaker without sound cutting out, even when passing through rooms loaded with a bunch of interference.

So although it doesn't feature the strongest sound quality, I really like the Splash Shower Tunes. It gets loud enough to hear pretty much anything, which is what matters most over the noise of the shower. All of the controls make it super easy to use, and the speakerphone function is a plus. If you're willing to spend more, the Kohler Moxie combines a better-sounding speaker with a high-quality showerhead. The same goes for the Boom Movement Urchin( at Amazon), which is a water-resistant speaker with better sound quality than the Splash but a significantly higher price tag. You'll get the best audio performance from the ruggedized Panasonic SC-NT10($23.99 at Amazon), though it too is more expensive and doesn't come with an attachment for the shower. So if you're looking for a low-cost way to listen to some music or podcasts while you're soaping up, the Splash Shower Tunes is a solid choice.

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• No More Bricks: Sonos Drops 'Trade-Up' Program's Recycle Mode