Few portable Bluetooth speakers have combined the passive radiator, a non-active but sympathetically vibrating membrane that increases a speaker's sense of bass and fullness, with an actual subwoofer. Divoom claims its $119 Voombox Party features, along with the system's dual stereo drivers, an active internal subwoofer. To our eyes and ears, it's more like a regular woofer, but the presence of the passive radiators helps elevate its presence. The end result is a bulky, weather-resistant speaker with surprisingly powerful audio performance and bass response for its modest price. The Voombox Party is by no means a masterpiece, but it's certainly a strong value for the price.

Design

Available in black and silver models, the Voombox Party is one heavy portable speaker. This is likely due to its 4.1 by 9.2 by 2.1-inch (HWD), 2.5-pound frame housing not just two 2-inch drivers, but a centered, active 3-inch subwoofer. In reality, as previously mentioned, what's being referred to here as a subwoofer is more like a regular old woofer, but it's still rare to find two active stereo drivers and an active, dedicated bass driver (as opposed to simply a passive bass radiator, which is the current trend in small portable systems). The rear panel also houses dual passive bass radiators, and the combo does make the Voombox one of the more powerful portable speakers of its size we've tested.

The metallic-and-rubberized contour of the Voombox is built to withstand water splashes (but isn't completely waterproof), and is shock-resistant. Across the top panel are controls for Power, Bluetooth pairing, Play/Pause, and Volume Up and Down. The Volume buttons double as track navigation buttons if you hold them down rather than tap on them, which can lead to annoying moments in which you advance to the next track when you really meant to raise the volume level. The volume controls work together with, not independently of, your mobile device's volume.

A snap-shut compartment on the right-hand panel houses a 3.5mm Aux input and the micro USB connection for charging. 3.5mm and USB charging cables are included.

The pairing process with an iPhone 5s was quick and simple, and the Voombox Party is also NFC-enabled for easy pairing with compatible devices. Divoom estimates the Voombox Party's battery life at roughly 8 hours, but your results will depend on how loudly you play your tunes. It takes 3 to 4 hours for the speaker to fully charge from a dead battery.

Performance

On tracks with powerful sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the Voombox Party does something interesting: It really feels like it's delivering rumbling subwoofer-style bass, even though its actual bass response is a bit more modest. For a $119 speaker, however, its bass response is pretty intense—just don't expect actual subwoofer-level depth out of a speaker this size. At top volumes on this challenging track, the Voombox Party doesn't distort, which is impressive given its price. Few speakers this size can imply deep bass levels like the Voombox Party does cleanly.

Bill Callahan's "Drover" gives us a good idea of what the Voombox Party does with tracks that lack gobs of deep bass. Callahan's baritone vocals are delivered with a rich low-mid presence and enough high-mid edge to help them stay clear and in the forefront of the mix. The drums on this track receive a little bit of added low-frequency oomph, but the focus of this track through the Voombox Party is primarily in the midranges. It's not too crisp and not overly bass-boosted, but certainly rich.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop's attack sounds beefy at modest volume levels and thins out at top volumes, which implies there's some pretty active digital signal processing happening here. This means there will be no distortion at top volumes, but it also means, on certain tracks, the Voombox Party will have more bass response at lower levels than it will at full volume. This track, in particular, sounded quite thin at maximum volume, but sounded rich, with some serious thump to the drum loop, at moderate levels.

Classical tracks, like the opening scene in John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, follow a similar path. At top volumes, the track sounds a bit thinner and the lower register instrumentation takes a bit of a backseat. At moderate-to-high volumes, the bass response brings out the lower register instruments a bit more, making the track sound fuller. The higher register strings, brass, and vocals are always in the forefront of the mix, however, and the sound is fairly bright regardless of the volume level.

One note: At very low volume levels, a hiss is audible on playback. You won't hear this at even moderate volume, but if you plan on only listening at super-low, office-appropriate levels, the Voombox Party is probably not the best choice.

So, the Voombox Party delivers substantial bass response for the price—with the caveat that the bass gets dialed back on certain tracks (usually ones with plenty of low-mid and low frequency content) at higher volumes. If it's fuller bass you seek in a sub-$200 Bluetooth speaker, you might need to lose some of the portability and spend more money, but the Bose SoundLink Mini will not disappoint. If you want a full sound that stays consistent at higher volumes, the Bose SoundLink Color sounds a bit more even regardless of loudness, and manages to deliver reasonably rich bass. Finally, if you're looking to spend less and simply want a quality portable Bluetooth speaker, the Jabra Solemate Mini and the Panasonic SC-NT10 both offer laudable audio performance for lower prices. At $120, the Divoom Voombox Party isn't flawless, but it certainly packs a surprising punch. Add to that its durable build, and we have a winner worth your consideration if this is your price range.