Every single day new technology is being introduced to the world, and sometimes there are things you never knew you needed until they appear. That’s the case with smart water bottles. I first reviewed one called the DrinKup which you can read here, and now there’s another level of smart water bottle to tell you about; a water Bottle you can listen to. Recently hydration solutions company Aquio and gadget purveyor iHome partnered to bring first smart speaker water bottle to the market; the IBTB2 Aquio bottle. Let’s take a look at how it works, and whether it’s worth getting.
What is IBTB2 Aquio water bottle?
The Aquio Bottle is a 16-ounce double-walled stainless-steel water bottle combined that has been combined with removable Bluetooth speaker. The speaker screws into the bottom of the bottle so it’s more easily portable. The bottle is BPA-free and it promises to keep drinks hot up to 14 hours, or cold for 24 hours.
What does Aquio do?
Bringing your Aquio along lets you bring a small sized speaker wherever you go. You can leave it attached to the water bottle if you’re working out, or remove it and take it anywhere.
The speaker houses a rechargeable battery, and it’s got a nice fabric wrap on it, plus it comes in some cool colours (I got to sample Seafoam and ‘Merlot’.).
The bottle itself has a twist-off lid with a carry loop, and sports a wide mouth, making it easy to add ice cubes and easy to clean. It’s also sized to fit into a cup holder. Convenient!
How do I set up Aquio IBTB2?
The speaker’s operation is quite simple; the speaker itself features only three buttons. A play/pause button is centered prominently on the front, while power and Bluetooth pairing buttons are located on either side of the flap. Push the button to pair it, then look for it to pop up in the Bluetooth menu on your phone or device.
Once you connect it to your device via Bluetooth, you can use the Play/Pause button to perform several different functions. When using it as a speakerphone: press once to answer or end a phone call, or long press to decline a call.
When listening to music, you can press once to play or pause your music. Double press to skip to the next track. Triple press to go back to the previous track or start of the current track.
IBTB2 Aquio is waterproof
Aquio Bottle is IP67-rated, meaning it’s waterproof, and sand-proof and generally weather-resistant. You do need to make sure the silicone plug cover is securely in place before you test this! The speaker can end up immersed in water without damage, meaning it’s great for the lake, or a rainy bike ride.
Aquio water bottle speaker Size/power
When it comes to the speaker’s power, it’s got a 5-watt (RMS) Bluetooth speaker featuring digital echo cancellation and talk/end button for speakerphone, audio caller ID and ‘designer acoustic fabric’.
How does Aquio IBTB2 bottle-speaker sound?
The Aquio speaker actually sounds good. It’s reasonably powerful for its size and was easily filling up our living room/kitchen area. Now, not surprisingly there’s not a whole lot of bass power in this speaker, and the overall sound can lean heavily toward the high end. Audiophiles will find a lot to be desired with this speaker, but for most of the rest of us, who just need portable sound, it does the job nicely.
Battery life
Aquio says you can get up to six hours of play time from a single charge.
Overall review of iHome Aquio IBTB2 bottle & speaker
This bottle is a fun idea but I’m trying to think of places where it would be most useful. Perhaps going on a bike ride, or while on a hike? The design is definitely beautiful, fashionable and handy and it’s pretty affordable for a speaker; it’s about $60USD or $80 CAD. So affordable speaker, expensive water bottle!
Its affordable you can buy for 60 dollars but in terms of sound quality, we’d say Aquio is generally unremarkable compared to brands such as Sony and Beats etc. so if you’re looking for great sound quality and base it’s not the thing you’re looking for. But overall its sound good and it doesn’t distort at higher volumes.
If there’s something missing from this speaker its the lack of on-device volume controls. While you can play/pause on the speaker, there’s no volume buttons, meaning you’ll need to keep your phone handy and use that to adjust levels.
Aquio sells for about $79CAD from places like Best Buy and Amazon.
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