Rechargeable Water-Resistant Bluetooth Speaker

Update Firefly Power Bank FY-30BT

By: Mike on 7 May 2016

Apologies, the rating should have been 4 stars. A great speaker at a great price.

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Firefly Power Bank BT speaker - FY-30BT

By: Mike Cornford on 6 May 2016

A review on the Firefly Power Bank FY-30BT (From my observations). Hello everyone, I have to write some personal observations about this speaker, Firefly FY-30BT for people who are looking for a good unit under $50.00. I looked everywhere, from pawn shops to David Jones. Not to mention the net! Most speakers for $50 or less were silly little brightly coloured tubs or cubes. Mono. No soul, no real quality and lasted only a few hours. I'd lose it in my backpack. I envied my friends who had $200 - $300 speakers. Great sound! If you have the money for a $200 - $300 unit, then, half your luck. This unit can be tweaked to sound like a high end performance piece (judging from my friends') with one simple app free from Google Play Store ®. I was hesitant at first that the speakers would not produce or handle the extra bass, but it took it all in it's stride, begging for more. I was surprised and I obliged. I was impressed with the original sound out of the box. I was immediately thankful that I didn't buy a pig in a poke. I even carefully unpacked it in case it had to be returned ;-D. Confident? No. For what I wanted for $50.00?! But the sound was full, clear and seemed incredibly loud. At 2 x 5 watts RMS (7.5v) driving the two 52 mm speakers (not sure if they're neodymium, but I would bet they are), the sound filled my back yard (1 acre block). However, listening on a personal level, I would have preferred more defined low frequency. It was there already, I could hear it, but unable to get it out. You could feel the speaker rumbling with low frequencies, but couldn't quite hear them. You should move this speaker around for it's best listening sound. It has two forward facing speakers in stereo (2.1?) and a hard slight convex back, and front. The unit is well made, and I like the soft feel finish. (Fish and Chip fingers can leave some dark marks, but they soon disappear). Waterproof covers for access to ports. On board audio controls. Like most bass enthusiasts know, these speakers soup up the bass if placed on a wooden table top, or in my case, I prefer the empty cardboard box, like a shoebox or the box it came in. I would like to know the form of bass enhancement they constructed in this unit, but it works. With the hard back, I would say they have a passive driver in the centre of the speaker face. (looks like it) There was no distortion on my bass heavy Mark Knopfler tracks at about 90% on phone and 80% on speaker, and I noticed that audio streamed in mp3 format produced a superior sound. Mp4s sounded lacking. Probably my phone's generic audio/video player. My Android is BT4 while the unit is BT3. Pairing and connecting was a breeze. I even paired my old notebook with BT2 using Linux 17.3 and Pulseaudio. Go figure. If you want to bring out all the talent in this piece, you should install the app “Bass Booster”, or similar app for your type of phone. It's basically an audio graphic equaliser with the added function of lower frequency boost or simulation. There will be numerous warnings advising you to use with caution. It won't hurt the bluetooth speaker, but it may damage your phones internal speaker. Follow instructions. Have your favourite sound for bass performance blowing from this unleashed machine through your music player on the phone. ½ volume on the speaker and around 90% on the phone music player. (This is quite loud enough) The bass boost on opening the app is default 80% boost. Check the box for bass boost and immediately you will hear this incredibly fuller sound coming from the speaker. But wait, there's more. Check the equaliser box and drop down the 10kHz frequency to 5 -6 bars. This takes the “bluetooth hiss” out of the speakers. You can then play with the equaliser until you find your own sound. I have 100% bass boost. There are several pre-sets as well if you feel unsure or want to experiment. You will lose some volume by diverting power into the lower frequencies, but it's still quite loud. It's worth it. It has enough power to spare. Speaking of power, I have been trying to run the battery down (it arrived fully charged). Well, it's the second day now of pretty intense music listening. Standby all night. I'm still waiting. They boast 24 hours in the users manual. I'm starting to believe them. I've charged my phone twice from the unit as well. 4000mAh goes a long way even using the juicy bass booster. Let's hope the battery is as good a quality as the rest of the unit appears to be. I'll treat it well and see. Replacing the battery would be a challenge. (It has 2 x 2000mAh batteries = 4A) HERE'S SOME QUICK OBSERVATIONS ... Handsfree phone works well, (if you like that sort of thing). There is no auxiliary audio out, (I like that sort of thing). Indicator status LEDs behind the smart looking splashproof speaker grill. Soft beeps on and off tones. Strong construction. Impact resistant (by the look and feel of it) but I wouldn't throw it in the p

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