Russound AirGo Outdoor Speaker Review: I Froze It. I Drowned It. It Would Not Die

Russound makes speakers camouflaged as rocks to sit out by the pool at your mansion. Their tough outdoor products, it turns out, can also survive over five months on a Brooklyn fire escape. The sound might not be the greatest, and the product may be inelegant, absurd, expensive but the weird AirGo Outdoor Speaker is brutally tough and undeniably effective.

What Is It?

Technically, the AirGo is not an AirPlay speaker, but with the addition of a dedicated AirPort Express, the $US400 speaker becomes Wi-Fi enabled.

Who’s It For?

Someone who wants a super loud wireless party speaker to leave in the backyard indefinitely.

Design

The AirGo isn’t beautiful like its dainty, officially-licensed cousins. It’s a hulking, water-resistant box, with a cacophonous speaker inside.

Using It

Unscrew a plate on the back, connect the AirPort to the speaker’s power and audio, screw the plate back on, and then operate the speaker as you would any AirPlay speaker.

The Best Part

Impervious to the elements. Snow, sleet, rain, hail, vehicular exhaust — still worked.

Tragic Flaw

Even with a carrying handle, the 72.kg, basketball-sized AirGo is too heavy to move anywhere.

This Is Weird…

The whole bulbous, space heater design is weird. Either weird or genius.

Test Notes

• The speaker was tested immediately upon delivery to Brooklyn some five months ago. We configured it, listened to music for an afternoon and then threw it on the fire escape where it sat until a few days ago.
• We love tough gadgets no matter how ugly they are. It’s downright impressive that the speaker survived about 80-degrees in temperature fluctuations, snow, hail, and a bucket of ridiculous summer thunderstorms.
• The only notes we took when listening to the speaker back in the winter were, “sounds pretty good,” and “very loud.” After its battle with mother nature, we listened again it’s still very loud, but either the speaker’s not in the best shape anymore, or it never sounded especially excellent to begin with.
• The speaker did get discolored and grimy from being outside in the city for so long. We’re not sure what the green sheen on the back is, but we;’re not asking or touching it without bleaching it first. They really shouldn’t have made the AirGo creme coloured.

Should You Buy It?

Despite the clever evasion of Apple — no way.

Russound AirGo

• Price: $US400-500 w/AirPort Express
• Weight: 7.2kg
• Speaker: Passive, two-way
• Power: 72W
• Gizrank: 2.5