When it comes to streaming music from a smartphone or music player at the beach or patio party, Bluetooth is probably going to be the wireless way to go. Take your source device more than a few feet from the speaker, however, and the grooves start to quickly break up and fade away. ION Audio's forthcoming Road Warrior 200 W Bluetooth speaker boasts over three times the wireless range, giving the party's mobile DJ more room to mingle and mix.
Most commercial Bluetooth 3.0 devices are limited to wireless streaming from a smartphone or music player up to about 33 ft (10m) away, but ION has added some proprietary secret sauce to its new Road Warrior which boosts that to 100 ft.
Inside the cloth-covered MDF cabinet is a Class-D amplifier driving two full range 10-inch woofers and two 1-inch tweeters for 200 W of peak power. The production model audio specs are yet to be released, but ION has confirmed that its own sound signature has been added to the mix.
The Road Warrior comes with wall power cable and 12 V car power cable to run the Road Warrior from a wall outlet or a vehicle's battery. It's also home to its own 12 V/7 Ah sealed gel lead-acid battery chosen because of capacity and expected long battery life, though exactly how capacious and precisely how long users can expect to hear tunes between charges is yet to be revealed.
Its stage monitor shape and styling gives it two listening angles and may very well tempt you to strike a pose with your foot on top. There's a dedicated mic/instrument input, a 3.5 mm aux input, and a built-in AM/FM radio. Despite sporting recessed metal handles on the top and sides for ease of transport, this audio powerhouse doesn't look like the kind of music thrower that you'll be carrying around on your shoulder, boombox-style (though final dimensions and weight are unavailable at this time).
The ION Audio Road Warrior is set to hit the stores in August for a recommended retail price of US$399.99.
Source: ION Audio
