Patriot BeatStreet Bluetooth Speaker and Clock Review

1. Introduction, Specifications, Pricing & Availability
2. A Closer Look & Listening Experience
3. What's Hot, What's Not & Final Thoughts

TweakTown's Rating: 85%

The Bottom Line

With its strong price point, the Patriot BeatStreet is a perfect at home option that provides great listening when played at lower levels.

Introduction, Specifications, Pricing & Availability

Featuring an elegant black mesh and brushed aluminium design, Patriot's first foray into the Bluetooth speaker world features something a little different - a LED 24 hour clock located on the top-face.

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A bit of a gimmick, however useful, can this LED clock paired with a cheap retail price-point help us recommend this speaker for your daily use? Read on to find out.

Specifications

With the ability to connect to your device of choice through NFC, Bluetooth 3.0, or an AUX 3.5mm jack, Patriot has impressed us from the start by beating many other experienced manufacturers in the NFC race. Adding this capability is nothing groundbreaking, but it's certainly a handy inclusion (unless you own an Apple device).

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The internal battery size is a little confusing, with Patriot's website claiming an 800 mAh sizing and their online user manual claims only 500 mAh is at your disposal. What is impressive is the fact that this speaker boasts an eight-hour playback time when connected via auxiliary, matching that of other products we have reviewed with much larger 2,000 mAh batteries. A major let down is the short three-hour playback time when connected through Bluetooth, however, through our testing, you can easily play music off a flat battery whilst plugged into a 0.5A computer USB port for charging.

Patriot claim there to be a 30 foot Bluetooth range which is standard for such devices. As for the driver itself, the 52mm speaker offers up 3W RMS at a frequency of 100hz - 18 Khz coupled with the internal microphone containing a sensitivity of -42 +- 3dB.

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Lastly is the chassis material, as touched on above. The soft-feeling plastic body is topped off with four rubber feet, a large mesh speaker cover and brushed aluminium reaching around the apex.

Pricing & Availability

One of the major features of this device is certainly the price-point. Coming in at a the great price of $35 with free shipping when purchased through Amazon, this is the lowest-priced speaker I have reviewed yet.

What's in the box?

Patriot has built a simple package as seen with most Bluetooth speaker options, providing you with a disappointingly short 3.5mm AUX cable, alongside a small micro-USB charging cable, and the general user manual.

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It's certainly a positive that an AUX 3.5mm cable is included as we're seeing more companies leave this out, however, it's once again very short (as we've seen mostly), meaning you've going to have to be located directly next to the music-playing device to get any use out of it.

PRICING: You can find the BeatStreet Bluetooth Speaker for Mobile Devices By Patriot for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.

United States: The BeatStreet Bluetooth Speaker for Mobile Devices By Patriot retails for $34.99 at Amazon.

Australia: Find other tech and computer products like this over at PLE Computer's website.

A Closer Look & Listening Experience

Let's dig deeper

When listening to songs that pack a little punch like Flume's remix of Disclosure and Eliza Doolittle's song You & Me, there is no rattling of the frame or speaker distortion, which shows initially that the product is well designed - adding yet another speaker to this list.

The connection ports on the back are well-placed meaning that if you decide to use an AUX input or keep it on charge, the cables don't hinder the looks or operation of the product.

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The buttons are firm and have solid feedback, however, there are some issues when changing the time on the clock and it sometimes feels like these buttons are in some way not connected to the device at all - providing you with a slow response. As for general volume and play options, the buttons perform well.

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$35 of fury

The volume levels are certainly enough to make my ears ring when sitting on my desk and pumped to 100% when paired with my Spotify-playing Samsung Galaxy S4, reporting similar sound levels to my previously reviewed (and much more expensive) Braven BRV-X and Braven Mira models.

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When listening to the device at a leisurely level whilst writing this review, the sound quality is quite reasonable. It's certainly better than your phone speaker and the sound resonated well through the solid framework and design, but it is completely trumped by my Logitech X-530 speakers thanks to their addition of bass.

Similar to the Braven Mira, listening in to Duke Dumont's 'Wont Look Back' reports some muddy mid's followed by boring high's with the main difference coming alongside the bass drop as there isn't really one to be had. Unfortunately, due to the small speaker design, you're not going to have a great time if you're pumping this up to 100% and expecting window rattling bass, however, listening to death metal at half-volume is more than good enough for a small group or solo-listener to partake in.

If you're looking for more of a heavy metal example, one of the songs I test out all of my speakers with is 'The End of Heartache' by Killswitch Engage.

Further Analysis

As stated previously, the product is small, looks very classy and is tied together well by a professional finish. It's going to provide you with adequate listening for basically any music type when played at medium volume.

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Blasting this beauty as 100% won't necessarily see a degradation in sound quality, but you'll certainly come to notice that the heavy bass drops are non-existent when compared to other and more expensive models.

In its price range is our previously reviewed Arctic S113BT and I would recommend the Patriot BeatStreat over this model due to it's professional finish, alternative design and LED clock inclusion.

What's Hot, What's Not & Final Thoughts

What's Hot

Sturdy: This small speaker should have no issue with being knocked off your desk on occasion.

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Sound projection: This small product provides some seriously loud sound.

Sound quality even when at full speed ahead: Even when jacked up to 100%, this speaker will provide you with clarity in its sound as seen at 20%. The speakers won't distort and the product won't jump all over the table, but you will certainly notice the lack of bass.

What's Not

The battery size and life time: The battery is tiny meaning that your Bluetooth playback is limited to just a few hours, this product is better off kept for hotel travel or an at-home device in your kitchen or next to your bed.

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Lack of clarity: An issue that plagues every speaker, if you're an audiophile fan of classical music, you really need some good headphones instead.

Lack of Bass: Not totally apparent unless you're trying to listen to music at 80%+, if you like it loud you're going to be left disappointed.

Final Thoughts

This speaker is classy, small in stature, and cheap. Patriot has certainly done quite well in their first foray into the speaker scene, however, a larger battery capacity, a more bass-laden speaker, and longer playback times would certainly justify a higher score and even $10 added to the retail price.

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Around this price range, there's almost nothing better, I can recommend this product for you as an in-hotel travel option, a bedside companion, or a kitchen-dwelling device. Unfortunately, due to the design materials, smudges are easily put on to the surface, this is shown through the images above after one full week of use.

PRICING: You can find the BeatStreet Bluetooth Speaker for Mobile Devices By Patriot for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.

United States: The BeatStreet Bluetooth Speaker for Mobile Devices By Patriot retails for $34.99 at Amazon.

Australia: Find other tech and computer products like this over at PLE Computer's website.