A Unique, Stylish Speaker With Built-In FM Radio
The Muzen Wild Radiooo is a niche speaker, with a unique design that speaks more to artistic flair and individualism than practicality. That’s not to say it misses the mark, but rather that it sets its own goalposts as a distinctive portable speaker. However, its hefty price tag puts it up against some of the most popular flagship portable Bluetooth speakers.
Key Takeaways
- Unique design that captures a true vintage feel.
- Controls lack track skipping, and can be a bit tricky to use if you’ve got large fingers.
- Up to 10 hours battery life, but falls slightly short of expectations.
- Sounds really good, until the volume is pushed up, then compression becomes noticeable.
Radiooo
What I Like:
- Clear audio across most volume levels, with good vocal clarity too.
- Unique, stylish looking speaker.
- Carry strap included.
- The shell is almost entirely made from metal.
What I Don’t Like:
- No water resistance.
- Expensive for what you get.
- Controls can be tricky to use for individuals with bigger fingers.
Design: A Unique, Vintage Military Style Speaker
- Inspired by the 1964 Willy’s Jeep.
- Complex design with lots of accents.
- Available in two distinctly different shells.
If you’re familiar with Muzen speakers, you’d immediately identify the Radiooo as one of their designs. It has this distinctive military style aesthetic, similar to their smaller Muzen Wild Mini speaker.
They often feel a bit like fidget speakers, as there’s so much that goes into the design, including parts that detach, and a multitude of knobs to turn on this portable audio device.
On top of the speaker, there are the words “Willy’s 1964”, a clear reference to the 1964 Willys MB, and the similarities are there. When I saw this military-inspired speaker for the first time, I can remember thinking it resembled an older military vehicle.
There’s also the option of a black color variant, but the entire design of the black version is different, so don’t think you’ll just get a black version of this design. The black iteration looks more like a standard vintage radio, which is a more common design and lacks the character that the “Military Green” version has.
Durability: Strong Metal Exterior, But It Lacks Water Protection
When testing the durability of this speaker, I found that it was a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, the outer shell is metal and quite heavy, which gives it a premium feel for a portable Bluetooth speaker. However, the sheer number of bits and pieces in the design makes it vulnerable to drop damage.
A cool feature is the ability to remove the outer back shell from the inner components, which is great for routine cleaning, removing dust build-up from within the speaker.
I will be honest, usually when I review products from Shenzhen, there’s a familiar theme to the designs, and while many are waterproof speakers, the build quality just feels a bit weak, with a primarily plastic shell. That’s not the case with the Radiooo, and despite a few areas of weakness, the speaker feels both well-designed and distinctly unique as a robust portable speaker.
I really love the amount of metal on this thing, even if it does impact the portability, which I’ll touch on shortly.
Waterproofing
There is no water protection rating on the Wild Radiooo, meaning it is best kept away from rain or splashes of water. Usually, this would bother me, but in my opinion, this speaker is better suited for around the house and garden than it is for hiking trips or taking to the beach as a non-waterproof speaker.
Portability: Built-In Carry Strap To Compensate For The Heavy Weight
- The metal shell makes the speaker quite heavy.
- Removable carry strap helps with carrying, but can be tricky to undo.
Right off the bat, this is a fairly heavy little speaker. Despite being close to half the size of the JBL Flip 6, it’s almost twice the weight. That’s mostly because of the metal shell of this unique portable speaker.
To compensate for the weight, Muzen has added a carry strap that can be removed, with a bit of practice and raw power. This strap connects using a ball-bearing clamp system that needs to be pushed in the center, while also being pulled away from the speaker to detach.
Although, as I mentioned, I prefer this as a home and garden speaker, the carry strap does make it possible to carry it over fair distances without much hassle, but I wouldn’t want to walk more than a few miles with it in hand and I found that it’s slightly too heavy to attach to backpacks from carabiners or straps.
Controls: Limited On-Speaker Controls, With A Unique Touch
There are three main controls on the Muzen Wild Radioo – each made to resemble a vintage radio design. They’re all located on the right side of the speaker and consist of the:
- Volume control
- Connection selector
- FM radio frequency dial
These controls are okay, but the position of the volume control can be problematic at times on this portable audio player. That’s cause it’s situated directly below the tuner and close enough to where those with larger fingers will struggle to adjust it. My fingers aren’t particularly large, but I still found that I would accidentally knock the tuner when trying to adjust the volume without consciously thinking about my finger position.
The controls are also relatively limited, without track controls on the speaker, meaning one needs to skip tracks using their phone instead.
Connectivity: 3-in-1 Connection Options
- Supports Bluetooth, FM radio, and aux input.
- Reliable connectivity, with good latency performance.
A key feature of this speaker is its 3-in-1 connectivity, which includes the following:
FM Radio
It’s been years since I listened to the radio, so testing the Muzen was quite a throwback experience on this portable FM radio speaker. The signal was decent, and I was able to pick up most local radio stations, but there was some mild static on one or two stations that didn’t have as strong reception. This is a result of the built-in receiver, something that’s always a challenge when using a built-in receiver over a standard external antenna.
Still, the FM radio feature functioned well, and I appreciate the green LED that is triggered when the station is clear. This keeps one from guessing.
The fact that the tuner is quite small does mean one needs a steady hand to nail down those perfect signals on this portable speaker with FM radio.
Bluetooth
Of course, the Wild Radiooo has Bluetooth connectivity, but it’s important to note that it only supports Bluetooth 4.0, which at this point is several years old for a Bluetooth speaker.
I still found that, despite being older, the latency is still completely suitable for watching YouTube videos, and there is barely any delay in sync between video and audio.
I was also surprised by how well it held a connection. It reliably stayed connected even when I walked into the neighboring room with my phone.
Something that may be easily overlooked, but is actually important, is that one can move between Bluetooth mode and FM radio without having to re-pair each time on this versatile portable speaker. Switching the input will immediately connect and start playing.
Aux In
Aux input is something that’s been phased out of a lot of portable speakers, so having it on the Muzen Wild Radiooo is a welcome addition. The 3.5mm input can be found on the back of the speaker.
Sound Quality: Clear and Enjoyable at Low Volume, but Suffers at Full Volume
- Clear sound, with vocals that stand out.
- Not much deep bass.
- Reaches moderate volume levels, but compression is audible at high volume.
Here’s the thing about the Wild Radiooo…
The audio is clear and sufficiently deep, especially for its small driver size in this compact speaker. I tested a bunch of different genres and found that it was able to play them surprisingly well, without particular genres having a noticeable issue. The vocals are quite forward, which I always appreciate, as it makes everything sound cleaner on this portable audio system.
Bass is limited, which is always the case with smaller speakers, but there is enough of it to keep the music from sounding too thin.
Volume & Its Impact On Sound Quality
It also gets pretty loud for a speaker of its size; when I ran measurement tests on it, I found it produced exactly 83 dB at a distance of 1 meter. That’s enough power to cover most of a small bedroom with this loud portable speaker.
The only areas where the sound quality struggled a bit were at higher volumes. This speaker has a limited dynamic range compared to more recent releases, which is noticeable in songs with a lot of variation in instruments, meaning some technically produced electronic music can sometimes lack the detail heard in speakers with more dynamic range.
This also causes it to sound slightly distorted at higher volume levels. I found that for the best quality, the speaker should be kept around 75% volume or lower on this Bluetooth audio device. After that, compression becomes audible, and there is a progressive loss of clarity as one pushes it further from that point.
Battery: Playtime Of Between 5 and 9 Hours
- Utilizes an older micro-USB charging port.
- Battery life falls short of competitors, especially when using Bluetooth.
Playtime is rated to last up to 10 hours, but the amount of battery life is directly tied to the connection type being used on this rechargeable portable speaker. Bluetooth is more power-intensive, and I got around 5.5 hours of playtime when using the Bluetooth mode at around 50% volume.
This falls short of its similarly priced competitors, many of which have playtime benchmarks of between 12 and 15 hours.
Using FM radio, I got more playtime out of it, lasting around 8.5 hours before needing to be recharged. Again at 50% volume.
The recharging is done via micro-USB, which at this point is a little unfortunate, as many customers have left their micro-USB cables in the past, now that most devices use USB-C. This isn’t that big of a deal, though, as micro-USB cables are dirt cheap and most of us have at least a few stored away somewhere.
Value & Comparisons With Similar-Priced Speakers
The Muzen Wild Radiooo retails for a pretty steep $165, and this is unfortunately the biggest drawback of the speaker. For $165, you could get the significantly larger and more powerful Soundcore Boom 2 or even the latest JBL Flip 7, both of which have better dynamic range and longer battery life.
The Muzen didn’t make it onto our list of the best Bluetooth speakers under $200.
Granted, they don’t have an FM radio, though – and that’s going to be a key point to consider for those seeking a portable speaker with FM capabilities.
Ultimately, it comes down to the design and FM radio. If you’re looking for a speaker to stand out from the crowd, then the Muzen Wild Radiooo is a cool product. But understand that its volume, sound quality, and battery life fall short of similar-priced speakers.
Conclusion
Overall, I enjoyed using this speaker, but it lacks the versatility found in flagship releases nowadays. It isn’t waterproof, and its volume is somewhat limited (especially if you’re looking to retain the quality). What it has going for it, though, is a wildly unique design that stands out from competitors. If it were $50 to $80 cheaper, it would be more appealing as a unique design portable speaker.
