With an alleged power of 100 watts, the Bluetooth speaker Blitzwolf BW-WA3 wants to blow the competition from JBL, Tronsmart and Co. off the table. Our test shows whether it can do that.
Outdoor speakers for vacation or the next beach party are a dime a dozen. Blitzwolf stands out from the crowd with a particularly high performance and shows with the WA3 Bluetooth speaker a device that clearly outperforms the competition with 100 watts. In our test, we clarify what the loudspeaker is good for and whether it can keep up with top dogs such as the JBL Flip 5 (test report) or the inexpensive Tronsmart Bang (test report) .
design and processing
The design of the WA3 sets it apart from classic Bluetooth boxes, as it leaves a rather rough impression. For its small size, the speaker weighs a lot and surprises with its angular appearance. The fact that Blitzwolf advertises the speaker, which after all weighs 1561 grams, as “light weight” seems a bit far-fetched to us.
Nevertheless, we like the WA3: The gray plastic housing complements the metal mesh over the speakers. The adjustable RGB lighting of the side speakers provides lighting mood to the music. The entire speaker is easy to clean and makes a well-made impression. What we noticed negatively, however, was the smell of the device when unpacking: We got a pungent plastic stench straight up our noses – we recommend airing it out before using it for the first time.
Although the WA3 is explicitly a speaker for outdoor use, the case does not have any impact protection. In addition, the speaker is only certified according to the IPX5 standard, which means that it is protected against splashing water and jets of water, but cannot survive being submerged in water. So if the speaker falls into the pool, you can probably throw it away right away.
service and operation
In terms of operation, too, the Blitzwolf WA3 is light and dark. First the positives: We can easily connect the speaker to our smartphone or another mobile playback device via Bluetooth. An app is not required, pairing only takes a few seconds. Alternatively, we can also connect other devices with the included AUX cable or play music directly from a USB stick or SD card. If you want, you can use the TWS pairing function to connect two identical speakers for true stereo sound.
The operation works via a rubberized control panel, which we found to be quite confusing in the test. The problem: Only some of the buttons are self-explanatory and there are only small LEDs that indicate whether a particular feature is currently activated or not. Especially in the dark, users have to remember exactly which button is where and which light belongs to which feature. That could have been solved more skilfully.
Another problem are the keys themselves, which not only have double assignments, but also react with a delay. If we press the Play/Pause button, for example, it sometimes takes up to three seconds until the music is started or paused. Fortunately, the buttons for controlling the volume react more quickly, but we found the input lag of the play button to be annoying in the test.
There is no app for the Blitzwolf WA3, but the speaker has an integrated equalizer. Here we can switch between three EQ modes at the push of a button on the speaker, while a small LED shows which mode is currently active. We can also switch the lighting on or off at the touch of a button, but there are no different modes here.
sound
As our test of the Tronsmart Bang (test report) has already shown, high sound performance alone is not enough to overtake the competition. Compared to the Bluetooth speakers we have already tested, such as the Sony XB33 (test report) , the JBL Flip 5 (test report) or the Anker Soundcore Motion Boom (test report) , the Blitzwolf WA3 has by far the highest power, namely 100 watts. According to the manufacturer, the speaker’s frequency range is between 20 Hz and 16,000 Hz, which corresponds to the current standard for outdoor Bluetooth speakers.
We tested the sound of the WA3 in all three EQ modes with different songs – and found a sobering result. In normal mode, for example, Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked by Cage the Elephant sounds strangely out of round and distorted, but at the same time somehow dull. This impression is reinforced with Adele’s Rolling in the Deep , the guitar sounds even vibrate here and rattle strongly. The scratchy tones are retained in the treble mode, while the vocals become almost unbearably shrill and the basses rattle along with the drums like a rattle can – even at moderate volume.
The sound becomes particularly extreme when the bass mode is activated. In this case, we ran the speaker with the song Under the Influence by The Chemical Brothers. All the problems that we had already noticed in the other modes increased: the sound came out partly dull, even with reverberation from the speakers, while the low tones sounded scratchy and rattling. Overall it felt like someone had a band play in an empty subway tunnel and replaced parts of the drum kit with cans.
Overall, we were not able to tease out a remotely satisfactory sound from the WA3 in any setting and at any volume. Even those of you who do not attach great importance to the sound of a Bluetooth speaker for outdoor use are much better off with competing models at the same price as the Anker Soundcore Motion Boom (test report) .
battery and extras
Blitzwolf states the battery life of the WA3 as 12 to 20 hours, depending on the mode. In normal music use at medium volume, the speaker lasted around ten hours in our test; the 20 hours refer to the use of the speaker as a hands-free system for your own smartphone. In view of the power of 100 watts and the battery capacity of 5000 mAh, this is an acceptable value. The charging time for fully charging the WA3 is five hours and is therefore on a comparable level with other Bluetooth boxes such as the Sony XB33 (test report) or the Tronsmart Bang (test report) .
The Blitzwolf WA3 does not offer any special extras compared to the competition. Although the speaker supports voice control via Google Assistant or Siri, there is no integrated power bank or other additional features. Users can also use the device to make calls if the WA3 is paired with a smartphone.
Price
Blitzwolf is currently selling the WA3 at an RRP of 124 euros. This means that the speaker costs more than comparable models such as the Tronsmart Bang (test report) or the Anker Soundcore Motion Boom (test report) , which are currently available for around 100 euros. However, the street price is well below the manufacturer’s recommended price. Banggood (purchase link) only wants 80 euros for the BW-WA3 including shipping from China.
In the following price comparison, we show the cheapest waterproof Bluetooth speakers from 15 watts.
