year in review

This $xv Bluetooth Shower Speaker Is the All-time Thing I Bought All Year

The SoundBot shower speaker suctioned to the wall of a shower, next to a shower caddy.

The SoundBot suctions to the wall of your shower and comes in six colors. Photo: Jen Trolio

If you lot've read any of our Strategist editor hauls, you'll know that our writers and editors purchase a lot of stuff, and even though nosotros retrieve advisedly near each thing that goes into our carts, there are withal standouts. To close out the year, we've asked our staffers to write about the best thing they bought in the by 12 months . Today, contributor Rio Viera-Newton on the cheap in-shower speaker that makes her excessively long showers really fun.

Piddling known fact: I accept extremely long showers. I spent years double-processing my dark-brown hair to platinum. So on launder days, extra hair care like deep-conditioning treatments are a must, otherwise I run the take chances of breakage. The longer yous leave moisturizing masks in your hair, the more effective they go, and then sometimes I find myself standing in the shower for upward to 45 minutes. Not to mention the extra time I spend cleansing my face, washing and exfoliating my body, and advisedly shaving.

(If you're raising an eyebrow at my water usage — which is completely fair! — know that I collect at to the lowest degree some of it in a bucket to use for mopping and watering plants. Or I plow off the water and just stand up at that place in the estrus and steam. I personally observe this experience far less cumbersome than getting out, waiting around, and so getting back in. Who wants to sit around the house common cold, dripping wet, in a soggy towel?)

All this simply to say I quite oft notice myself overcome with colorlessness while showering. I'yard standing there doing goose egg, and every infinitesimal I'm waiting for my hair mask to sink in feels like an hour. I've found myself reading the backs of hair-care bottles only to keep myself distracted (I did learn that a canteen of shampoo contains up to 85 percent water; isn't that wild?). I tried to boom a podcast on a speaker in my bathroom, simply for any reason the glass door of my shower is like a soundproof booth and I can barely hear a thing.

Back in Oct, as I was stepping out of another lengthy, tedious shower, an idea suddenly came to me: Why don't I get a speaker that sits in the shower? I googled "shower-friendly speaker" and was quickly directed to a production on Amazon called the SoundBot — a water-resistant Bluetooth speaker designed particularly for the shower. After reading a few rave reviews ("Lifechanging!" "I tin't breast-stroke without it now!"), I decided I couldn't live without it.

SoundBot SB510 HD Water Resistant Bluetooth 3.0 Shower Speaker

The speaker itself is about 3.v inches in bore and has a little suction cup on the back of it then it sticks to the wall of your shower and allows for piece of cake access. Since you can identify it at the perfect peak, you don't have to reach downwards to dabble with it and risk accidentally slipping (I'g extremely clumsy, so I have to take these things into consideration). It also has a few control buttons — they're almost the size of a dime, so they're easy to use even with slippery soapy fingers — including one to start and pause the sound as well as ones to fast forward and rewind. You tin even respond calls on it, as information technology has a built-in microphone. I barely always apply this function, simply I volition admit it came in handy once in an emergency. Recently, my swain'due south mom came to stay with us and couldn't believe how much it elevated our dirty lilliputian shower; I could hear her blasting classical music from the hallway.

The quality of the sound isn't Sonos level or anything, but the SoundBot works in the ways you need information technology to. Y'all tin hear music or podcasts clearly, and it really gets pretty loud (the next-song and previous-song buttons also work to command book if y'all press them quickly, one time). Sometimes I listen to my Spotify playlist if I'1000 getting ready to go out for the night — Madonna's "Borderline" came on every bit I was shaving my legs the other 24-hour interval and felt like I was in an '80s coming-of-age rom-com montage — and in the mornings I'll heed to news like NPR's "Up Starting time" or BBC's "Global News." Information technology also has a good battery life; I but need to charge it every few weeks, even with consistent daily use.

Since I've purchased this little speaker, my shower time has become non just tolerable but genuinely fun and entertaining. Recently, I found myself dandy upwards with soap in my eyes listening to My Favorite Murder after a long 24-hour interval. Because I'm now busy listening to shows, podcasts, and music in the shower, I find that I'thousand finally willing to let my Christophe Robin Prickly Pear hair mask sink in for xx-plus minutes rather than just ten — probably longer than I ever accept. The SoundBot hasn't just improved my shower experience; information technology's also left my hair looking improve than e'er, likewise.

The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy beyond the vast east-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments , rolling luggage , pillows for side sleepers , natural anxiety remedies , and bathroom towels . Nosotros update links when possible, only note that deals can elapse and all prices are subject area to change.

This $fifteen Shower Speaker Is the All-time Thing I Bought All Year