INTRODUCTION

   After having used and tested a whole bunch of portable speakers over the past few years last month we received the NuForce Cube High Performance Portable Speaker which ended up blowing our minds since thanks to its size/volume/clarity combo it's probably (we can never be 100% certain with the amount of portable speakers in the market) the best such gadget one can get in the market currently. However the electronics industry is a place filled with surprises (mostly pleasant ones) so just a week ago we started using/testing another pair of portable speakers sized almost the same as the NuForce Cube and also without featuring Bluetooth connectivity. Instead they pack 4GB of internal memory allowing the end user to store and playback a large number of his/hers music collection without having to connect them to a source. We are of course talking about the POWER and BOOM memory 4GB portable speakers by RockDoc.

   RockDoc, LLC and Armando Christian Perez, also known as international music sensation Pitbull, teamed up to develop a revolutionary portable speaker line based on their proprietary Weave Technology. Leading consumer electronics supplier VisionTek has been contracted to bring the complete line-up of RockDoc® brand products to the consumer market in North America. RockDoc, LLC and VisionTek plan to make the line of products available through GameStop, BestBuy, Fry’s Electronics, CDW, TigerDirect, CompUSA, Costco, and other leading retailers, as well as online through www.rockdoc.com. All RockDoc® branded products come with a one year warranty and VisionTek’s world-class toll free technical support.

   As far back as i can remember i always wondered why it was that manufacturers chose to never built-in internal memory along with a basic mp3/mp4 player to their portable speakers to also make them complete standalone audio players. This thought has been crossing my mind even more during the past couple of years since the prices for both mp3/mp4 players and memory modules have taken such a serious plunge that 2,4 or even 8GB should cost manufacturers almost nothing in mass production numbers. Of course i am not in the manufacturing segment so i don't know what an acceptable cost for each manufacturer is but now that we just finished testing the RockDoc Memory Portable Speakers i can't believe this was ever about cost. So RockDoc has equipped their Memory Portable Speakers with aluminum housings, a total of 4GB (expandable to 64GB via Micro SD/TF card), MP3/MP4 player, 3.5mm port for analog connection and full playback/volume control buttons. The POWER model comes with a single/mono 40mm driver while the BOOM model features two/stereo 40mm drivers for more "demanding" situations. The drivers used in both models use proprietary Weave technology, frequency response of 150-18000Hz (+-3dB), power output of 3W (each driver) and a magnetic resistance of 4Ohm. So as you can all see in the features/specifications department the RockDoc Memory Portable Speakers shine but how well do they perform is for us to find out and we did.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

POWER

BOOM

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Both speakers arrived inside small clear plastic boxes that allow you to see them in 3 out of 4 sides (front/left/rear).

On the right behind the clear plastic we see a piece of paper informing the consumer about the main features of the RockDoc portable speakers (these are also endorced by the music artist called Pitbull).

Both speakers come with their own micro-USB charging cables/ 3.5mm cables (2 in 1) and instruction manuals however the POWER model also features a small lanyard (it’s so small and light that you can easily carry it around with the lanyard).

THE POWER MEMORY 4GB

The POWER portable speaker features an aluminum housing and is very small measuring just 49mm in length, 49mm in width and 50mm in height with a weight of just 110g.

Unlike the BOOM the POWER variant features a single 40mm driver pointed upwards.

The power on/off button is placed at the front of the speaker right beneath the company logo.

Moving to the right side we see the 3.5mm headphones port, micro-USB port (used for charging and transferring of files) and the micro SD/TF card slot.

The playback buttons are placed at the base of the speaker and i really think they look great (a lot better compared to the BOOM version).

THE BOOM MEMORY 4GB

The BOOM also features nice aluminum housing but it's somewhat larger than the POWER model measuring 75mm in length, 49mm in width and 52mm in height with a weight of 153g.

One 40mm driver is placed on each side to produce a stereo effect (however due to battery limitations these two are not much louder than the one of the POWER model).

At the front we see the playback buttons (the next/previous track buttons also double as the volume control ones).

The Micro SD/TF card slot, micro-USB port, 3.5mm headphones port and the power on/off switch are placed at the rear.

Here we have placed both the POWER and BOOM portable speakers right next to the NuForce Cube, the Sandberg Pocket Bluetooth Speaker and the BeatBlock Premium Wireless Speaker by Tech-Life to see exactly how large they are.

The RockDoc BOOM also has a nice blue pulsating LED underneath for when the speaker is being used (unfortunately you can't turn it off).

CONCLUSION

   Shortly after finishing our test of the NuForce Cube we ended up using both the POWER and BOOM portable speakers for a total of 6 days during which we found out that the 4GB built-in memory was more than enough to hold all of our favorite tunes and then some. Both speakers performed almost on-par with the NuForce Cube and the only reason i say almost is because the POWER model was slightly less powerful, on the other hand however the BOOM easily surpassed both. Audio quality was also very good but just like the NuForce Cube we did encounter some slight audio distortion at maxed out volume levels especially with pop songs but as always with such tiny solutions that was expected. Battery-life is also very good since we did use both speakers for well over 6 hours continuously each time at almost maxed volume levels (which is really superb considering both units are not only portable speaker but also MP3/MP4 players) however since we don't have official specifications for the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used we can't say if it should be more or less. The sole problem we encountered with both units was the inability to playback some MP4 files but since MP3 is a much more popular format we doubt that people will be using anything else.

   Price is always one of the most decisive factors when picking up the right device for your needs and so naturally when we saw that both the POWER and BOOM portable memory speakers by RockDoc featured an internal MP3/4 player along with 4GB of memory we thought that they would cost quite a bit. Well it so happens that we were wrong and so currently the POWER model retails for just USD35.19 (Amazon.com) while the larger BOOM model for just USD44 inside the USA (Amazon.com). So as you can see RockDoc has not only introduced portable memory speakers that feature high quality aluminum housing and have plenty of volume, built-in MP3/4 players and 4GB of built-in memory but they also come at extremely low price tags. Now i do hope they make something even larger with more memory and naturally more powerful speakers but until/if that happens their Portable Memory Speakers win our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (Aluminum Housings)
- Size/Weight
- Design
- 2 In One (Portable Speaker/MP3-4 Player)
- 4GB Of Internal Memory (Expandable To 64GB)
- Volume Levels
- Audio Clarity
- Battery Life (Exceeds 6 Hours At High Volume)
- Micro SD/TF Expansion Slot (Compatible With 64GB Cards)
- 3 Available Colors (Silver/Blue/Black)
- Price 

CONS

- No Bluetooth Connectivity (There's A Bluetooth Variant Available However)
- Playback Issue With Some MP4 Files