I’m PCMag’s executive editor of reviews, steering our coverage to make sure we're testing the products you're interested in buying and telling you whether they're worth it. I've been here for more than 10 years. I previously managed the consumer electronics reviews team, and before that I covered mobile, smart home, and wearable technology for PCMag and Gigaom.
The Altec Lansing Bluetooth Shower Wireless Speaker (IMW395) is great for listening to podcasts and taking calls in the shower, but suffers from serious distortion issues when playing music.
I like to listen to podcasts in the shower. You'd think it would be relatively simple to find a speaker up to the task, but most of the shower-friendly models I've tested lack the power needed to hear the Savage Lovecast over the sound of running water. That's not a problem for the $59.99 Altec Lansing Bluetooth Shower Wireless Speaker (IMW395), which is the loudest shower speaker I've heard, and with a great speakerphone to boot. Listening to music is a problem, though, as the IMW395 suffers from some heavy distortion issues at louder volumes.
Design and Setup Appropriately for the shower, the IMW395 speaker looks a lot like soap on a rope. The white plastic speaker comes permanently attached to a light blue rubber cord, which makes it easy to hang over your showerhead or on the ring of a shower basket. It also works as a general-use portable Bluetooth speaker, so you can use it anywhere a water-resistant speaker is needed, like in the kitchen or by the pool.
All of your controls are located on the front of the speaker. There are two large Volume buttons, between which are sandwiched a Power button and a multifunction Call/Play/Pause button. The Power and multifunction buttons feel a bit crowded, and I accidentally triggered the wrong one on more than one occasion. Pressing and holding down the volume buttons allows you to skip between tracks, which is convenient when you're in the shower.
A covered charging port sits on the right side of the speaker. The IMW395 is water-resistant, so it can get wet (which means it's fine in the shower), but it isn't waterproof, so it can't be submerged. In other words, keep it out of the tub. It can be charged via an included micro USB cable, though you'll need a free USB port as it doesn't include a power adapter. The battery is rated for five hours of life at 60-percent volume. That should be good for about a week's worth of showers, which isn't bad, though your mileage will vary depending on how loud you listen to your music.
Pairing the speaker via Bluetooth is easy. It enters pairing mode when you turn it on, so all you have to do is activate Bluetooth on your device, locate the speaker in the Bluetooth device list, and select it to pair. After the initial pairing, the speaker will automatically connect to your paired device whenever it is in range; I had no trouble using it within the standard 30-foot Bluetooth range. The speaker also supports NFC, so you can simply tap your NFC-compatible device to the NFC logo on the back of the speaker to pair.
Performance and Conclusions Audio performance on the IMW395 is a mixed bag. On one hand, the speaker gets quite loud. That makes it ideal for listening to podcasts, which tend to be much softer than music. Compared with shower speakers like the Kohler Moxie ($149.98 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) and the Freshetech Splash Shower Tunes ($22.95 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , the IMW395 never gets overpowered by the sound of water, even when listening to some quieter voices. If you've had trouble hearing other shower speakers, this is the one to get.
On the other hand, IMW395 simply isn't very good for listening to music. It doesn't provide much in the way of low-end response, yet it still suffers from heavy distortion issues if you turn the volume up much higher than 60 percent. Tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," become virtually unrecognizable as the speaker pops and rattles with distortion. Even on less challenging tracks, audio becomes highly distorted as soon as you push volume up to the three-quarter mark. Deeper voices on podcasts are affected as well, though luckily the sound of the shower cancels out a lot of that distortion.
Even if you don't turn things up too high, the speaker delivers middling performance at best. It lacks warmth, so tracks with a lot of midrange, like Radiohead's "Paranoid Android," sound too bright. Jazz tracks, like the Bill Evans Trio's "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," sound tinny enough that they start to resemble elevator music.
On the plus side, the IMW395 features a good speakerphone function. Voices come through loud and clear, and were perfectly understandable on the other end as well. I didn't try to make any calls from the shower, but I imagine that will add some considerable background noise. Still, it's a convenient feature for when you've got the speaker on while getting ready and a call comes through.
If you like to listen to music in the shower, you should probably pass on the Altec Lansing IMW395. You can get far better sound quality with a lot less distortion with options like the Kohler Moxie, which combines a solid Bluetooth speaker with a high-quality showerhead, or the Boom Movement Swimmer ( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , which is a versatile water-resistant speaker with much better sound quality. Even the inexpensive Freshetech Splash doesn't distort, even if its performance isn't all that notable otherwise. But if you like to listen to podcasts, and can deal with some distortion issues at high volumes, the IMW395 comes through. It gets very loud, and its versatile design and affordable price make it worth considering.
The Altec Lansing Bluetooth Shower Wireless Speaker (IMW395) is great for listening to podcasts and taking calls in the shower, but suffers from serious distortion issues when playing music.
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I’m PCMag’s executive editor of reviews, steering our coverage to make sure we're testing the products you're interested in buying and telling you whether they're worth it. I've been here for more than 10 years. I previously managed the consumer electronics reviews team, and before that I covered mobile, smart home, and wearable technology for PCMag and Gigaom.
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