Hey internet, I’m Ruby. I’m an artist and animator with a busy WFH schedule and a pretty rigorous biking habit. Even though I’m not a music junkie (I’ve been listening to the same playlist since 2017), I do appreciate good audio. So I spent a weekend using three audio products from onn.(opens in a new tab) , a line of tech gear sold exclusively at Walmart, to give my off-hours the good vibes they deserve. Here’s how my weekend with onn. played out.

Saturdays are for biking, rain or shine. With no gym membership or fitness instructor to hold me accountable, biking is the one method of exercise that I can actually commit to. Every Saturday evening, I ride over the Manhattan bridge, up and through Central Park, then back to Brooklyn. This Saturday I put the onn. Rugged Bluetooth Speaker with LED lighting(opens in a new tab)  into my bottle cage (a perfect fit). I knew it’s IPX7 waterproofing could handle the forecasted rain, and the groovy, pulsating LED light looked like a cool and colorful bicycle safety feature. The raised buttons on the top of the speaker made it easy to navigate through songs while riding. This was especially helpful when I needed to pump up the volume for my ride back over the bridge.

Summer in the city looks different this year. We’ve had to come up with some pretty innovative ways to stay entertained. Every Friday at 4pm, after a week of rising and grinding, my roommates and I set up a rooftop picnic and treat ourselves to a carefully curated plate of snacks, fizzy drinks, and of course, some tunes. This week, I brought the onn. Large Indoor Bluetooth Speaker(opens in a new tab) . Even with spotty rooftop wifi, onn.’s bluetooth pairing tech was easy and almost instantaneous. I was skeptical of how an indoor speaker would perform in the great outdoors, but pleasantly surprised by how clear and crisp the sound carried.

My roommates and I have gotten to know each other’s habits pretty well. Natalie’s smoothie schedule aligns perfectly with my morning reading routine. I usually drown out the whirring of frozen berries and mango chunks with a cheapo pair of in-ear headphones. Alas, the blender is always louder than my beats. Last Sunday, I came prepared with onn. Over Ear Noise Canceling Headphones(opens in a new tab) . I clicked a button and a friendly voice said, “noise-cancelling on” and I fell into a blender-free cushion of quiet. Two hours later I was still wearing the headphones, my ears didn’t hurt, and I had finished my book without being interrupted by the cacophony of Brooklyn sounds.

I have a confession: I never read product manuals. I’m so eager to get my hands on a new toy that I shred through the packaging and reading material. So imagine my surprise when I was able to pair the two onn. speakers without needing to dig through the recycling for instructions. By pure instinct, and great product design, I held down both bluetooth buttons on the onn. Rugged(opens in a new tab) and onn. Indoor(opens in a new tab) speakers. Two identical voices proclaimed “speakers paired” and I felt a sense of excitement, and even a little vindicated. Once paired, each speaker identified itself as “right channel” and “left channel.” My roommate and I cozied up to watch a scary movie with spooky surround sound, checking over our shoulders more than a few times to calm ourselves, “it’s just the speaker, it’s just the speaker.”