We like getting our hands on products from brands we've never heard about before because it gives us the opportunity to feature gadgets that a lot of people may have never heard about either. In this case, were taking a close look at a portable Bluetooth speaker that comes to us from a company called Paww. Paww's Soundbox 10 is its first and only portable speaker to boast a compact aluminum build with a sleek touch-sensitive interface and unusually boomy sound. And best of all it's rated highly on Amazon so it must be a great, right? Priced in at $100, this speaker has some serious completion and we're about to find out if the Soundbox 10 is as good as it claims to be.

While the SoundBox 10 is primarily made using a solid aluminum construction, both the front speaker grille and top touch-sensitive area are made out of plastic, which cheapens the quality right back down. The build quality is good, but isn't as good as other similarly priced alternatives such as the Flip 3 and UE Roll. The Soundbox 10 lacks water-resistant and drop-protective features which are essential for portable usage.

The sleek touch interface on the top is easily the most visually impressive feature of the Soundbox 10. Its evenly illuminated touch-sensitive button controls shine very brightly and look really sharp against the glossy black surface with their dot-matrix styled design. Alongside an NFC-enabled surface you'll find music playback controls to skip and pause music, adjust the volume independent from your audio source as well as answer calls using the built-in microphone and speakerphone functionality. The Bluetooth pairing button has a dual function purpose that can also be used to control the speakerphone feature of the Soundbox 10.

The slit running down the sides and around the back of the speaker is the bass escapement vent for the upwards facing passive bass radiator, which creates a lot of vibrations and air flow.

Around the back is the power on/off switch, a micro-USB charging input for charging the battery - as well as a 3.5mm audio input connection for all those non-Bluetooth devices.

The problem we have with the Soundbox 10 is the fact that it's really not an original speaker made by Paww, but in fact another generic speaker offered by some Chinese OEM for quick and easy rebranding opportunities. You can find the same exact speaker under a different brand for half the price on Amazon - the Orei Diamond. So I think that at this point you can rule out the Paww Soundbox 10 when there's a cheaper generic clone available like the Diamond. But before you do that, let's talk a little about sound and battery performance.

Battery life is very poor. So much so that this is the only portable speaker we've tested that fully drained from sitting idle for a week when it was fully charged. Not other speaker has even come close to such horrible standby time. This only goes to show that Paww's Soundbox 10 isn't very reliable when it comes to electronics and quality control testing.

The Soundbox 10 sounds fairly decent for its small, portable form factor. It's got two front facing drivers and one bass radiator, but because they're clumped so tightly together, the audio that comes out ends up sounding like a mono speaker, compressed and very directional. It isn't going to offer anything more than what other similarly sized speakers such as the UE Mini Boom already deliver. But considering the ridiculously high asking price, you'd be crazy not to get the JBL Flip 3 instead at relatively the same price point. Battery life and overall durability is much higher on the Flip 3, not to mention the sound quality is considerably superior in every way. But if your budget is less than that and you still want a rich sounding portable speaker, consider the Anker Bluetooth stereo speaker.

Amazon.com