In this article, I’m reviewing the MIFA Wildbox Bluetooth speaker. The Wildbox is a 60W speaker with Bluetooth 5.3, RGB lighting and an IPX7 water resistance rating. It retails for around $119.

Disclaimer: This sample was provided by MIFA for the purpose of an honest review. All observations and opinions here are my own based on my experience with the product.

MIFA Wildbox

Design

If you’ve seen images or videos of the MIFA Wildbox, the first thing you probably noticed is the RGB lighting. Admittedly, before I received the speaker, I thought the lights were a cheesy gimmick. However, once the Wildbox was in my hands and powered on, I was impressed by the quality of the lighting and the number of preset patterns available.

The lights have functionality too: there’s a static, warm white mode that can be used as a basic nightlight. It’s not all that bright but it casts a soft warm glow, almost like candlelight. But what I really like is how when you hold the power button down, the LED lights turn green and display the current battery level. Furthermore, when the battery gets low, the light glows red.

Physically, the Wildbox has a standard shape with a large handle on top for easy portability. The body of the speaker is plastic but it feels sturdy enough that I wouldn’t be worried about carrying it around or throwing it in the back of the car. It weighs in at 3.42lbs.

With an IPX67 dust rating and IPX7 water-resistance rating, you don’t need to coddle this speaker – you can drop it in the swimming pool and it will keep on working. It floats too! At both ends of the speaker, there is a passive bass radiator surrounded by a ring-shaped LED.

You can pair up to 2 different devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops to the speaker.

Internally, there are 2 x 2.75″ woofers and 2 x 0.75″ tweeters. The Wildbox is powered by a 10000mAh lithium-ion battery. The battery life is rated at 24 hours but if you’re cranking up the volume, you can expect to get about half of that. The speaker can also be used as a power bank to charge your smartphone via the USB-A port on the rear of the unit.

Controls

All of the playback and function controls are located on the top of the Wildbox. Here’s a list of the buttons and associated functions (from left to right):

• BASS+: This one is self explanatory – it’s a bass boost button.
• Mode: The Mode button cycles through the available input methods – Bluetooth, Micro SD card and Auxiliary.
• Playback controls: Adjust the volume, play/pause/skip/rewind.
• LED lights control: A single press cycles through multiple lighting profiles and a long press turns the lights On or Off.
• Power button: A short press powers the speaker On or Off and a long press displays the battery level (via the LED rings).
• MIFA PartyAdd: With the PartyAdd function, you can chain multiple MIFA Wildbox speakers together.

Sound

In spite of its vibrant, party-going physical design, the MIFA Wildbox has a surprisingly mature presentation. It has a clear, vibrant sound that’s fairly balanced overall. It has a slight focus on vocals and the upper midrange.

The bass is tight and fast – even with the BASS+ mode enabled. In fact, considering how tame the low frequencies are, I can’t imagine why anyone would turn it off (it’s enabled by default at startup). As a result of the bass tuning, there’s no bloat or muddiness to the sound.

Those looking for a big fat bass might want to consider something different. That’s not to say the Wildbox lacks bass, just that it has a controlled and fairly neutral low end – especially when in open spaces. By placing the speaker close to a wall, or even better a corner, you can increase the perceived level of bass quite a bit.

The tone of the midrange is clean and articulate. It’s not an especially warm or rich midrange but it has enough body and fullness to prevent it sounding analytical. Vocals are upfront and energised, easily rising above instruments without being shouty.

There’s an upper midrange lift that adds clarity and detail to the mids and is responsible for the speaker’s slightly brighter midrange tone. The treble is relatively tame and rolls off in the upper bands. This is to be expected with portable Bluetooth speakers like this as it’s designed for fuss-free, go-anywhere music rather than critical listening.

Verdict

The MIFA Wildbox might seem like a casual and fun Bluetooth speaker (and it is) but when you look under the hood, you’ll see it’s a legitimately good audio product.

Not only does it have the build and performance to warrant your attention but it has the sound quality to back it up. If you’re looking for a fun, weatherproof speaker with good functionality and a mature sound signature, check out the Wildbox.