Review: RockStic offers portable speaker/integrated iPod dock

Posted by Dennis Sellers Sep 19, 2007 at 1:07pm

ZAGG’s RockStic is an US$69.95 portable speaker system designed for the iPod (and also compatible with most digital media players and computers thanks to a line-in option) that sounds reasonably well and has the advantage of being an integrated iPod dock that permits and charging and playing of an iPod at the same time.

The RockStic has an aluminum construction and is available in a variety of colors (silver, black and pink). It comes with a full function remote that works well within a 10 or 12 foot range. A 5G iPod slips right into the RockStic; for the first and second nanos and older iPods there are various docking plates to accommodate their sizes. I THINK some of them will work with the 3G iPod nano and the iPod classic; however, I haven’t confirmed this, so you’ll want to before you buy one for a new iPod.

The sound quality is a mixed bag. The RockStick scores well on the volume scale; you can crank up the volume with less distortion than I expected on a speaker system of this size. The speaker has a high mid-range, which means you’ll probably want to play around with your EQ settings to fix the right mix. As for bass, it’s mediocre: not terrible, not great. I’ve also heard some complaints that the RockStick picks up iPod hard drive interference during playback, but I haven’t experienced this.

The RockStic is rugged, durable and compact enough to make it easy to toss into a backpack or suitcase. On the other hand. a travel case should have been included since it is touted as a portable speaker system.

You probably won’t want to use the RockStic as your main speaker system. However, as an extra speaker system/iPod charger for use on the road or when sitting outside, it works well enough.

Macsimum rating: 6.5 out of 10.

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