Monoprice is a brand that is well-known for selling its own version of popular consumer electronics accessories and products. This includes everything from computer cables to desks. The appeal of Monoprice products is in the name — the price tends to be considerably lower than the name brands it competes against, for better value. I recently tested out the company’s Harmony Capsule 200. This is a rugged, portable Bluetooth speaker that looks more than a little like market leaders such as the Ultimate Ears Boom 3 (reviewed here). But at less than half the price.

The question is, can Monoprice deliver a solid portable speaker experience at the Harmony Capsule 200’s $69.99 price? Read on to find out!

As expected with Monoprice products, the Harmony Capsule 200 showed up a plain white box. Nothing wrong with that. Since these speakers are sold direct, there’s no need for fancy packaging to attract attention on a store shelf. It makes the packaging easier to recycle. And I’d rather see a company spend a few extra bucks on speaker components than color images and magnetic closures on the box.

With Monoprice products, you're not paying for fancy packaging.

The speaker itself is a take on the familiar cylinder form factor. It’s clad in black mesh and stands nearly 9-inches tall. It even has the super-sized “+” and “-“ volume buttons that are a bit of an Ultimate Ears hallmark. However, there are some unique features here. The ends have raised, rubberized feet. Why bother? Because the end caps are passive radiators. Having the end raised slightly gives the bottom radiator room to move air. There are also feet molded onto one of the side surfaces.

Unlike most cylindrical speakers, this one can be used in both upright and horizontal positions.

Yes, that's a Micro SD card slot. And feet for using this cylindrical speaker in horizontal mode.

Also unique is the sealed compartment that contains not just the expected charge input (USB-C) and a 3.5mm audio jack, but also a Micro SD card slot. This means you can stream music wirelessly using Bluetooth, plug in your phone or audio source, or load up a Micro SD card with MP3 files.

The overall impression? It’s a bit larger and heavier than expected and the black on black design is a bit bland, but it definitely looks and feels rugged. I should note that those volume buttons (in addition to the power and music control buttons beneath them) are very stiff with minimal tactile feedback. You really need to put pressure on them.

The end caps are bass radiators.

For a $70 portable speaker, the Harmony Capsule 200 has impressive specs. At least on paper. There is a 66mm driver with 18W of power, a pair of 52mm drivers with 6W each, and the dual bass radiators (one on each end cap). Monoprice is using custom DSP EQ tuning. If you’re keeping count, that’s 30W of power, three drivers, and two bass radiators — no word on whether the drivers are woofers, tweeters, or full-range.

Unfortunately, the specs on paper don’t quite translate to real life performance. In my experience, the bass had some punch, but didn’t extend to much of a deep low end response. The higher end was there, but really high notes were clipped. The worst was the midrange, which was underwhelming. The overall effect was a sound that came out muddied. The impact of this tuning could vary considerably based on the music being played. For example, a song like Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence” sounded pretty good. A song with a lot of guitar noise like the Psychedelic Furs’ “Forever Now” suffered.

That 30W of power also proved to be not quite what you might expect. Yes, the speaker can get very loud. Unfortunately, once the volume started hitting upper levels, distortion kicked in. At anywhere near maximum volume, it was basically unlistenable.

The box claims that the Harmony Capsule 200 offers 360-degree audio. This is true in the sense that there are drivers pointing in multiple directions. However I found that this is a little misleading. There is a noticeable difference in audio quality depending on which drivers are facing the listener. Whether in vertical or horizontal positioning, I had the best experience if I oriented the speaker so that the two smaller drivers were pointing toward me. Doing so helped to minimize the “muddiness.”

That being said, for a $70 speaker, the Harmony Capsule 200’s audio performance was acceptable.

Add a second speaker for TWS stereo, and the audio situation gets more interesting.

Portable Bluetooth speakers deliver mono sound, no matter how many drivers they have. Some — like the Harmony Capsule 200 — offer the option of wirelessly pairing a second speaker to deliver true, 2-channel stereo sound. Stereo sound is such an improvement over mono that it can overcome a lot of other issues. That’s the case with the Harmony Capsule 200.

Monoprice sent me a pair of them so I could test the feature. Activating it couldn’t be easier. With both speakers powered up, hold the “play” button on one for a few seconds until it beeps. Done, they’re paired. With some distance between the two speakers to get the true stereo effect, the difference is night and day. Yes, the muddy midrange is still there and cranking the volume up still gets messy. But with stereo sound, shortcomings fade into the background a bit.

With other portable speakers, the option of buying a second speaker for stereo sound is expensive and I doubt there are many takers on the feature. With the Harmony Capsule 200 it increases your total investment to $140, which is still relatively modest. It’s worth it, if you’re willing to cart around a second speaker.

IPPX7 water resistance means bad weather is not a problem.

Monoprice says the speaker’s 2200mAh battery should last for up to 8-10 hours of continuous play time. As always, that will vary based on music volume and whether it is used in extreme temperatures. During my testing, eight hours was typical, but I kept the volume reasonable. That’s not great compared to some other portable speakers, but it’s enough for a day at the pool, or to keep music playing for a party.

There are no claims about how rugged the Harmony Capsule 200 might be, but it certainly looks the part and nothing about it seems fragile. I would expect it would have no problem should it fall off a table onto the deck. It does have an IPX7 water resistance rating. This means weather is no issue. I actually had it outdoors with me in both snow and rain with no ill effects. It is also rated to survive a dunking in up to three feet of water.

A decent portable Bluetooth speaker for the price.

Unless you are on a tight budget, I would not recommend the Harmony Capsule 200 as your primary music system. If $70 is your ceiling, then sure. It’s not perfect but the sound is better than many speakers in this price range, and it’s built to survive the outdoors. However, if you can go up to $100 or $150, there are a number of portable speakers that deliver superior sound to choose from.

That being said, as a portable speaker to bring with you to parties, the pool, the beach, camping, or anywhere that you maybe wouldn’t want to risk an expensive speaker being damaged or lost, the $69.99 Harmony Capsule 200 would be a great option. The audio may not be great but it’s passable, the speaker is water resistant, and it’s cheap to replace. Buy one of these to take on the road and save your good speaker for home use.

The other scenario where you might want to consider this is if you are looking for a compact, stereo, Bluetooth audio system. $140 for a pair of Monoprice Harmony Capsule 200s is tough to beat and some of the speaker’s audio shortcomings are less evident in TWS stereo mode.

Disclosure: Monoprice provided speakers for evaluation purposes but had no input into this review.