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Groov-e Wave Glow review: a portable, budget Bluetooth speaker that sadly doesn’t sound good enough to make the grade
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Groov-e Wave Glow: two-minute review
The Groov-e Wave Glow is a very affordable portable speaker and one with sound quality to match that price tag. Yes, this is one that will infuriate the ears of audiophiles sounding somewhat tinny at times and slightly lacking any oomph across the course of my listening.
On the other hand, it has some funky looking lights which I found rather endearing, a comfy to grip strap, and some surprising ways to connect it to your music. Besides Bluetooth, you can also plug in a USB flash drive, slot in a TF card (both admittedly with a tight 64GB limit), and there’s an aux port. It’s not often you see these features in a tiny speaker any more. Granted, not everyone will need these but if you do, well, your options are limited making this more tempting.
Of course, don’t count on it rivalling the best Bluetooth speakers. This is a decidedly cheap speaker. It feels a little cheap to the touch and there’s that dodgy sound quality. I say dodgy; it’s reminiscent of buying a cheap radio or speaker years ago, before good speakers were affordable for the masses. It’s not hideous, exactly, but it’s also fairly ‘blah’.
Away from that disappointing audio quality, the Groov-e Wave Glow has some chunky, tactile buttons for play/pause, volume, and adjusting the lights, and the ports are all hidden behind a pull-out protective shell. Then there’s the lights up top and down bottom, and the elastic strap.
The Groov-e Wave Glow is priced at £23.99 and at the moment is only seemingly available in the UK, but that would make it under $35, or around AU$50. For that price, it’d be silly to expect too much, but if you can stretch further, you will find better options – more on those later. If money is that tight, however, or you’re looking for a cheap gift, the Groov-e Wave Glow still has some appeal.
Groov-e Wave Glow review: price and release date
- Released May 2025
- £23.99 at launch
- Limited availability
The Groov-e Wave Glow was launched in May 2025 and is currently available to buy in the UK. It’s already seen some modest discounts but is generally available for £23.99.
That makes it one of the cheaper speakers around. The recently released Tribit Stormbox Mini Plus is close but is still usually priced at £39.99. If you’re able to increase your budget to that, there are a few other options like the JBL Go 4, but few as cheap as this one.
Groov-e Wave Glow review: specs
Weight | 645g |
Dimensions | 13.7 x 8 x 7.5 cm |
Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.3, aux-in, USB-C (charging) |
Battery life | 8 hours (quoted) |
Speaker drivers | 10W |
Waterproofing | n/a |
Groov-e Wave Glow review: features
- AUX port, microSD slot, and USB flash drive support
- LED lights
- 8-hour battery life
The Groov-e Wave Glow is a fairly typical looking little Bluetooth speaker but with some surprising features. The highlight is its plethora of connections. Sure, you’ll be mostly using its Bluetooth connection, but it has other options. You can use its aux port to connect to other devices (and the speaker actually comes with a 3.5mm jack), while next to it is a TF (read: microSD) card slot, and the USB connection allows you to plug in a USB flash drive. Admittedly, both microSD and USB have a limitation of 64GB so you might have to search around for a compatible option, but it could be that specific situation that fits you perfectly.
There are no mics for speakerphone duties (although few speakers seem to offer that, these days) and battery life is a very unremarkable 8 hours. I’d have liked to have seen more here, especially as it takes 2 hours for a full recharge. Its Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity works fine and I had no issues using it with my iPhone 14 Pro but there were occasional dropouts on my PC – usually when I moved the speaker around.
Elsewhere, the LED lights are my favorite thing about the Groov-e Wave Glow. They visually bounce away while playing music and look suitably vibrant and exciting. They’re potentially more exciting than the audio quality, but I’ll get to that. It’s a neat touch either way and makes up for the lack of app support and thus in-app customization.
Groov-e Wave Glow review: sound quality
I didn’t expect much of the Groov-e Wave Glow but I have to be honest, it actually sounded a little worse than anticipated. It’s functional, of course, but pretty tinny at times. There’s no bass to speak of, but my word, do the lights try to atone for that. You’re encouraged to feel like it’s doing its best, happily bouncing along. However, it’s pretty tame stuff.
Listening to spoken word – a podcast or YouTube video, say – is fine, but when you switch over to your favorite music, the limitations are much more noticeable. The volume can go pretty high, but that weakens the experience even more. I went for my cheesy favorite, Robbie William’s Let Me Entertain You to start, knowing exactly how it’s meant to sound and there was no urgency or strength in the mids.
I went bold then and loaded up some Muse and sighed as it sounded somewhat pitiful. The soundstage is weak but more importantly, the bass and general ambience is underwhelming.
Groov-e Wave Glow review: design
- Comfy elasticated strap
- Tactile buttons
- Well hidden ports
The Groov-e Wave Glow is certainly exactly how you expect a speaker to look, but there are a few highlights. I’m a big fan of its buttons being attractive but tactile too, so anyone with visual impairments can find what they’re wanting to press. There are buttons for play/pause, volume, and for toggling the lights on or off.
There’s a chunky section for the ports too which blends in well and feels suitably snug. On another side is the strap which is elasticated but held in quite tightly. The idea is that you can easily hold it through the strap but also attach it to something like a hook. It feels nice in your hands which is the main thing here.
As with other similar speakers, the Groov-e Wave Glow is pretty lightweight to carry around. Up top and down the bottom is the lighting so you can place the Groov-e Wave Glow sideways as well as upright.
What lets it down in this section – and why not go higher than four stars? Well, any discussion on the design has to include the audio architecture under the hood, and as you’ll know if you’ve read this far, this area is where the Wave Glow struggles. Also, unusually for a speaker in 2025, there’s no mention of an IP rating for water or dust ingress – so it won’t be joining the ranks of our best waterproof speakers buying guide any time soon.
Groov-e Wave Glow review: value
- Very cheap
- Sturdy design
- Useful for a specific situation
The Groov-e Wave Glow is certainly cheap but its sound quality demonstrates exactly why it’s so cheap. Having said that, the aux port, USB flash drive support, and TF card slot could make it exactly what you’ve been looking for. For those people, there’s not much else to rival the Groov-e Wave Glow at this price.
However, if you’re looking for good audio, it’s a smart move to spend a little more on the JBL Go range or something from Anker Soundcore. The Groov-e Wave Glow definitely isn’t the best choice for music lovers, but it is super cheap and for many, that’s the priority.
Should I buy the Groov-e Wave Glow?
Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
Features | No app, but there are a few notable extras not on other models | 4/5 |
Sound quality | The weakest element by far when considering the Wave Glow: tinny and lacking in low end | 2/5 |
Design | Useful straps, fun lights and tactile buttons | 4/5 |
Value | It’s cheap, but given the sound quality, spending less doesn’t always mean value | 3/5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Groov-e Wave Glow review: also consider
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Groov-e Wave Glow | Tribit Stormbox Mini Plus | JBL Clip 5 |
Price | £23.99; limited availability in other markets | $39.99 / £32 / AU$65 (approx.) | $79.95 / £59.99 / AU$89.95 |
Weight | 645g | 545g | 285g |
Dimensions | 13.7 x 8 x 7.5 cm | 90.9 x 90.9 x 118.9 mm | 86 x 134.5 x 46 mm |
Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.3, aux-in, USB-C (charging) | Bluetooth 5.4 (SBC, AAC codecs), AUX-in, USB-C (charging) | Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C (charging) |
Battery life | 8 hours (quoted) | 12 hours (quoted) | Up to 12 hours |
Speaker drivers | 10W (dimensions not stated) | 48mm | Integrated class D digital amplifiers x 1 |
Waterproofing | n/a | IPX7 | IP67 |
Groov-e Wave Glow review: how I tested
- Tested over 14 days
- Used with Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Twitch
- 15 years of audio equipment reviewing experience
I used the Groov-e Wave Glow across 14 days in a wide range of ways. I connected it to my PC initially and listened to Spotify, Apple Music and Twitch using that as a source device, then moved to my iPhone 14 Pro.
That meant a solid mixture of spoken audio and also music. My music taste is fairly varied so it went from Robbie Williams to Muse to Chet Baker to various pieces of classical music. I also checked how good battery life appeared to be and monitored how long it took to recharge.
I have 15 years of experience testing audio equipment, specialising in portable, affordable products just like the Groov-e Wave Glow.
