“Why do you need a Bluetooth speaker on your bike anyway? Why not just wear Bluetooth earbuds?”

Great question! Two reasons… First, I don’t want anything in my ears that will prevent me from hearing the sounds around me for safety reasons. Second, I am one of those tin foil hat people who doesn’t relish the idea of a Bluetooth device sitting smack up next to my brain.

I ordered two different Bluetooth speakers for my road bike… one is the Avantree and one is the Zealot. I ordered both to see which I liked better and which one I’ll be returning. I’ll be reviewing them both here.

SOUND QUALITY WINNER: Avantree
The Avantree’s sound is hands down superior to the Zealot. It puts out a rich, round sound, and has a good balance of low and high tones. It also seems to get louder than the Zealot which is nice in loud riding environments. Also, oddly, when you’re playing loud 80s hair band music, you almost never have to yell ahead “On your left!” because folks can hear you coming. :o) The Zealot sound quality leaves a fair amount to be desired in terms of sound quality. It lacks a full spectrum of sound from high to low and sounds “cheap.” The Avantree has a large speaker surface area on the long side of the unit, which no doubt contributes to its sound quality, while the Zealot has only one small speaker on the end of the unit, about 2 inches across.

SIZE / WEIGHT WINNER: Zealot
The Avantree is quite a bit larger than the Zealot as you can see in the pictures. (The Zealot is the grayish color one mounted on the handlebars and the Avantree is mounted on the top tube). The Zealot is quite a bit smaller and lighter in weight than the Avantree. The Avantree has the heft of a higher quality unit however it’s so heavy that when mounted on the top tube as shown in the photos, the weight of it slooooowly pulls the mounting bracket down around the tube, so the speaker ends up sitting on the left side of the tube as I ride, which gets in the way of my left knee. I have to use my hand and push/pull it back to vertical about every 15 minutes or so, which aggravates me. I am going to try to tighten the silicone mounting straps, but I’m not hopeful that they will get any tighter than they currently are. For a workaround option, I could simply remove the Avantree’s mounting bracket from the top tube and slip the speaker into one of my existing white water bottle caddies, (see pic) but that leaves me with only one water bottle and on a long ride, that’s no bueno. This one flaw COULD be the thing that makes me return this otherwise great sounding speaker.

MULTI-FUNCTION WINNER: Zealot
One advantage of the Zealot over the Avantree is the Zealot offers multi-functionality, whereas the Avantree is only a speaker. The Zealot acts as a front headlight, which is really nice, especially since space is at a premium on my handlebars. The fact that it performs two important functions is very handy. Plus, it also acts as a backup charger for your phone if need be. Granted, I don’t know how well it does on charging your device, but it does offer that functionality.

CHARGING WINNER: Tie!
The Avantree has a micro-USB charging port, as well as an aux (mini-plug) option. I believe the Zealot has those same connectors. They both charge quickly when plugged into a wall. As for battery life, they seem similar so far, but in fairness I haven’t run either one for more than two hours at a time.

EASE OF USE WINNER: Tie!
The Bluetooth is very simple to connect to on both speakers. The controls are few and simple. Both are encased in silicone, however the Avantree says it’s “water resistant” while the Zealot says it’s “waterproof.” Fortunately it hasn’t rained on me since I’ve been riding with these on the bike, so I can’t tell you how well they hold up to water.

Honestly I’m not sure which one I’ll keep yet. I need to try them a few more days to make up my mind. I’m kind of torn. Would love your input! Thanks!

I like it works great and easy to setup

Lo practico y fácil de conectar al Bluetooth, resistente contra el agua, pequeño. Me hubiera gustado tuviera mejor calidad de sonido en cuanto a volumen.

I have now owned my Zealot Bluetooth speaker/Light for over 3 months. It is quite a workhorse. I purchased this to replace my Photive Bike Speaker. The Photive introduced me to the luxury of having music safely while I biked, but it’s mounting hardware made it unreliable and prone to falling off bracket.
That will definitely not be happening with the Zealot. It has a hard compressed thick plastic mount that fits tightly to the handlebar and the speaker screws on to it like a camera to a tripod, so it isn’t falling off during a bump. BTW, you can also use it to mount a Go-Pro or similar camera that has screw mount. (I notice a lot of complaints about mounts breaking. It is a small fit and if you screw too tight the hinge pin can break. I would say the maximum circumference is about 3-1/2 inches. My handlebar is 3 inches and I use a spacer, so measure before considering. When installing do not over-tighten).
The light is super bright on high mode, that I can’t even look into it without it blinding. It has three modes: Bright, Dim and Bright Flashing (S.O.S.). It is large in size like a hand-held flashlight and the silicone rubber covering makes it quite water-resistant. I have the sporty red color.
I ride my bike to work everyday in most conditions, except in extreme snow, and this holds up perfectly on the city streets. The speaker is just loud enough for personal enjoyment without annoying others. Granted, this will not be the speaker you will bring to the beach if you want to get a party started, but for personal use the sound is perfect. I even take it with me when I want to enjoy music while relaxing at the park, but not annoy others trying to relax. You can play music via Bluetooth, an SD card, or via FM radio, but for latter you must insert the charging cord to work as an antenna. Not a fan, as I don’t like have a long cord dangling by my front wheel while biking.
I only use Bluetooth, so cannot reliably review other methods, except to say that SD works fine and you can use controls on speaker the same as you would use for Bluetooth (Volume, Next track, etc). FM is fine if you get good reception. Also, it does include an auxiliary cord if not using Bluetooth and USB charging cord in package. BTW, the packaging is beautiful, so it would make a great gift.
The battery lasts for a long time, about 10 plus hours of usage on a charge, and will hold a charge for days.
Most importantly, it is also a mobile power charger which most other Bluetooth bike speakers are not. I recently had my Iphone battery go down to 35 percent, and in 30 minutes of charging it brought it up to 65 percent. To get from 10 percent to 100 percent charge takes about and hour.
If you want to use it while hiking, it includes a Carabiner Clip that you can attach to a belt loop or knapsack loop for emergency lighting and music while traveling. (When you first unpack light, there will be a screw with a loop on the threads that you have to remove to screw on mounting bracket. Do not throw that screw away, that is where Carabiner will attach}. You can also take calls via Bluetooth if you don’t want to access your phone, which I usually have in a jacket pocket or knapsack while biking.
So, in short – Great Bluetooth speaker, Water-resistant, a phone battery charger, a bright safety/emergency light, and a long charge. Perfect for the new generation of bikers.