REVIEW – When guitar amplifier maker Fender joined forces with Germany’s Teufel Audio, it solved two issues. First, Fender got instant recognition in the portable Bluetooth speaker market. Secondly, Fender can now compete with Marshall, another amp company who have made some popular Bluetooth speakers. It’s a win-win for Fender. When I reviewed the Fender x Teufel Rockster Go 2 Bluetooth Speaker, I was impressed by its power-to-size ratio. The Fender x Teufel Rockster Cross is a larger, more powerful version of the Go. Is it worth the upgrade?
⬇︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $179.99
Where to buy: Amazon
What is it?
The Fender x Teufel Rockster Cross is a powerful, portable Bluetooth speaker that can be easily carried around, both indoors and outdoors. It’s shaped almost identically to the smaller Rockster Go 2 speaker—but larger.
The Cross sports stereo sound through its two tweeters, a single 5-inch woofer, and two passive bass radiators at the back of the speaker.
Water resistance is rated at IPX5—meaning it can withstand water projected from any direction, splashes, rain, and water exposure, but not designed for full submersion.
Battery life is rated at 16 hours. AUX & aptX (Bluetooth) inputs are included. It comes with a Fender strap and guitar pick.
What’s included?
- Fender guitar strap
- External power supply
- Guitar pick
Tech specs
- Width: 15 in.
- Height: 6.3 in.
- Depth: 5.1 in.
- Weight: 5.3 lb.
- AUX
- Bluetooth 5.0 (w/aptX)
- Speakerphone function
- USB-A charging port
- Battery life rated at 16 hours
- Lithium-ion battery
- Powerbank
- Automatic off
- Matte, rubber cabinet surface
- 2 Tweeters (number per enclosure)
- SubWoofer
- IPX5 water resistant
Design and features
Musicians know that Fender is an iconic guitar and amp maker. But does that transfer to making decent Bluetooth speakers? Marshall did it, but can Fender? Teufel is a respected and highly successful German audio company popular throughout Europe. The Fender Rockster Cross is a Teufel Rockster Cross, but that’s okay because it’s a darn good speaker, no matter whose name is on it.
The speaker has buttons along the top and at the back. The top buttons include Mic, Volume down, Play/pause, and Volume up.
All of the buttons are black on black and embossed (raised), so they can be felt. However, they are hard to see without proper lighting, even with the lighted colored circles for the rear buttons.
The Mic button is for phone calls using the built-in mic. I have no idea where the mic is located. Calls are passable, but not great. I could hear the other party fine. They had difficulty hearing me clearly unless my mouth was close to the speaker, which kinda defeats the whole purpose of a mic. TBH, I have never heard a Bluetooth speaker mic that I liked enough to use.
The back buttons are easy to feel and know what they do once the arrangement is remembered. Looking at the rear of the Cross speaker, the buttons are (L-R): Connect, Bluetooth pairing, Outdoor, and On/off. Tapping the On/off button shows battery life as 4 vertical LED lights—with 4 meaning a full battery.
The Connect button allows two Rockster Cross speakers to be connected for a louder, more spread out experience. However, Connect does not provide true wireless stereo (TWS), where one speaker is the left channel and the other the right channel. That’s a bummer because TWS can sound magical, even among cheaper Bluetooth speakers.
At 1.6 lbs, it’s not the lightest speaker, but it’s not overly heavy, either. It’s easy to carry either by the built-in carrying handles or the included guitar strap that hooks on both ends. I prefer the handles for room-to-room, but for longer distances (like from car to beach), the strap comes in handy.
The Rockster Cross sounds bigger than the Rockster Go speaker because it is bigger. This larger size allows for a true subwoofer (instead of a single passive radiator in the Go), plus 2 added passive radiators in the speaker’s back panel. As a result, the bass is much cleaner and fuller-sounding.
Larger tweeters handle higher frequencies at additional volume without bordering on harsh. Music sounds more balanced at other volumes. Low volume works perfectly when the Cross is used as a near-field speaker. I placed the speaker behind three monitors on my desk, and the sound became less directional, increasing the soundstage (more spacious sound).
As I placed the speaker farther away at a higher volume, the sound easily filled my 250 sq ft. backyard studio building. Note that it doesn’t sound as good as my desktop speakers, but that’s not the Cross’s purpose. It’s designed to play decent audio in a portable speaker. And it does that quite well.
I especially enjoyed listening to some of my older Moody Blues albums. Their music sounded like it was made for the Rockster Cross speaker. Maybe it was more forward-sounding vocals.
The bass wasn’t overpowering because most older albums never had heavy bass due to turntable/record groove issues. Modern digital music doesn’t care. Most of it is a bass-induced headache maker.
But if it’s bass you want …
One of my go-to bass songs is “Silent Shout” by The Knife. The nfirse notes thundered out of the Cross speaker with no distortion or buzzing. Nice! As I cranked the volume up, the Cross still wouldn’t distort, although some harshness crept in. Turning on the Outdoor button made listening unpleasant—indoors. Outside, the Outdoors button made music sound clearer, but with weaker bass. Note that bass doesn’t carry far outdoors without major speaker size and volume—something the Rockster Cross isn’t capable of producing.
Final thoughts
As much as I liked the Fender x Tuefel Rockster Go 2 speaker, the Rockster Cross blows it out of the water. It’s a big improvement in audio over the Go while remaining portable. Teufel has just released a Rockster Cross 2 speaker in Europe, which may explain our sale price of $180. Maybe we will get the Cross 2 soon in the States.
What I like about the Fender x Teufel Rockster Cross
- Great sound for a portable Bluetooth speaker
- Easy to carry around
- Nice included strap
- Outdoor mode
What needs to be improved?
- Not great with phone calls
- Harshness can happen at LOUD volume
- Not as water-resistant as the Go speaker
- Not submersible
Price: $179.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Fender x Teufel. Fender x Teufel did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
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