This House of Marley Get Together 2 review is for anyone who wants one of the best Bluetooth speakers but who also wants to make more eco-conscious buying decisions.
All of House of Marley’s devices are made from sustainable materials like bamboo, recyclable aluminium, upcycled fabrics, organic cotton, recycled plastics and reclaimed hemp. Not only that, but they make regular donations to One Tree Planted, and have contributed to the planting of 340,400 trees in the last 5 years. Not many brands make sustainability their focus and that's what makes House of Marley stand out from the crowd.
But just because it's being thoughtfully designed, doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be right for you. Before you buy this speaker, you will need to know what’s good about it, and what’s not. You’ve come to the right place to find all of that out.
House of Marley Get Together 2 review: price and what’s new
You can buy the House of Marley Get Together 2 now for $350 in the US, £250 in the UK and AU$450 in Australia. It’s available directly from the House of Marley site but to see where else you can buy one, take a look at the widgets on this page.
Second in the series, the House of Marley Get Together 2 has been upgraded with longer battery life, Bluetooth 5.0, more powerful sound, USB-C fast charging and the capability to charge your smartphone from it.
House of Marley Get Together 2 review: design and battery
A standout, sustainable design is guaranteed with House of Marley's products, and that’s exactly what you get with the Get Together 2 speaker. Bamboo covers the rectangular-shaped front panel and the body is wrapped in upcycled fabric. To add to that, the packaging is all plastic-free.
For a portable speaker, the Get Together 2 is quite big, measuring 33.4cm x 11.7cm x 10.3cm and weighing 2.2kg. It’ll be too bulky to have with you all the time but it’ll still fit into a tote bag or backpack when you need it to. This is definitely better suited to using around your house than out and about.
If you were to take this outside, it is IP65 water and dust-resistant which means it’ll be okay with splashes of rain or bits of dirt. You could use this by a pool or on a camping trip without worrying too much that the elements will damage it.
There are three buttons on the top, one to turn the volume down, one multifunction button to pause or play the music and skip through tracks, as well as one to turn the volume up. On the back of the speaker, there’s a power button placed above a button to switch between the EQ modes. Each one is clicky and responsive, registering my presses each time I went to use them.
Under a rubber flap, you’ll also find the USB-C port and a 3.5mm audio input to connect to it using a wire for those devices that don't have Bluetooth.
The battery life lasts about 20 hours which is plenty for a day out or hosting an evening in. This only comes with a USB-C cable though, so you’ll need to charge it using your own charger or laptop.
House of Marley Get Together 2 review: performance and features
Made up of a 2.5" woofer and two 1" tweeters, the House of Marley Get Together 2 is a speaker offering up 40W of power. What’s really good about it is that it’s loud, so the sound travels well even when you take it outside. It is pretty bass-heavy which could be seen as a good or bad thing, depending on what genres of music you listen to.
If you’re all about high-energy dance tracks like When A Fire Starts To Burn by Disclosure then this will be a really fun listen to get the party started but if you're more about vocally charged songs like Listen by Beyonce then the details do get somewhat overwhelmed by the low-end.
One thing it’s not so good at is playing podcasts because voices don’t come across as clearly as I would have liked. Ultimately that means I had to dial the volume up to understand what was being said.
Despite not having an adjoining smartphone app, there are still quite a few features worth mentioning. For instance, using the button on the back, you can switch between three EQ modes including Bass Boost, Acoustic and Signature Sound - the LED backlight is colour coded to let you know which one you’re currently using.
I found the acoustic mode helps dull the bass to allow for clearer mids and treble, while the Bass Boost mode made the sound a little too forceful. I think most people will stick to the Signature Sound mode because it’s the best combination of fun and clarity.
What’s more, is that you can pair a couple of speakers from the Get Together range with one another in a stereo setup to boost the sound further. You just need to hold down the two volume buttons on both devices to do so.
You can actually charge your smartphone from this too using the USB-C port on the back. That means you can keep the music going if your phone starts dying, although naturally, that will drain the speaker’s battery more quickly.
Having a built-in microphone means you can take your calls through the House of Marley Get Together 2. When I tested out call quality on it, the person on the other end thought that while I sounded clear my voice was very quiet, and I thought the same about theirs. So this is fine for making calls when you absolutely need to, but you’ll be better off picking up your smartphone and using that instead.
Something else worth mentioning is the new 30m Bluetooth range. You don’t need to have your phone right by the speaker for it to connect, you can wander away and the music will keep playing. I went into other rooms of the house with my phone and could still hear that the music hadn't been interrupted.
House of Marley Get Together 2 review: verdict
Anyone hunting for a new speaker who is concerned about using products that are made from sustainable materials will love the House of Marley Get Together 2. But as well as ticking that box, it’s also jam-packed with handy features like the ability to charge your phone through it and pair it with others for stereo sound.
On the flip side, you won’t get a smartphone app with extra control over the sound which is a shame and I was left feeling a little disappointed by the call quality of the speakerphone function. And in comparison to other similarly-priced speakers, the sound quality is a little hit-and-miss depending on what you’re listening to. But in saying that, for most upbeat genres of music, it’s definitely loud enough with plenty of energy.
House of Marley Get Together 2 review: also consider
If you’re looking for the best possible sound from a portable speaker, take a look at the Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 v2. It’s a tiny little device but the audio performance is really impressive - it’s expansive and punchy, plus there’s a smartphone app to go alongside it which lets you tweak the sound to better suit you.
Not everyone is willing to splash out hundreds and hundreds on a new Bluetooth speaker, in which case, the JBL Flip 6 could be a better option. It’s small and portable with fantastic sound quality but it costs a fraction of the price of the House of Marley Get Together 2.
