Why just listen to music when you can do much more? The Fender RIFF looks like your average Bluetooth speaker, letting you play your favorite tunes wirelessly… but flip it around and plug your electric guitar in, and the RIFF lets you quite literally riff on your favorite songs, playing supplemental chords, adding your own bassline, or improvising a killer lead. The speaker has a 60W output that packs an absolute punch, and a whopping 30 hours of battery power, letting you jam all night till the sun rises.
Designer: Ponti Design Studio for Fender
The Fender RIFF has all the hallmarks of a great Bluetooth speaker, but given its parent brand, it also packs an absolute bunch of features for guitarists and musicians. Stylistically, it deviates from the classic guitar amp aesthetic and opts for something a little more subtly contemporary, but the all-black squarish design with the Fender logo front and center still feels reminiscent of a guitar amp. On top, however, instead of those famed metal-tipped knobs, lies a ridged touch-sensitive wooden panel. With three grooves to slide your finger in, the touch panel lets you increase or decrease the RIFF’s volume, as well as play around with its treble and bass levels.
While the RIFF is, at its core, a Bluetooth speaker, it also supports guitar amplification, allowing you to hook your electric guitar to it for a quick jam session. You can either play solo or alongside music playing wirelessly through your phone for a much more interesting jamming experience. Touch-sensitive controls on the front of the wood panel let you do basic things like play/pause music, connect/disconnect Bluetooth devices, while the wooden panel gives you broad EQ settings, letting you fine-tune the bass and treble for just the right sound you need. Moreover, Fender also offers an Auto-EQ Room Tuning feature via the free downloadable Fender® RIFF app.
A built-in fabric handle lets you carry your RIFF around with you wherever you go.
As far as output goes, the RIFF doesn’t pull its punches. The $469.99 speaker packs a whopping 60 watts of sonic bliss, with 6 custom-tuned audio drivers, including 2 woofers, 2 bass radiators, and 2 tweeters to cover the full spectrum range. You’ve got Bluetooth 5.2 built-in for a reliable connection, and a battery that lasts a whopping 30 hours before it needs charging via the USB-C port at the back. Finally, the RIFF is also built for the outdoors, with an IP54 dust and splash-proof rating, and if you REALLY want to rock it up, the RIFF’s Party Mode lets you connect as many as 100 RIFF speakers together wirelessly… because if you aren’t bothering your neighbors, are you really a rock lover?!
