Rivian cost cutting suggestion: Lose the camp speaker

[PMan024]

Is it ok to simply undock it and keep it in the garage? What are the repercussions of doing it?

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[carancpa]

Wide variety of generations buying this vehicle; as a Boomer, I am not interested in a camp speaker, maybe my 30's grandchildren would be.

 

[Steve A.]

So after 11 weeks of R1S ownership, I finally tried the Bluetooth speaker while I was working out in the garage. Let's just say I *over-estimated* it being *mediocre*! I cranked it all the way up and I could barely hear it from like 50' away. FWIW, I can crank my Bose S1 Pro Bluetooth speaker and hear it crystal clear from 100 YARDS away! What a colossal waste of center console space and over-engineering. SMH I will NEVER use it again, so fingers-crossed for an after-market replacement of something that's actually useful.

 

[IPTV65]

Just used mine at the beach today. Sounds fine and is always charged and ready to go.

 

[Steve A.]

Just used mine at the beach today. Sounds fine and is always charged and ready to go.

I guess *fine* is in the *ear of the beholder*. Sure sounds fine from 2' away but cranked all the way up w/ my phone volume on max and it's probably as loud as 4 on any other of my Bluetooth speakers.

 

[louisdeg]

Very unimpressive.
Difficult to connect to, sometimes disconnects immediately, not very long play time, operating system doesn’t hold a candle to my Oontz angle plus (connects on power up but doesn’t start playing until told to, better fidelity, long run time between charges), sound is OK but should be louder for a “camp speaker” I just checked and it STILL doesn't connect to the truck stereo via Bluetooth (what were they thinking?).
I’d rather have a drawer, preferably with power ports.
has anyone tried to use it for a wheel chock?… looks like it might be good at that.

 

[Deleted member 7086]

Had my R1T for 15 months. Tried the camp speaker once - merely out of curiosity in the garage. I would make it an option at extra expense. For that matter I would make the the glass roof an option also. I so wish my truck had a metal roof.

 

[Deadfish]

am I the only one who was disappointed you can't pair the speaker to the truck?!?!? I'd like to have tunes in and out of the truck at times.

 

[IPTV65]

I guess *fine* is in the *ear of the beholder*. Sure sounds fine from 2' away but cranked all the way up w/ my phone volume on max and it's probably as loud as 4 on any other of my Bluetooth speakers.

Fair enough. Turned all the way up is not my used case. I own other BT speakers. They are never charged when I need them so doesn’t matter how good they sound. Again. Just my experience. The Rivian one isn’t the best ever but it’s been fine for the basic use cases I have.

 

[Mike Hunt]

Is it ok to simply undock it and keep it in the garage? What are the repercussions of doing it?

I keep mine in my office and listen to podcasts

 

[RivianNowPlz]

Came here to say I use my camp speaker all the time. While I don’t enjoy some of its connectivity issues, the sound quality in mine is superb with rather significant clarity. Obviously I didn’t buy a dedicated audio music speaker here - but for what it is, I find it to be more than suitable and it’s heft/weight/design are all pros in my mind vs negatives.

 

[ironpig]

I've never even removed mine from its holder to see if it works. I will likely never use it and so you'd think my answer would be in agreement to remove it from future models - but unfortunately these kinds of gimmicks are great sales tools.

For 90% of customers buying off-road capable vehicles, it's not about what people actually use, it's about selling them what they think they will use. And these types of gadgets sell them a "camping lifestyle".

 

[usulio]

people will pay $90,000 for a off road capable truck and never take it off-road, then get mad about a $50 feature they don’t use ?

I thought it was a gimmick until I got it, actually been pleasantly surprised how much use we get out of it. No I didn’t own another Bluetooth speaker prior.

To the guy who wants it to blast from 50 feet away, think of it like tank turn, it’s not responsible to send people into nature with something like that.

totally agree with everyone on other uses for that space and excited for rivian to make options. As usual I wish the company was more aftermarket friendly so people could make their own powered accessories for the space.

 

[usulio]

people will pay $90,000 for a off road capable truck and never take it off-road, then get mad about a $50 feature they don’t use ?

I thought it was a gimmick until I got it, actually been pleasantly surprised how much use we get out of it. No I didn’t own another Bluetooth speaker prior.

To the guy who wants it to blast from 50 feet away, think of it like tank turn, it’s not responsible to send people into nature with something like that.

totally agree with everyone on other uses for that space and excited for rivian to make options. As usual I wish the company was more aftermarket friendly so people could make their own powered accessories for the space.

Forgot to mention — the software sucks, sadly that is normal for Bluetooth stuff, but unfortunately they also tried to make the interface aesthetically minimal instead of usable. Not good when it’s malfunctioning

 

[Rivianut]

I seem to be in the minority, but I love the camp speaker!!

Same. We must not be audiophiles. Love the camp speaker.

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