I recently got a Buckshot bluetooth speaker to use on my bike. I was excited to replace my old piece of junk cheap BT speaker that would barely last 2 hours on a charge, and couldn't really attach to anything due to its stubby, 3" round cylindrical shape.

So I got it charged up and fired it up on a morning commute, and right away it sounded like a CD skipping bad. It got progressively worse over 20 minutes and then it just lost the connection completely and wouldn't re-connect.

I always carry my phone in my right rear jersey pocket on commutes, or in my front right shorts pocket on casual rides. With the phone in my shorts pocket, it seems to do okay. But in my jersey pocket, with the speaker on my bars, it just will not play smoothly. I discovered that if I took my phone out of my pocket and gave it direct line of sight with the speaker, it would work fine. Really? Line of sight for Bluetooth??

I emailed Outdoor Tech about it and they confirmed that the speaker does need line of sight with the phone to work properly. Bummer. I was under the impression that line of sight was not required with Bluetooth, especially this one being a Class II BT device with a range of 33 feet under ideal conditions. On the bike the phone is maybe 2 feet from the speaker.

So I guess I have to continue carrying the speaker in the top of my trunk bag on commutes, and so I will continue to experience music coming from my butt.