Camp speaker - problems and questions

[Yossarian]

My camp speaker is the most problematic and frustrating element of my R1T. While no doubt some of the problems are due to user error, surely all of them can't be.

The speaker has always been difficult to pair with my phone, a Galaxy S23, and I think I've only successfully done it once. It seems unlikely that it is due to my Android, or at least that's how it appears to me as I have essentially no difficulty pairing it nearly every other device, from my AV receiver, to the infotainment system of various rental cars to the Blink cameras in our house.

In an attempt to try to fix the pairing issue, I decided to reset the speaker which I understood was done by pressing and holding the three leftward buttons (on/off, vol down and pause) for at least seven seconds. I did this, and it seemed to work, or at least all of the buttons lit up after seven seconds, and then when dark. That hasn't seemed to fix anything though.

What am I doing wrong here? I'd appreciate any help and advice with respect to pairing my phone to the camp speaker.

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[clarkthashark]

I still have hiccups with mine but lately when I use it - I will “pair” - then afterwards I will “unpair” from my device in the Bluetooth app (Apple iOS). Otherwise, my phone will connect to it at 2am and start playing podcasts. Lol.

 

[biker1284]

I still have hiccups with mine but lately when I use it - I will “pair” - then afterwards I will “unpair” from my device in the Bluetooth app (Apple iOS). Otherwise, my phone will connect to it at 2am and start playing podcasts. Lol.

This seems to be the best way for me, too. Same issue on every phone I've had.

 

[1stPlace]

Remove any bluetooth associations saved on your phone with the camp speaker in bluetooth settings. Anything that might try to auto-connect. Maybe restart phone after that. Turn on camp speaker. After the "on" jingle, go into bluetooth on your phone and look for the camp speaker to connect to. Connect, and you'll hopefully receive a connected jingle following that. When done using the camp speaker each time, remove the auto-connect or saved bluetooth connection in your phone settings. This will prevent it from trying to auto-connect when the camp speaker randomly turns on (comes out of "stand-by" mode to be more exact) and may simplify the connection process with your phone when you are actually trying to use the speaker. Yes, the camp speaker sucks. Yours may have different problems than mine, but this routine should work.

 

[clarkthashark]

I will say that when it works I like it a lot. Not too loud. Good audio quality. And the lamp feature is nice. It’s a great “let’s sit outside and drink a glass of wine on a nice night” Bluetooth speaker.

 

[Biturbowned]

Yeah it’s a love/hate relationship for me

 

[jerseyff]

Keep in mind the truck charger tends to not keep the speaker charged. I find myself taking the speaker out and charging with a USB C in the house to top it off. After topping it off, it acts a lot more reasonable.

 

[Riviot]

What am I doing wrong here?

Using it. The appropriate camp speaker application is Dust Collector in various places you forget you moved it to. After searching all of the closets, I just found mine next to my couch. If it was a snake, etc etc etc...

 

[Yota2R1T]

Using it. The appropriate camp speaker application is Dust Collector in various places you forget you moved it to. After searching all of the closets, I just found mine next to my couch. If it was a snake, etc etc etc...

Located, top of random shelf with dog towels.

 

[treesandcoffee]

I'll admit I rarely use mine, had to have the first one replaced as it didn't hold a charge. Love Rivian, but this speaker has been a bust. We have other bluetooth speakers that work flawlessly, but this one, not so much. Biggest issues:
1. Takes a long time to turn on
2. Takes a long time to connect, if it remembers
3. Okay top volume - expected more for its size
4. Rapidly loses charge. Other Bluetooth speakers I have can be unplugged for months and still have a charge when I pull them out of the drawer - this one, not a chance

I noticed this speaker is not an option for order in the Gear Shop or when you purchase a vehicle, so I'm guessing they quietly killed this off for now

 

[chrismc]

I heeded advice I read elsewhere on here to permanently demote the speaker to garage duty and replace it with the storage drawer and it was the biggest upgrade the speaker has seen. Works great plugged in to a USB brick in the garage and sounds nice. The storage drawer is more useful than I expected. Win/win.

 

[LL75]

Both of mine are collecting dusts in the garage somewhere. What a worthless piece of junk. Used it once and it is worse than my $10 dollars bluetooth speaker.

 

[Yossarian]

I heeded advice I read elsewhere on here to permanently demote the speaker to garage duty and replace it with the storage drawer and it was the biggest upgrade the speaker has seen. Works great plugged in to a USB brick in the garage and sounds nice. The storage drawer is more useful than I expected. Win/win.

After reading the responses (my thanks to all), it seems like throwing in the towel on the camp speaker and getting a storage drawer may be the best option. Too bad; on the very infrequent occasions when it worked, it sounded pretty good.

 

[ElGuano]

Yeah, removed mine after a week, replaced with a storage drawer.

I thought I wanted the electronic locking storage drawer, but I actually didn't, because the way Rivian does it, it's always automatically locked, and you have to manually unlock each time you want to pull out the drawer. I wanted more a "user lockable" experience which I don't think it supports. So it ended up being a locked cabinet I could ever access while driving, and in the end I taped over the electrical contacts that activate the lock.

 

[RivAW]

I fixed mine by storing it on a shelf in the garage and replacing it in the truck with an aftermarket storage drawer....

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