Best Bluetooth Speakers

Wireless Bluetooth speakers have go ubiquitous, indispensable gadgets. Everyone’south got one somewhere, and the use cases vary from person to person. Mayhap yous use your speaker around the house or equally a shower soundtrack. Maybe yous bring information technology forth to the park or embankment. And so there are those people who have a portable speaker practically everywhere they go — sharing their music from a bike or backpack with everyone nearby.

I know a lot of people who take old Bluetooth speakers boot around, and if the ane you’ve got is still working for y’all, there’due south no immediate need to upgrade to something newer. But Bluetooth speakers accept gotten
very
good in recent years. Audio quality continues to improve, battery life is stretching to new records, and they’re more robust and durable than ever earlier.

If you’re shopping effectually for a new speaker, start off by considering what size you want. For this guide, I’m mostly sticking to portable Bluetooth speakers and excluding anything that’southward impractical to take on the get. From in that location, you need to weigh other criteria similar audio quality, ease of utilise, immovability, and bonus features like speakerphone functionality. Some speakers let y’all stereo pair 2 of them together, and several companies include “party mode” capabilities that let y’all link many speakers together. If yous don’t really intendance about any of that, you lot can go a tiny Bluetooth speaker for equally little every bit $25. But all of the picks here go a little farther in terms of features and style.

The all-time portable Bluetooth speakers

1. Bose SoundLink Flex

All-time Bluetooth speaker under $200

I don’t know what kind of engineering sorcery goes into Bose’s Bluetooth speakers; I merely know that going back to the SoundLink Mini II, they’ve only sounded clearer and
amend
— to my ears, at least — than any competitors in the same size range. The $149 SoundLink Flex is Bose’south latest portable speaker, and it continues to make skilful on that reputation.

Despite only having a mono driver (which isn’t uncommon for Bluetooth speakers), the SoundLink Flex delivers expansive sound with a genuinely surprising amount of bass. And crucially, that low end isn’t dingy or boomy. Everything almost this speaker is rich and articulate. That’s even more surprising when you consider that information technology only supports the baseline SBC Bluetooth codec instead of AAC or the more than avant-garde LDAC. And yet, this speaker sounds first-class.

Yous tin expect around 12 hours of battery life, and like many other speakers in this guide, the SoundLink Flex is rated IP67 for dust and water resistance. Bose is very confident it tin withstand tumbles and swims. Whether you lot lay the speaker flat or stand up it upright, the Flex will automatically optimize the EQ for either orientation. And it also works better than most as a speakerphone with the assistance of born mics. Not everything most the SoundLink Flex is ideal: its buttons aren’t piece of cake to use by feel alone, and it’due south foreign that Bose opted to become with Bluetooth iv.2 instead of a newer version of the spec. Only if those are my biggest gripes, information technology’s fair to say that the SoundLink Flex is a winner.

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two. UE Blast iii

Best waterproof Bluetooth speaker

Information technology’south bluntly a lilliputian listen-boggling that I’m nevertheless writing nigh the UE Smash 3 in 2022. This speaker was released in 2022, and Ultimate Ears has been coasting on it always since. Maybe that says something nigh how brackish the Bluetooth speaker marketplace has become, or maybe UE just hasn’t come up upward with anything that outshines the $149.99 Boom 3 in a meaningful way. Or possibly it’s just a testament to how skilful of a portable speaker the Blast 3 is.

The company considers this the “perfected” take on the cylindrical, 360-caste speaker design that information technology pioneered with earlier Booms. And with 15-hour battery life, a fully waterproof exterior that floats in pond pools, and those giant, foolproof volume buttons, the UE Blast three still holds up. Its standout feature compared to older models is the Magic Button, which lets you quickly play a specific playlist with a press and agree of the elevation push. But what’due south given the Boom 3 such staying power is its simplicity, rugged build, and satisfactory sound. Having drivers fire in all directions makes for an expansive soundstage, fifty-fifty if the Smash 3 can lack the detail and sharpness of some competitors. But equally an all-rounder, there’s a lot to like.

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3. Sonos Roam

All-time Bluetooth smart speaker

Information technology’s important to go along your expectations reasonable if yous’re looking at buying the Sonos Roam. The company’s larger speakers often evangelize audio performance that sounds bigger and more spacious than you’d wait, but that’southward not necessarily truthful of the tiny Roam. Don’t go me incorrect: while information technology’s not going to blanket a room with music, information technology’s more than capable of putting out clear, dynamic sound if you’re sitting nearby or using information technology as a shower speaker.

The real selling points of the Roam are its smarts and tight integration with Sonos’ whole-home audio platform. When at home, the Roam streams music over Wi-Fi, and then you’re getting better allegiance than Bluetooth. You tin seamlessly hand off playback from the Roam to another nearby Sonos speaker with the printing of a push, and it’southward a inexpensive style of adding a turntable to your Sonos organization — and then long as your turntable supports Bluetooth. You can too easily grouping it with other Sonos speakers for multi-room playback. If you want to use the Roam as a smart speaker, take your pick between Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant for hands-costless voice commands.

Sonos recently released a slightly cheaper Roam SL that omits the built-in microphones. But unless yous’re adamantly opposed to having mics in your gadgets, I’d steer clear of the Roam SL. Information technology only saves you $20 but loses fairly substantial features like automatic Trueplay sound quality tuning, the Audio Swap characteristic mentioned above, and (obviously) all voice interactions. For $99 or $129, I could absolutely see it. Just $159 is simply as well much to ask for the Roam SL.

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4. JBL Charge 5

Bluetooth speaker with the all-time battery life

If y’all’re looking for something a little more powerful, JBL’s Charge 5 is beefier than the UE Boom in terms of both dimensions and audio reproduction. I’m not a fan of JBL putting a super-sized logo on its newest speakers; so much for subtlety. But if you don’t mind that aesthetic conclusion, the Charge 5 ticks off many boxes for functionality.

Information technology’due south a stamina champ with up to 20 hours of continuous playback. Speaking of batteries, a unique trick offered by the Accuse 5 is its ability to recharge external devices: at that place’due south a USB-A port for topping upwards your ain phone or a friend’s as you heed to tunes.

My main disappointment with the Charge 5 is its mono driver, which has to downmix stereo content. When you’re dealing with mono portable speakers, there might be sections of a vocal or particular instruments that aren’t as prevalent equally they are on stereo speakers. And since the Charge v doesn’t sound quite every bit pristine and detailed as Bose’s SoundLink Flex, information technology’s more noticeable here.

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5. Sony SRS-XB43

Best Bluetooth speaker for outdoor parties

Sony’s SRS-XB43 gives y’all powerful stereo sound with deep, resounding bass. Plus, you get a calorie-free testify to keep with the music. This speaker is more than than capable of treatment the soundtrack to an outdoor political party — especially if you enable its Actress Bass mode.

It likewise has an aux jack (a rarity amid the picks here), so anyone tin plug in and play sound if you don’t want to deal with Bluetooth. Just if you practice, the XB43 also supports Sony’southward LDAC codec, and similar JBL’s Charge 5, there’due south a USB-A jack on the back for juicing up your gadgets.

The headphone jack is a goner on most phones these days, and sadly the aux input is likewise increasingly disappearing from many Bluetooth speakers. But this ane gives you the all-time of everything. It weighs 6 and a one-half pounds, so this isn’t a speaker you’ll be casually tossing in your bag. Only it’south tailor-made for utilize around the house and for parties. And yes, you tin download an app and accept full command of the lights.

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vi. JBL Clip 4

Best minor Bluetooth speaker

The Clip 4 from JBL is actually a bit larger than I would’ve expected when looking at marketing images. But the integrated carabiner makes it effortless to attach to your handbag, bike, and who knows what else. I was pleasantly surprised past the sound this compact speaker tin produce.

The bass is a little recessed, merely the Clip four puts out clear and crisp mids and treble. Like our other picks, it’s rated IP67 for dust and water resistance. Combined with its diminutive size and 10-60 minutes bombardment life, you’re looking at a neat speaker for bringing forth on hikes or other adventures.

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7. Sonos Move

Best large Bluetooth speaker

At vi.61 pounds, the Sonos Motility is a hefty thing to lug around. That’s why information technology’s mainly intended to be moved around the house or out to the backyard. Information technology’s not what I’d consider convenient, but in exchange for putting up with a much bigger speaker than the Roam, yous’re rewarded with a substantial sound upgrade.

The Move is more than capable of filling a room with resonant audio, and similar the Roam, y’all get your option of using it like a regular Bluetooth speaker or playing music over Wi-Fi with the Sonos app. With an IP56 grit and water resistance rating, the Move is designed to exist weatherproof, and it’s able to withstand some bumps. Y’all’d promise for every bit much considering this speaker’s $400 price tag. But when you add in extras like hands-free voice controls and automated Trueplay, the Move has a big bag of tricks that make it a unique choice if you’re later on a larger, louder speaker.