The days of needing a giant boombox loaded with D batteries are over. Nowadays, there’s no shortage of powerful, portable speakers to crank out your favorite tunes through. Best of all, these Bluetooth speakers let you avoid any wires, so you don’t have to worry about them getting tangled up as you transport them.Some of the best Bluetooth speakers are big, thumping speakers that can give you an excellent dynamic range and plenty of some. Some of them are more aimed at portability, giving you a convenient way to bring a bit of extra audio power with you wherever you go. Some strike a balance, fitting a big battery and sizable speakers into a form factor that’s ready to pack away in a modest laptop backpack.We’ve scouted out a wide variety of excellent Bluetooth speakers to fit any use case. Whether you need a single speaker to get you through your bicycle commute or want a set of speakers that can link together to surround you in sound, we’ve got some great options for you.
TL;DR These are the Best Bluetooth Speakers:
1. Ultimate Ears Boom 3
Best Bluetooth Speaker
Max volume: 90dBA Frequency range: 90Hz – 20,000Hz Battery life: 15 hours IP rating: IP67 Size: 7.2″ x 2.8″ Weight: 1.34 pounds
There are a lot of different speakers on this list, but if youre just looking for a moderately priced, portable speaker that sounds great, let us save you the trouble: grab the Ultimate Ears Boom 3 for $120. When compared with similar speakers in its size and price range, I found the Boom 3 had some of the best sound in a convenient 360° form factor. Its not too tiny, not too huge, not too cheap, not too pricey…and this thing jams.On top of that, it has large volume buttons for easy control, comes in four colors (black, blue, red, and purple), and IP67 water resistance, so you can bring it to the pool. You can even pair it wirelessly with another Boom 3 for stereo sound, or up to 150 Boom and Megaboom speakers for full-on party mode. Grab the standalone speaker for $120 or pick up the Boom 3 bundled with a charging dock for $160, if you want to avoid the hassle of plugging in a cable when you come home.
2. Tribit 360° Sound Speaker
Best Budget Bluetooth Speaker
Battery life: 20 hours IP rating: IPX7 Size: 2.68″ x 7.09″ x 2.68″ Weight: 1.2 pounds
If youre looking to stay under $100 (but dont feel the need to go super cheap), the Tribit 360° Sound Speaker is a great alternative to the Boom 3. Formerly known as the Tribit X-Boom, the 360° Sounds design is pretty clearly inspired by Ultimate Ears Boom line, right down to the big volume buttons and IPX7 water resistance. For $70, it looks and sounds great.You dont get some of the software extras you get by stepping up to the Boom 3, like the ability to pair it with other speakers of the same type, a customizable equalizer, and remote power. But many people wont miss these features, and the extra money saved is a worthy tradeoff.
3. Oontz Angle 3
Best Ultra Cheap Bluetooth Speaker
Battery life: 14 hoursIP rating: IPX5 Size: 5.25″ x 2.6″ x 2.8″ Weight: 1.34 pounds
Okay, so you arent growing a money tree in your backyard. I get it. If you want something in the ultra-budget range, the Oontz Angle 3 provides great sound (at a surprisingly loud volume) for only $25. And its small enough that you can easily toss it in your bag and bring it anywhere.It isnt the only speaker in its price rangeheck, Oontz even sells a water-resistant Angle for $30 and an Ultra version for $40. Additionally, competitors like the Tribit XSound Go and Anker Soundcore 2 are also great budget speakers. But the Oontz Angle 3 is the cheapest speaker Id recommend buying, and when money is tight, those extra dollars matter.
4. Ultimate Ears Blast
Best Bluetooth Speaker with Alexa
Max volume: 90dBC Frequency range: 90Hz – 20,000Hz Battery life: 12 hours IP rating: IP67 Size: 7.4″ x 2.68″ Weight: 2.2 pounds
Bluetooth speakers are quite a leap forward from the boomboxes of yore, but you know whats even more futuristic? Being able to control your music with nothing but your voice. While the Amazon Echo can act as a Bluetooth speaker, it requires wall power, so you cant easily bring it around town with you. Thankfully, Ultimate Ears made the $90 Blast as an alternative (RIP Amazon Tap).The Blast has a similar design to the Boom 3, with the same cylindrical shape, big volume buttons, and water resistance. But instead of futzing with your phone, you can just shout Alexa and have Amazons voice assistant do your bidding for youas long as you have a Wi-Fi network or hotspot nearby. It doesnt sound quite as good as the Boom 3, so youre trading a bit of quality for conveniencethough you can step up to the $150 Megablast if you want better Alexa-controlled sound.
5. JBL Link Portable
Best Bluetooth Speaker with Google Assistant
Frequency range: 65Hz – 20,000Hz Battery life: 8 hours IP rating: IPX7 Size: 6.69″ x 3.46″ x 3.46″ Weight: 1.62 pounds
Look, sometimes you want to just listen to your speaker, but sometimes you also want your speaker to listen to you. Getting a Bluetooth speaker with Google Assistant built in covers both bases, and the JBL Link Portable does a great job of it.This smart home speaker has a classy look thanks to its material finish, but it’s ready to get up and go with you thanks to its IPX7 water resistance and eight-hour battery life. When you need to charge it back up, you can just throw it onto its charging dock. This speaker gives you strong sound, too, with 20W of power, so you can hear the music and podcasts you’re listening to or hear whatever Google Assistant is saying back to you.
6. Sonos Move
Best Bluetooth Speaker for AirPlay 2
Battery life: 10 hours IP rating: IP56 Size: 6.29″ x 9.44″ x 4.96″ Weight: 6.61 pounds
Bluetooth is fine, but its not as good-sounding or reliable as Wi-Fi. For something a bit less portable and a bit more geared toward home audiowith Bluetooth still in tow as a backupyou cant go wrong with the Sonos Move. Its a great bookshelf speaker that delivers room-filling sound with crisp audio and a surprising amount of bass.The Sonos Move is also designed to pair wirelessly with other Sonos speakers. If youre trying to get the best sound in a large room, you should get a Sonos One SL speakers to create stereo sound. Alternatively, this home speaker could be grouped with the other great Sonos products, too, like the Beam TV soundbar or the Sonos Sub for a 3.1 or 5.1 channel system, respectively.
You also get almost all of the virtual assistants built-in, so you can easily summon both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa without needing another device. For Apple households, this speaker also Airplay 2 as well.
7. JBL Charge 4
Best Bluetooth Speaker with a Built-in Charging Bank
Max volume: >80dB Frequency range: 60Hz – 20,000Hz Battery life: 20 hours IP rating: IP67 Size: 8.66″ x 3.74″ x 3.66″ Weight: 2.12 pounds
There comes a downside to blasting music all day over Bluetoothit can seriously drain your phones battery. Thats why JBL made the $150 Charge 4, a Bluetooth speaker that can also power your phone through its built-in USB ports. Its water-resistant, comes in 11 colors, and can last a good long while thanks to its 7800mAh batteryeven if some of that goes to your phone.Not only that, but in my experience, this is one of JBLs best-sounding speakers, so you get great audio quality along with that charging convenience. Its pretty large, so I wouldnt exactly call it backpack portable, but you could easily fit it in your beer cooler for a day trip to the beach.
8. Sony SRS-XB41
Best Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker
Frequency range: 20Hz – 20,000Hz Battery life: 24 hours IP rating: IP67 Size: 11.5″ x 4.09″ x 4.25″ Weight: 3.3 pounds
Most of the speakers on this list can get surprisingly loud, but if you need something with even more oomphespecially in the low endSony, as usual, brings the bass with its XB line of products. The SRS-XB41 isnt what I would call portable, but its great for a backyard barbecue. This $150 speaker will fill the area with sound without breaking a sweat (or distorting at high levels).Its on the bassier side of things, though you can adjust the treble, midrange, and bass through Sonys Music Center app on your phone. Plus, its got lots of fun RGB LEDs that dance along with the music, though you can turn those off too if you arent a fan.
9. JBL Clip 3
Best Super Portable Bluetooth Speaker
Max volume: 80dB Frequency range: 120Hz – 20,000Hz Battery life: 10 hours IP rating: IPX7 Size: 5.4″ x 3.8″ x 1.8″ Weight: 0.49 pounds
While most of the speakers on this list can go with you, thanks to their built-in rechargeable batteries, they arent exactly svelte. The JBL Clip 3, on the other hand, is small enough to carry on a hike through the woods, sounds pretty decent, and costs only $60.Most convenient is the clip for which it’s named: an attached carabiner that allows the Clip to hook onto your laptop backpack (or a necklace if you want to rock the Flava Flav look). It even has IPX7 water resistance, so like its larger brethren, you can bring it to the pool and annoy everyone around you.
10. Marshall Kilburn II
Coolest Looking Bluetooth Speaker
Max volume: 100dB Frequency range: 52Hz – 20,000Hz Battery life: 20 hours IP rating: IPX7 Size: 9.57″ x 6.42″ x 5.51″ Weight: 5.5 pounds
While most of the speakers on this list look decently stylish, none are quite as cool as the $299 Marshall Kilburn II, which is designed to look like a vintage Marshall guitar ampincluding gold metal accents and that famous script logo on the grill. It also sports individual treble and bass knobs along with a coiled 3.5mm audio cable reminiscent of a guitar cable. Sadly, though, the knobs don’t go to 11.The Kilburn II is technically portable, but not throw-in-your bag portable. That said, if you dont need any level of portability, the larger, battery-free Marshall Stanmore II is a similar-looking speaker designed for the home, and with the improved sound to go with it. Or, if you prefer a slightly less guitar amp-y look, Im partial to Klipschs The One, too.
What to look for in a Bluetooth Speaker
The market is absolutely flooded with Bluetooth speakers, so it can feel overwhelming when you go to buy one. But ultimately, there are only a few things you need to think about when you shop.Sound Quality: If youre using the speaker to listen to music, then youll want to make sure that it sounds good. Generally, bigger speakers will sound better, but youll also want to audition a few speakers yourself to make sure the sound isnt too shrill or the bass isnt too muddy or boomy. Most Bluetooth speakers arent going to match the quality of, say, a real pair of bookshelves, but thats okay since theyre also about portability and convenience. Speaking of which…
Bluetooth Codecs: Bluetooth isn’t all created equal. The codecs Bluetooth devices support can set the great apart from the basic. Support for a high-end codec can let your Bluetooth speaker and phone send more audio data, giving you improved sound. Almost any speaker you come across from the cheapest to the most expensive will support a Bluetooth codec called SBC. That’s your baseline for audio quality.
If you want improved audio when connecting from an iPhone, look for support for the AAC codec. Android smartphones can support a range of codecs. Many Qualcomm-powered Android phones will support the aptX or aptX HD codecs for improved audio, while aptX LL offers low-latency ideal for pairing with video.
Another high-end codec is LDAC, but that one is more rare to come across. In order to benefit from these codecs, you’ll need to ensure both the speaker you’re connecting to and the device you’re connecting from support the same codec.
Form Factor and Portability: If youre buying a Bluetooth speaker to take with you to the beach (or on a hike, or to the pool, or a party), youll want something small enough to toss in your backpackthough the smaller you go, the more you tend to sacrifice volume and sound quality. If youre just looking to play music at home, you can go with something bigger and bulkier, powered from the wall instead of batteries. (Though if youre just playing music at home, Sonos and AirPlay tend to be better protocols than Bluetooththey have longer range and better fidelity.)
Battery Life: If you are going for a portable speaker, make sure itll actually last long enough to make it through your beach party. Manufacturers usually advertise battery life on their website and Amazon page, but dont just take their word for itcheck the reviews to see if its actually as long-lasting as they claim before you shell out your cash.
Water Resistance: This seems worth calling out on its own, since its a very common feature among Bluetooth speakers. If you plan on taking the speaker anywhere near water, I generally recommend buying something thats at least IPX5, though IPX7 and IPX8 are better bets.
Many of these speakers even advertise their ability to float in the pool, though I would exercise some caution: no device is truly waterproof, and that IPX7 water resistance wont necessarily last forever, since chemicals like chlorine can break down the seals over time, and the manufacturer may or may not cover water damage (despite their advertising it as waterproof)
Apps and Extra Features: Some Bluetooth speakers are simple: what you see on the speaker is what you get. Others, however, may have companion apps with extra features, like flashing LED lights, customizable equalizers to adjust the sound, timers that automatically turn your music off, or the ability to pair multiple speakers from the same brand together.
Note that some speakers will go into stereo mode when paired together, using one as the right channel and one as the left channel, while others will merely play mono sound out of both speakersso check the fine print before you buy.
Whitson Gordon is a writer, gamer, and tech nerd who has been building PCs for 10 years. He eats potato chips with chopsticks so he doesn’t get grease on his mechanical keyboard.Mark Knapp is a regular contributor to IGN and an irregular Tweeter on Twitter @Techn0Mark
