Best portable wireless Bluetooth speakers this year
Bluetooth speakers are amazing devices! They range wildly in sizes, shapes, colors and prices. With batteries that last many hours they’re great to bring on a camping trip or just to enjoy some music in your back yard. The market is flooded with hundreds of models so picking one can overwhelming. That’s why we’ve selected the best portable Bluetooth speakersavailable right now and separated them into three price categories.
$100 or less:
$100 to $200:
Over $200:
Bluetooth speakers for $100 or less
JBL Charge 3
Battery life: Up to 20 hours
The JBL Charge 3 provides a lot of volume (and we mean, a LOT!) and a bass-heavy sound that many people like, and while it is not as clean and well-balanced as others, it still fares well in terms of sound quality. And yes, there is a JBL Charge 4, which is also here, but the reduced price of the Charge 3 makes it a lucrative option from a well-known brand.
UE Wonderboom 2
Battery life: Up to 13 hours
Maybe more than anything, the Wonderboom succeeds because of how reliable it is. It can survive a drop up to five feet, will safely float rather than sink to the bottom of a pool, and features like its multi-speaker mode are always easily accessible, without forcing users to download an extra app: you just take it with you, and the music follows. Plus, it just looks cute!
Vava Voom 20
Battery life: Up to 8 hours
The Vava Voom 20 is another popular affordable option that surprises with better sound that its price tag would suggest. And because of its low price, you can easily get two and use them at the same time. Unfortunately this speaker isn’t the best for lengthy camping trips due to its short battery life.
DOSS SoundBox Touch
Battery life: Up to 12 hours
Finally, the very cheapest yet still good option that we can recommend is the Doss Touch, a $30 speaker that truly has a very good sound quality and a 12-hour battery life. It won’t float in your pool like some of the other speakers on this list, but if you’re mostly planning to use it indoors, the DOSS Touch will serve you well. Plus, it looks way better than its price would suggest, truly a great bang for your buck speaker.
Anker Soundcore 2
Battery life: Up to 24 hours
Anker’s bread and butter is good quality and aggressive pricing and the Soundcore 2 Bluetooth speaker is one of the best examples of that. If you need a no-thrills speaker on the cheap than this is a great choice. It will weather the elements and keep going for a full day without skipping a beat. Despite what the small body would make you think the sound is plenty loud and there’s even some decent bass coming out of the Soundcore 2.
Bluetooth speakers from $100 to $200
UE Boom 3
Battery life: Up to 15 hours
The UE Boom 3 is another great option that is waterproof and shockproof. UE puts its speakers through rigorous testing you you can take it anywhere without much worry. While earlier, UE Boom speakers had support for Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, it has now been revoked and this is just a regular speaker focused on great sound quality, but without smart assistance commands. In terms of sound quality, the UE Boom 3 is also excellent with crisp highs and mids, and an overall surprisingly powerful sound for its size.
JBL Flip 5
Battery life: Up to 12 hours
The JBL Flip 5 is where great sound quality, cool design and great price meet. It’s the kind of speaker you’d be proud to whip out of your backpack and play some music for your friends. Unlike most other speakers, the Flip 5 comes with a Type C charging port which means you don’t need to carry an extra cable and can use your phone’s charger (unless it’s an iPhone, of course). It’s also just as durable as the best of them. Battery life is okay but not among the best and and unlike the Flip 4 (which is also a good, slightly cheaper option) it can’t be used for calls.
Beats Pill+
Battery life: Up to 12 hours
Bose SoundLink Mini 2
Battery life: Up to 12 hours
The Bose SoundLink Mini 2 might have the most outdated look of them all, but it has absolutely stellar sound quality that beats the JBL Charge 3 and UE Boom 3 by a long shot. It has a more open sound stage, with much better defined sound in both highs and lows, and it has sufficient volume to fill a room nicely. It sounds exquisite, especially considering its rather small size. Unfortunately, it’s not the best partner for your outdoor activities as it’s lacking an IP rating.
JBL Charge 4
Battery life: Up to 20 hours
The main difference between JBL’s Flip line and Charge line is that the Charge speakers come with a power-bank function, which is where the name comes from. What you get for the price difference between the Charge 4 and the Charge 3 is a 1,800mAh larger battery, USB Type C and more powerful speakers. The Charge 4 is not only louder but has better overall sound quality while maintaining the 20 hours of battery life it predecessor has. However, with this generation you’re losing the speakerphone function and voice assistant integration. If that’s not a dealbreaker for you then the JBL Charge 4 is an awesome choice.
UE Megaboom 3
Battery life: Up to 20 hours
The UE Megaboom 3 is probably the most popular large Bluetooth speakers out there and for a good reason: it blasts powerful 360-degree sound, allows pairing two speakers to get even more boom and has a rock solid connection that it can keep at distances of up to 150 feet. If the regular Boom 3 isn’t good enough for your purposes then the Megaboom 3 will surely be able to deliver.
Bluetooth speakers over $200
Marshall Kilburn 2
The stylish-looking Marshall Kilburn will look great in any home with the recognizable Marshall design. But it’s not just about the visual appeal as it also boasts a very clear and loud sound output that will definitely have music enthusiasts happy. And while it’s bigger and heavier than most other speakers on the list, it does have a strap to carry it around so you can take your premium music experience anywhere and enjoy it for more than 20 hours. The price tag is a step above what we’ve looked at so far, but if it’s within your budget, you won’t regret getting the Kilburn II.
JBL Boombox
Battery life: Up to 24 hours
With a boomy bass and an overall impressive sound quality, the large-sized JBL Boombox is one more great big Bluetooth speaker. All speakers on this list can be used for an outdoor party but the Boombox is probably the only one that can do it without any compromises. To top it off, you can also use this speaker’s massive 20,000mAh battery as a power bank to charge up your phone.