The best Bluetooth speakers you can buy today are compact, versatile, and super convenient wherever you go—whether you’re exercising in the backyard, attending a party, or just cleaning around.
Because the best Bluetooth speakers are wireless, you can easily stream music from your phone, tablet, laptop, or even the best turntables via a wire.
1. Sonos Roaming
The Sonos Roam is our pick for the best Bluetooth speaker, with powerful sound, a durable design, great connectivity, and smart home controls.
Bass-heavy audio performance makes it ideal for outdoor use, and it’s powerful enough to cancel out wind noise, as we found during testing. Meanwhile, a clever auto-switching feature means it can seamlessly become part of your indoor Sonos Wi-Fi multi-room setup.
These flashy features would mean nothing if the Sonos Roam didn’t sound great – but we’re happy to report that despite its small size, the Roam offers a powerful sound performance and very distinctive bass, even if it lacks what you’re looking for Rhythm accuracy expects audiophile presentation.
The Sonos Roam is equipped with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, which means it can be used both as a portable speaker and as part of a wider multi-room Sonos system — and it comes with Google Assistant and Alexa (if you’re connected to Wi-Fi). Fi), which also doubles as a smart speaker.
2. Tribit Stormbox Micro 2
The Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 is the best-sounding, most feature-packed mini Bluetooth speaker we’ve had the pleasure of testing. It’s not the most powerful or loudest Bluetooth speaker out there, but at this size and price point, you won’t get much better.
The Micro 2 is an excellent pocket-sized portable speaker that does a surprisingly good job of playing music and is a great choice for listening to podcasts or watching TV on your mobile device. It’s also a solid option if you’re looking for a pair of stereo speakers for a small room: You can buy two of them for about the same price as you would pay for one of its better-known competitors.
3. JBL Flip 6
The JBL Flip 6 is the poster child for a Bluetooth speaker that sticks to the fundamentals and does everything right. This rugged portable speaker is easy to use, sounds great, and can be paired with up to 100 other JBL speakers simultaneously for a massive sound effect.
You won’t find any extra features like a voice assistant or Wi-Fi connectivity (even a 3.5mm aux input), but the Flip 6 sounds so good you won’t miss them. During our testing, we found its warm, balanced audio performance to be far more powerful than you’d expect from a speaker of this size, and while the highs can sound a bit harsh at higher volumes, you get plenty of clarity and details.
12 hours of battery life and water and dust resistance make this speaker the ideal speaker for the pool or beach, and it’s available in a variety of attractive colors. It’s a shame there’s no port to charge your phone like some larger JBL speakers do, but that’s no big deal.
4. B&O Beosound A1 (2nd generation)
Almost identical to the original A1, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) is an attractive and highly portable Bluetooth speaker with (admittedly flawed) Alexa support and no Wi-Fi required.
The hockey puck or even hamburger-shaped speaker looks exquisite, while its IP67 water and dust resistance means it’s tougher than it looks, suitable for outdoor use and submersion.
We found that its clear audio performance and 360-degree soundstage make the A1 an ideal soundtrack for smaller gatherings. The perfect balance of bass, mids and treble ensures that unlike many bluetooth speakers, it enjoys our favorite songs as if we were hearing them for the first time. The music is exciting, punchy, and energetic, but it doesn’t overload the bass or push the highs so far that they lose their realism. It’s what you’d expect from B&O (and at a premium price), but it’s still the best small portable speaker for hardcore music lovers.
5. Tribit Stormbox Explosion
The Tribit Stormbox Blast is an unusual speaker, and here’s what you need to know before considering it: it’s heavy, and you can’t completely turn off the lights – although you can, they only come on when you Do. Toggle the volume level.
Honestly, it’s not the most subtle device we’ve tested. But that’s where the criticism ends. As the largest and most powerful Bluetooth speaker in Tribit’s ever-expanding library of portable speakers, the Stormbox Blast sounds every inch as detailed as models from renowned audio specialists—even at higher volumes for three times the price.
Conclusion
For complete control of your smart home, buy one of the best smart speakers with Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, or Siri built-in.
