Table of Contents
The best portable speakers you can buy today are small, flexible, and easy to take with you anywhere, whether you’re working out in your garden, at a party, or just cleaning your house. If you have a good portable Bluetooth speaker, you can take your favourite music with you wherever you go. Right now, there are many different kinds of portable Bluetooth speakers on the market. You can take them to the beach, park, backyard, or even to different rooms in your own home.
You should look for a speaker with a battery that lasts a long time, is well-made, and has an IP rating for water resistance so that it can handle getting a little wet when you take it outside. Still, it’s important to keep in mind that smaller speakers are more likely to have trouble getting loud and making low-bass sounds that thump and rumble. We’ve tried out a lot of speakers, and here are our top choices for the best portable speakers.
Best Portable Speakers
Sonos Roam
The Sonos Roam is our choice for the best Bluetooth speaker because it has a powerful sound, a rugged design, great connectivity features, and smart home control. It’s great to use outside because the bass-heavy sound is loud enough to cut through wind noise. Adding it to your Sonos Wi-Fi multi-room setup inside is easy thanks to a feature called Automatic Switching.
The Sonos Roam’s flashy features wouldn’t matter if it didn’t sound great. Luckily, despite its small size, the Roam has a powerful sound with surprisingly strong bass, even if it doesn’t have the rhythmic accuracy you’d expect from an audiophile speaker. The Sonos Roam can connect to both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, so it can be used as a portable speaker or as part of a larger, multi-room Sonos system.
Tribit Stormbox Micro 2
The Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 is the smallest Bluetooth speaker that has the best sound and most features that we’ve tried. It’s not the most powerful or loud Bluetooth speaker on the market, but it’s the best you can get for this size and price. The Micro 2 is a great pocket-sized speaker that sounds surprisingly good for music.
It’s also a great choice if you want to watch TV shows or listen to podcasts on your phone. It’s also a great choice if you want a stereo pair of speakers for a small room, since you can buy two of these for the same price as one of its better-known competitors. The bass response was great, which is usually where small speakers fall short.
JBL Flip 6
The JBL Flip 6 is a great example of a Bluetooth speaker that does just what it needs to do and does it well. This tough, portable speaker is easy to use, sounds good, and can be linked to up to 100 other JBL speakers at once to make a huge wall of sound. The Flip 6 doesn’t have any extra features like a voice assistant or Wi-Fi, but it sounds so good that you won’t miss them.
During our tests, we found that it has a warm, well-balanced sound that is much louder than you might expect from a speaker this size. The treble can sound a little harsh at higher volumes, but there is a lot of clarity and detail. This speaker has a battery life of 12 hours and is resistant to water and dust. It would be great to take to the pool or beach, and it comes in a variety of colours that stand out.
Sony SRS-XG300
If you want a cheaper portable Bluetooth speaker, check out the Sony SRS-XG300. It looks like a boombox and has a handle built in to make it easier to carry. Overall, it’s small and light, and the materials feel strong. It has a dust and water resistance rating of IP67, which means it can be submerged in up to one metre of water for 30 minutes without getting damaged.
It’s great that you can take it to the lake or pool without worrying too much about water damage. Different kinds of people can use this speaker because it can do different things. The dialogue is easy to understand in podcasts and audiobooks, and the instruments in your favourite songs sound clear and distinct.
Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3
The Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 is the best middle-priced portable speaker we’ve tried. It’s a small Bluetooth speaker in the shape of a cylinder that’s easy to carry around. It even comes with a hook that you can attach to your bag to carry it. It comes in many colours, so you can choose one that goes with your style. It can also resist dust and water (IP67 rating), which is great if you want to use it near a pool, river, or lake.
Since this speaker is less expensive than the Sony SRS-XG300, it makes sense that it can’t make as much low-bass sound. It’s most obvious in EDM and hip-hop, which have a lot of bass, because you don’t feel as much rumble and thump. But it doesn’t matter much if you mostly listen to podcasts with a lot of talking or classical music without a lot of bass.
Anker Soundcore Motion+
The Anker Soundcore Motion+ is a portable Bluetooth speaker that costs less and works in a number of ways. It’s a good choice because it’s small and easy to carry. You can take it to the park or on your next camping trip. It works for more than fifteen hours on a single charge, so you don’t have to worry about running out of power when you’re out and about.
If your adventure takes you near a body of water, you’re in luck: this device has a water resistance rating of IPX7, which means it can be submerged in one metre of water for up to thirty minutes without any problems. The sound quality of this speaker is very good, even though it is small and compact.
Ultimate Ears WONDERBOOM 3
The UE Wonderboom 3 is a portable speaker that is small but powerful. It has the best sound we’ve heard in its size range. It’s still a cute barrel-shaped speaker with a strap that most likely needs a carabiner to attach it to most things.
But this model has been updated with some bright new colours, an extra hour of battery life, and a better wireless range. With an IP67 rating and a five-foot drop test by the company, you can pretty much take it anywhere and it will still work.
The sound is loud and clear enough for a device this size and price. Even though it doesn’t work with apps or connect to other Ultimate Ears speakers, it’s easy to pair with a second Wonderboom to get stereo sound. There is also a button on the bottom for “outdoor mode,” which boosts the mid-range and high-range sounds so they can be heard from farther away.
Soundcore Trance Go
The Anker Soundcore Trance Go may surprise you if you have a big room, backyard, or similar space and want something with powerful, long-range sound that won’t break the bank. This barebones speaker is bigger and heavier than most in this price range. It weighs about six pounds, which would make it hard to carry in a backpack. But it has a strap for carrying, a charging port, an aux input, and it can play music for up to 24 hours.
You can hear the low-end thump and some good highs if you get close. Its sound works best when it can cover a large area, so it won’t always work. This works like a small loudspeaker, putting out up to 98dB, but the sound isn’t as loud, so it won’t drown out the environment. You also use the Soundcore app to use EQ settings that have already been made or to make your own.
Final Words
We think the best portable speakers listed above are the best ones most people can buy now. This list has the best Bluetooth speakers that are small. We think about the price, what our customers say, and what’s available. If you want to see more products, here is a list of all the Bluetooth speakers we’ve reviewed, sorted by how well they work outside. Don’t get too caught up in the small stuff.