What is best portable bluetooth speaker

The 6 Best Portable Bluetooth Speakers — Summer 2023 Reviews

A good portable Bluetooth speaker can bring your favorite music wherever you go. Whether you’re looking for a portable Bluetooth speaker to take with you when you’re outdoors at the beach, park, backyard, or even in different rooms of your home, there are countless models to choose from that are currently on the market. Ideally, you’ll want a well-built speaker with long-lasting battery life and an IP rating for water resistance to withstand getting wet when you take it outside. That said, it’s important to note that smaller speakers are more likely to struggle to get loud and reproduce a thumpy and rumbling low-bass.

We’ve tested over 110 speakers; below, you’ll find our recommendations for the best portable speakers. If you want more options, check out our picks for the best Bluetooth speakers, the best-sounding Bluetooth speakers, or the best small Bluetooth speakers.

Best Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Sonos Move

The best portable Bluetooth speaker that we’ve tested is the Sonos Move. This versatile speaker boasts great sound quality and has many cool features to maximize your listening experience wherever you go. Like many other Sonos products, this speaker has built-in voice assistants for hands-free control. Also, you can connect it with other Sonos products to spread audio throughout your home and out to your backyard. You’ll also find bass and treble adjustments in the Sonos S2 app if you want to customize its sound manually, as well as the TruePlay room correction feature for more automatic sound adjustment to your unique listening space. Wi-Fi connectivity is great for in-home use, and when you take it outside, you can switch to Bluetooth for easy wireless streaming. This speaker is a little larger than other Bluetooth speakers on the market, but thanks to its built-in handle, it’s still easy to carry out to your backyard in one hand. Since it’s rated IP56 for dust and water resistance, it can withstand light exposure to the elements. If you’re looking for a smaller premium Bluetooth speaker with built-in voice assistant support, you can check out the best small Bluetooth speaker we’ve tested, the Sonos Roam/Roam SL. Its sound quality isn’t as impressive as the larger Move, but its lightweight design may be more suitable if you plan to take a longer trip outdoors.

Best Upper Mid-Range Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Sony SRS-XG300

Looking for a more affordable option? Check out the Sony SRS-XG300. It’s another great choice for on-the-go listening, and its boombox-style design makes it easy to bring it wherever you go. It’s relatively lightweight and has a built-in handle to help you carry it along in just one hand. Thanks to its IP67 rating for dust and water resistance, it can withstand some exposure to the elements. Take it with you to the park or on your next camping trip, and its 14-hour battery life lets you listen all day long without worrying about a recharge. This speaker’s impressive sound quality is great for listening to different music genres. It boasts a balanced sound out-of-the-box, but if you want something different, there’s a graphic EQ available in its companion app. Bump up the bass or even out the treble, and you can make it sound however you like. That said, this speaker doesn’t have any built-in voice assistants like the Sonos Move, so if you want to control it hands-free, you’ll need to pair it with a voice assistant-enabled smartphone wirelessly. If voice assistant control isn’t a big deal, you may find it’s a better value overall.

Best Mid-Range Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3

The Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 is another great portable Bluetooth speaker available at a more wallet-friendly price point. This cylindrical Bluetooth speaker is easy to take on the go, and you can even attach it to your bag with its built-in carrying hook. It’s smaller than our top picks, too, which may be more to your liking. It’s also rated IP67 for dust and water resistance, which is great if you want to use your speaker near bodies of water, like a pool, a river, or a lake. Plus, this speaker comes in many color variants, so you can choose a style that meets your taste. Given its price, it’s unsurprising that this speaker’s low-frequency extension isn’t as impressive as that of the Sony SRS-XG300. That means you notice less bass in the mix, especially with bass-heavy tracks like EDM and hip-hop. If you mostly listen to content without a lot of bass mixed in, like dialogue-focused podcasts or folk music, it’s not a big deal, though. Plus, this speaker has a lot of customization options to make the most of its sound, including a graphic EQ and presets. With a small design and a great sound, it’s worth checking out, especially if you don’t want to spend much on your next speaker.

Best Lower Mid-Range Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Anker Soundcore Motion+

You can enjoy great sound quality with the Anker Soundcore Motion+ for an even more affordable price. It’s another portable Bluetooth speaker with versatile performance, making it a solid choice for your next camping trip or afternoon in the park. This speaker lasts over fifteen hours off of a single charge, too, so you don’t have to worry too much about running out of power while you’re out and about. If the adventure takes you near a body of water, you’re in luck—this device is rated IPX7 for water resistance, meaning it can be submerged in a meter of water for up to thirty minutes without issue. Despite its small and compact size, this speaker packs a punch for sound quality. Its out-of-the-box performance is great for listening to different music genres, podcasts, and audiobooks. Voices and lead instruments are clear and present in the mix, and there’s a solid amount of bass, too. Of course, as a small speaker, it doesn’t bring as much rumble as some of the larger picks on our list, and its materials are less premium than the Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3. Still, it’s a great choice, with many customization features, including a graphic EQ in the Soundcore companion app so you can change its sound to your liking.

Best Budget Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Ultimate Ears WONDERBOOM 3

The Ultimate Ears WONDERBOOM 3 is a great budget-friendly alternative to our top picks. This neat device, designed for outdoor and indoor use, is made of recycled plastic and is available in various color variants. Clip it to your bag using its built-in strap, or carry it in one hand, which is easy given its small and lightweight design. Since it can float in water, it’s great to use at the pool, and its IP67 rating for dust and water resistance keeps it safe when exposed to the elements. This speaker also comes with an Outdoor Mode preset that makes audio sound more clear and more crisp when you’re out of the house. Otherwise, though, it doesn’t have a lot of customization features like the Anker Soundcore Motion+. If you want a budget-friendly speaker with a graphic EQ and presets to switch up its sound, check out the Anker Soundcore Flare 2. While the Anker can’t float in water, and its battery life doesn’t last as long as the Ultimate Ears, it’s still a solid option that ranks among the best small Bluetooth speakers we’ve tested. You can’t go wrong with either speaker.

Best Portable Speaker For Bass

JBL Boombox 3

The JBL Boombox 3 is a portable Bluetooth speaker that packs a punch in the bass range. It has a sleek boombox-like design with a built-in handle, so you can easily transport this mid-size speaker from room to room. Along the way, you get a deep and rumbling low-bass that brings genres like EDM and hip-hop to life, so you feel the thump in the space around you. Want more bass? You’re in luck, as the JBL Portable app comes with a 3-band graphic EQ, making it easy to add more punch with the touch of a button. This speaker is quite versatile. It lasts almost 30 hours off of a single charge, so you can listen to your favorite tunes for multiple days without worrying about a recharge. It gets loud, meaning you can shake the room with bass-heavy music. Regardless of the genre of music, voices, and lead instruments remain clearly and accurately reproduced in the mix, so they aren’t overwhelmed by the punch and rumble. You won’t find voice assistant capabilities like with the Sonos Move, but if you don’t plan to use these tools, you may find it a better value overall. Ultimately, this speaker is a great choice for bass lovers.

Notable Mentions

• Sonos Roam/Roam SL: The Sonos Roam is a small, portable Bluetooth speaker that’s a smaller, more compact version of the Sonos Move. It’s a viable alternative for something more portable with Alexa and Google Assistant built-in. However, it struggles to reproduce low-bass, and its battery only lasts around five hours on a single charge, though this can depend on your usage. See our review
• Bose Portable Smart Speaker: The Bose Portable Smart Speaker is a portable Bluetooth speaker with a carrying handle and Alexa and Google Assistant built-in. However, its battery life doesn’t last as long as the Sonos Move. It also isn’t as well-built. See our review
• JBL Flip 6: The JBL Flip 6 is a well-built portable Bluetooth speaker with a balanced sound profile, suitable for listening to different audio content. However, it has to downmix stereo content to mono to play it, which isn’t as immersive. Its battery life also doesn’t last as long as the Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3. See our review
• Bose SoundLink Flex: The Bose SoundLink Flex is a very well-built portable Bluetooth speaker with a neutral sound profile that floats in water. It has to downmix stereo content to mono to play it, which isn’t as immersive. It has a much shorter battery life of around seven hours. It also doesn’t have a graphic EQ to tweak the sound like the Anker Soundcore Motion+. See our review
• Sony SRS-XB13: The Sony SRS-XB13 is among the best small Bluetooth speakers we’ve tested, thanks to its compact design and great build quality. It’s much smaller than the Ultimate Ears WONDERBOOM 3 and comes with a removable carrying strap to help transport it. That said, due to its smaller size, it doesn’t get quite as loud as the WONDERBOOM 3, and it lacks extra features like a graphic EQ to customize its sound. See our review

Recent Updates

1. Jun 28, 2023: No changes in product picks. Minor text updates for clarity.
2. May 31, 2023: Confirmed product picks and made minor updates to the text for consistency.
3. May 04, 2023: Product picks are relevant and accurate, but we’ve made minor text updates for accuracy.
4. Apr 07, 2023: Picks remain the best that we’ve tested. Minor text updates for clarity.
5. Mar 10, 2023: As the Ultimate Ears WONDERBOOM 3 and the Anker Soundcore Flare 2 are available at a similar price, we’ve removed the Anker as the ‘Best Cheap’ pick. It’s now a Notable Mention that’s compared to the Ultimate Ears within the ‘Best Budget’ text.

All Reviews

Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best Bluetooth speakers for portability. We factor in the price (cheaper speakers win over pricier ones if the difference isn’t worth it), feedback from our visitors, and availability (no speakers that are difficult to find or almost out of stock everywhere).

If you would like to see more products, here’s the list of all our Bluetooth speaker reviews sorted by their outdoor performance. Be careful not to get caught up in the details. There are no perfect speakers. Personal taste, preference, and listening habits will matter more in your selection.

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