Take Your Tunes Anywhere With Our Fave Bluetooth Speakers
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Best Overall
Ultimate Ears Boom 4
Best Pocket Bass
JBL Charge 5
Best Micro Speaker
Sony SRS-XB100
Best Bargain
Tribit StormBox
The best Bluetooth speakers have a place near and dear to our hearts, even as we’ve seen smart speakers improving their sound and portability. It’s convenient to ask an Amazon Echo or Google Nest speaker to play your favorite track or tell you the weather, but smart speakers require stable Wi-Fi and updates to do their best tricks. By (mostly) forgoing voice assistants and Wi-Fi radios, Bluetooth speakers are ultra-portable, able to venture into the world, and can withstand rugged conditions like a sandy beach or steamy Airbnb jacuzzi. They’ll work with any smartphone, and the top options sound just as good or better than the average smart speaker.
We’ve tested hundreds of Bluetooth speakers since 2017 (and many before that) and they improve every year. Here are our favorites right now. Be sure to check out all our buying guides, including the Best Soundbars, Best Wirefree Earbuds, Best Smart Speakers, and Best Bookshelf Speakers.
Updated June 2024: We’ve updated our top pick to the latest version of the Ultimate Ears Boom, added the Brane Audio Brane X speaker, and added the Sony Ult Field 1 to Honorable Mentions.
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Best Overall
Ultimate Ears Boom 4
We’ve had an Ultimate Ears Boom speaker atop our list for years now, and for good reason. The middle child of the UE portable lineup is fun and convenient, and puts out some of the most pleasant and balanced sound for its size on the market. The Boom 4 is our latest pick, with the most notable difference from 2018’s Boom 3 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) being a USB-C charging port. Why mess with near perfection, right?
We’ve spent a few days listening to the latest version, and even as the world has changed around it, the latest Boom still hits all the right notes for smooth, clear, and groovy sound. As before, the waterproof cylinder comes in multiple colors, is as durable as a chunk of wood, and gives you over 100 feet of Bluetooth range. It has a two-year warranty and connects to the UE app to unlock an EQ, connection to other Ultimate Ears speakers, and more. —Ryan Waniata
15-hour battery life, USB-C charging, IP67 dust/water resistance
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Best Pocket Bass
JBL Charge 5
If you like to shake the room even if the “room” is the Great Outdoors, the latest Charge from JBL is an ultra-portable banger. The speaker is IP67-rated against dust and moisture and offers a great battery life. It has up to eight different finishes and the ability to charge your phone while off the grid. Its tubular shape is designed to fit neatly into your hand, and just as important, it’s capable of kicking the party right off if you want it to. It’s not a blunt instrument, but its prodigious and frankly unlikely low-frequency response never stops surprising. If it’s portable party time you’re after, JBL has you covered in fine style. —Simon Lucas
20-hour battery life, USB-C charging, IP67 dust/water resistance
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Best Micro Speaker
Sony SRS-XB100
This sub-$100 speaker from Sony has become a go-to when riding to gatherings, thanks to a clever built-in strap, and the fact that it sits flat in a bike basket. It’s got excellent battery life, is IP67-rated for dust and water resistance, and you can even link two of them together for stereo sound. It comes in a variety of awesome colors—my favorites include bright blue and bright orange—so you’ll never be lost in the crowd. At just under 4 inches tall, it’s small enough to take virtually anywhere, and it sounds a lot better than a speaker this size has a right to.
16-hour battery life, USB-C charging, IP67 dust/water resistance
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Photograph: Tribit
Best Bargain
Tribit StormBox
You probably haven’t heard of Tribit, but its line of Bluetooth speakers sound a lot better than they should for the price. The StormBox is our favorite model. It has dual-firing drivers and passive radiators in a 7-inch-long pill shape. No, it can’t fuel a trance dance party on its own, but its clarity is impressive, and it has a fun extra bass button that adds some surprising, if slightly muddy, thump.
With 20-ish hours of battery and an IPX7 waterproof rating—which means it’s not dust-proof but can be submerged in water—it’s a great companion for backyard tunes, a trip down the river, or other informal gatherings.
20-hour battery life, USB-C charging, IP67 dust/water resistance
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Photograph: Ryan Waniata
Biggest Battery
Tribit Stormbox Flow
Tribit has been raising its game in the portable audio category lately, and the Stormbox Flow (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is another great example of the brand’s portable prowess. The headline here is a rival-stomping 30 hours of max battery life, but the Stormbox Flow has plenty more to give, from an elegant yet weatherproof design to clear and punchy audio with thumpy bass to match. Maybe the speaker’s best feature is its low price of $80 or less, making it a fine fit for budget shoppers seeking a versatile speaker that keeps rocking long after the party is done. —Ryan Waniata
30-hour battery life, USB-C charging, IP67 dust/water resistance
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Photograph: Ultimate Ears
Best for Water Slides
UE Wonderboom 2
The Ultimate Ears Wonderboom was a WIRED Gear of the Year award winner in 2017 because it was the best pool companion you can own. The Wonderboom 2 is even better. The little 4-inch ball of joy now sports IP67 water and dust resistance. It gets 13 hours of battery, has a 100-foot Bluetooth range, floats, and pumps out surprisingly potent audio while doing it.
UE says it’s “drop-proof” up to 5 feet, but you can honestly play some light catch with it on the lawn and it won’t be any worse for wear. Just wash it off when you’re done. You can pair two together for proper stereo sound.
13-hour battery life, micro-USB charging, IP67 dust/water resistance
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Photograph: JBL
Best for Adventure Time
JBL Clip 4
We like the JBL Clip 4 more than its three predecessors. It’s the size of a hockey puck—small enough that you can take it with you on almost any adventure. It’s waterproof and has a carabiner clip up top so you can snap it to all kinds of stuff, including your shower tower. It has more controls (volume, play, Bluetooth, power) than most other micro speakers, and its sound is surprisingly bold, making this a great one to hang off of packs or harnesses on weight-limited outings.
12-hour battery life, USB-C charging, IP67 dust/water resistance
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Photograph: TriBit
Handlebar Ready
Tribit StormBox Micro 2
We loved the first generation of the Tribit StormBox Micro for its easy-to-use silicone strap, which firmly held it against bicycle handlebars. In this update, Tribit has maintained the rugged IP67 rating against water and dust, and given us more battery life (around 12 hours) plus better bass. Also, the new Bluetooth 5.2 tech allows it to cast a wider signal than its predecessor, for when you’re wandering around the yard or house.
12-hour battery life, USB-C charging, IP67 dust/water resistance
★ Also handlebar-ready: Bose also makes a great speaker of a similar design called the SoundLink Micro ($119), which was previously our top bike handlebar pick. It sounds about the same but is twice as expensive as the Tribit.
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Photograph: Sonos
Best Smart Bluetooth Speaker
Sonos Roam
The larger Sonos speakers are great if you want a speaker that usually lives inside, but they aren’t the kind of thing you’d want to throw in a backpack. That’s where the Roam comes in (9/10, WIRED Recommends). This tiny tube has all the same smarts as its bigger Sonos siblings but with an IP67 dust- and water-resistance rating and 10 hours of listening time. It’s about the size of a 16-ounce beer can and easily fits in cup holders and knapsacks alike. Sonos recently updated it in the Roam 2, with easier Bluetooth pairing via a dedicated button. We’ll be testing it for its new feature soon but otherwise, the new speaker is the same as the discounted OG Roam.
10-hour battery life, USB-C charging (available wireless charging pad), IP67 dust/water resistance
★ A bigger portable Sonos: The Sonos Move 2 costs $449 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) and is a larger version of our top pick, the Sonos Roam. It’s good if you’re trying to fuel a real dance party, or if you want a mostly indoor speaker you can take onto the patio for get-togethers.
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Photograph: Bang & Olufsen
Best Elegant Accessory
Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 (2nd Gen)
Bang & Olufsen’s round, IP67-rated Bluetooth speaker has a luxe price, but it’s one of the best-sounding small speakers we’ve ever heard. With an included leather strap, excellent controls, and a super-durable build, it quickly became a favorite. If you’re willing to spend up for a gorgeous portable in every sense, this is the tiny luxury option to beat. Plus, now that it’s been around a bit, you can often find it on sale as low as $200, making it all the more enticing.
18-hour battery life, USB-C charging, IP67 dust/water resistance
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Photograph: Ryan Waniata
Best Portable Home Theater
Brane Audio Brane X
Brane Audio’s Brane X speaker (9/10, WIRED Recommends) may seem like a shockingly pricey choice for a list of portable speakers, and it certainly is that. But this lunchbox-sized speaker has something no other portable we’ve tested has: a true, fully functional subwoofer. Thanks to Brane’s mystifying RAD (Repel Attract Driver) technology, this speaker hits all the notes in your music, with unadulterated bass to bring more punch, gravitas, and sheer emotionality to everything you play.
The physics-defying subwoofer is joined by five drivers up top for impressive stereo expansion from a portable package. You’ll get both Bluetooth streaming and Wi-Fi for plugging in at home, with support for AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect. The speaker lasts for 12 hours per charge, and gets an IP57 rating for dust and water resistance. You’ll pay a lofty price, but the Brane X’s clear and fantastically full sound gets you very close to the performance of a home audio system virtually anywhere you roam. —Ryan Waniata
12-hour battery life, proprietary charging, IP67 dust/water resistance
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Photograph: Positive Grid
A Bluetooth Guitar Amp
Positive Grid Spark Mini
Positive Grid’s Spark Mini (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is one of our favorite portable tools for musicians. You can pair your phone and play music via the cube-shaped speaker, but also plug in a guitar and blend yourself in to jam along. It’s a perfect playing tool for campfires and backyard barbecues (8 hours of battery), and it even doubles as an audio interface if you need to scratch down an idea quickly. Because it’s a guitar amp, the thing is much louder than it looks, easily able to fuel sing-alongs and shredding interpretations of The Star-Spangled Banner on Independence Day.
8-hour battery life, USB-C charging, no labeled water resistance
★ Miniaturize it: Looking for a smaller way to shred on the go? The Spark Go ($129) is about half the size of the Spark Mini and comes with all the same great sounds, making it perfect for those who don’t need much volume (or who plan to practice with headphones anyway).
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Photograph: Ultimate Ears
Best Porta Party
Ultimate Ears Hyperboom
With 24 hours of battery life, a rugged design, and a huge yard-filling sound, the Ultimate Ears Hyperboom (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is the perfect speaker for a party. Intelligent algorithms use data from a built-in mic to analyze where you’ve placed the speaker, ensuring the best possible sound, much like the Sonos Move. This is a better option than the Sonos if you have no interest in a future home network of speakers.
It doesn’t have lights or cup holders like some other party speakers, but this is the best-made large Bluetooth speaker we’ve tested. It’s been dropped from trucks, left out in the rain, and used at summer barbecues. It’s even got a big silicon strap, inviting you to take it everywhere.
24-hour battery life, USB-C charging, IPX4 water resistance
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Photograph: Urbanista
Powered by the Sun
Urbanista Malibu
We’re not the biggest fans ever of the Urbanista Malibu’s sound (7/10, WIRED Review), but it is notable in that it can be charged using solar power. That makes it a great speaker for those of us who are forgetful beach bums, or who only use a speaker like this on rare outdoor occasions, but stick to smart speakers or earbuds at home.
30-hour battery life, USB-C and solar charging, IP67 dust/water resistance
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Photograph: Scosche
Honorable Mentions
Pretty Good Speakers
Here are some other good speakers we’ve tested that didn’t quite make the cut for our top picks for one reason or another:
- Sony Ult Field 1 for $130: The smallest of Sony’s Ult line speakers is a solid tubular portable up against very tough competition. It offers good sound with the “Ult” bass key engaged, but its midrange is less defined and dynamic than some of our favorites like the Ultimate Ears Boom 3 or JBL Charge 5, and it offers less battery life than either. Even the smaller JBL Flip 6 provides more presence and punch, and the Ult Field 1 is larger and more unwieldy, making it a solid but not outstanding choice.
- Dali Katch G2 for $600: Danish specialist Dali’s second generation of its remarkably elegant Katch speaker is a balanced, open, and extraordinarily positive listen. The Katch is able to extract a stack of information from even the meanest Bluetooth stream. Thanks to a choice of three finishes, a leather handle, and some typically Scandi industrial design, it looks the part as well as sounding it, but its price is very high.
- Marshall Stockwell II for $200: If you’re a music fan or just love the classic Marshall guitar amplifier design, this Bluetooth speaker is ready to rock. This small, relatively pricey speaker serves up smooth, balanced, and refined sound. The durable exterior is splash-resistant, the front and back have a steel grille, and the batter lasts around 20 hours depending on how much you tweak the stylish volume knob.
- Ultimate Ears Epicboom for $300-350: The Epicboom is another excellent speaker from UE, with a curvy, pill-shaped body that’s easy to transport for its size. It projects sound well in medium-sized outdoor spaces and can connect to other Ultimate Ears models inside the Boom app, potentially creating a party channel of up to 150 speakers. We also like the fact that this speaker is made from 100 percent recycled polyester fabric and 59 percent post-consumer recycled plastic.
- DemerBox DB2 for $399: The DB2 is a great companion for your boldest outdoor adventures, in large part because it serves two purposes: It’s a loud portable speaker with 40 hours of built-in battery life, and it’s also a crushproof Pelican case. Load it up with any particularly fragile items, plug the bass port with an included rubber stopper, and you’ve got yourself an everything-proof box to keep your stuff safe.
- Tivoli Model Two for $450: This radio has a gorgeous midcentury modern feel, and can sit both vertically and horizontally. It has both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth streaming options, works with Google Chromecast and Apple AirPlay, and gets plenty loud. It’s almost a little too minimalist, with its single button and surrounding LED light to control and indicate modes, and it’s pricier than it needs to be, unless you’re looking for a design statement first.
- Oontz Angle 3 Speaker for $40: This speaker has thousands of positive reviews on Amazon and is pretty great for a dirt-cheap Bluetooth speaker based on our testing. If you just want something to sing along with in the shower—and you’re not a stickler for great audio quality—snag one of these.
- Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level for $2,000: Bang & Olufsen takes a “buy once, cry once” policy for wireless listening. The Beosound Level is a crazy expensive Wi-Fi and Bluetooth speaker, but it is modularly designed and aims to be repairable forever. The 16-hour battery is replaceable, as are the wood and cloth elements. The gorgeous and great-sounding speaker could be a lifetime audio addition that can be upgraded as time passes.
- Bose’s SoundLink Revolve II for $219: Both this speaker and the Soundlink Revolve+ II ($329) aren’t the cheapest, cutest, or most waterproof speakers, but we like their sound and their aesthetics. If you’re not hard on your speakers, they’re worth considering.
- Sony SRS-XG500 for $498: This is a very loud boom-box-shaped speaker with up to 30 hours of battery life. It sounds and works great, but it just doesn’t sound as good as the Ultimate Ears model on our main list, and we don’t love the aesthetics.
Parker Hall is a senior editor of product reviews at WIRED. He focuses on audiovisual and entertainment products. Hall is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied jazz percussion. After hours, he remains a professional musician in his hometown of Portland, Oregon.
Ryan Waniata is a writer, editor, video host, and product reviewer with over 10 years of experience at sites including Digital Trends, Reviewed, Business Insider, Review Geek, and others. He’s evaluated everything from TVs and soundbars to smart gadgets and wearables, with a focus on A/V gear. He has a… Read more
