The Best Portable Bluetooth Speaker

After listening to a total of more than 200 portable Bluetooth speakers within the past two years, we believe the UE Roll two is the best selection for most listeners. It sounds great and plays loudly enough to fill a hotel area, and its slim, waterproof, rugged design makes it an perfect companion for anything out of a luxury hotel remain to a weeklong hiking trip.

Our pick

UE Roll 2

The speaker with everything

Like its predecessor, the Roll 2 provides an irresistible mix of sound quality, ruggedness, water resistance, reliability, cool features, and an affordable price.

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A half years after the introduction of the first (and barely different) UE Roll, the UE Roll 2 stays the Bluetooth speaker we utilize over any other, and also the one we’d buy if we might get only one. The Roll 2 sounds full, with smooth reproduction of everything from bass notes to cymbals, and it plays loud enough to fill a hotel room or a place at the beach with sound. It’s so watertight it will endure being dunked 1 meter underwater for 30 minutes. The 101/2-hour tested battery life and also 60-foot range are notable for a speaker of this size. Of worldwide traveling together with the Roll 2 and the original Roll, over two decades have only confirmed our love. The only real downside is that it lacks a speakerphone function.

If our principal pick sells out, or if you would like more powerful sound and do not mind sacrificing a little bit of portability, then the Sony SRS-XB30 is a nice alternative at only a slightly higher price. It’s a completely different design from the UE Roll 2: rectangular rather than round, and around three times as thick at 2.2 lbs. It’s too large to fit into many notebook bags, but it’s easy to throw into a beach tote or carry around the home. The SRS-XB30 delivers a great deal more bass than the Roll two, so it’s far better for hip-hop, R&B, and stone, and it’s enough power to fill an average room with sound. Its IPX5 water-resistance evaluation means that it can endure rainstorms and poolside splashes, but not long soaks like the Roll 2.

If portability isn’t your main concern and you simply want the best possible performance, we believe the Riva Turbo X is among the best portable Bluetooth speakers you can buy. Its sound is clearer, livelier, more broad, and more natural than its competitors’. It gets you closer to the noise of a true stereo speaker system than any other Bluetooth portable we have tried, and it delivers enough quantity to be heard over loud celebration conversation. It is also more refined and elegant looking than many Bluetooth speakers. Note, however, that although the Turbo X is splash-proof if its back jacks are safeguarded by its own included rubber cover, it’s heavy for its size and not as rocky as the other speakers we’ve chosen, so it’s best suited to areas like offices, bedrooms, and living rooms.

If you want a good mobile Bluetooth speaker and need to pay the bare minimum, the Tribit XSound Go is a great choice. The sound is a notch above that of the previous budget pick (that was itself an obvious standout), together with clearer voices and more tuneful and realistic bass. It’s also small enough to slip into a notebook bag or an already-stuffed bag. Plus it is IPX7-rated, which means it’s sufficiently waterproof to survive a half hour dunking in 1 meter of water.

The EcoXGear GDI-EXBLD810 EcoBoulder is a very different kind of mobile Bluetooth speaker than our other selections, intended to pump outside maximum quantity for pool parties, picnics, and tailgating. Yet although it may burst, it can also soothe … not only with its own full, natural sound, but also using an integrated bottle opener and cupholders. Weighing 29 pounds and sized just like a roll-aboard bag, it is not something you’ll take on business trips, however a retractable handle and wheels make it easy to lug around. It also has a radio.

Besides our picks, lots of the other models we tested are quite capable and might be good alternatives in the event that you’re able to locate them at a fantastic price. If you’re interested in whether a particular model you’ve seen or heard about is worth considering, check out the competition section close to the end of this manual, where we include our opinions regarding the over 100 models we’ve tested over time.