There's a huge selection of different bluetooth speakers on the market and it can be difficult to figure out which one is the best one for you. Are you looking for your bedroom? Something everyone at a party can hear? Do you plan on using your speaker outside or near water? Looking for a speaker with a smart assistant? Let's look at what's out there.
Portable
There are a lot of different options for a smaller portable speaker. If you can think of a manufacturer, chances are they make a bluetooth speaker. If you're looking for something as small as possible, the Sony SRS-XB12 is a great option with 16 hours of battery life. If you're looking for something perfect for bringing everywhere the JBL Clip 3 has a carabiner built in so you can attach it to almost anything.
If you'd like something with a little more kick to it, the Bose Soundlink Color Bluetooth Speaker II is a bit larger but still easy to move around. The Sony SRS-XB32 Portable Bluetooth Speaker is another small option which can be paired with a second speaker to get stereo audio. If you need a boost on that, hit the extra bass button to get some more sound. The LG XBOOM Go PK3 also has custom presets for uncompromising performance.
Water Resistant
Many bluetooth speakers are now coming with a water resistance rating. But if you're taking your speaker in to the great outdoors, you'll want waterproofing and dust protection to make sure you don't damage your speaker. The Ultimate Ears Wonder boom 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker floats, can be submerged up to 1 meter for 30 minutes and also allows you to get stereo sound with two speakers. If you're looking for something small and waterproof the Bose SoundLink Micro Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker comes in at just 4 by 4 inches making it perfect to take everywhere.
Fill the Room
If you're looking for something that'll bring down the house or dorm you'll want to check out the Sony High Power XB60 Portable Bluetooth Speaker. If you don't need something quite that large, Ultimate Ears MEGABLAST has quite a bit of power with a much smaller footprint.
Smart Assistant
With voice assistants getting better every day, chances this feature is coming to bluetooth speaker you already like. A lot of the earlier models have not been portable and need to be plugged in all the time, but that's starting to change. If you already use Alexa or Google Assistant, you'll probably want to stick with the same voice assistant.
The Google Home is a great entry level portable speaker with built in Google Assistant. If you want a speaker with a little more power you may want to check out the Sonos One, with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. If you want enough power to take your speaker outside the Sonos- Move Smart has a weatherproof design and supports both bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections.
Amazon's Alexa has been around for a while and has quite a lot of different home speakers, but there are a couple bluetooth speakers you can take on the go. The Amazon Echo is a great start with 360 degree sound and comes in 4 stylish colors. The brand new Amazon Echo Studio punches things up even further with studio-quality audio from every direction, with powerful bass and crisp high tones.
With so many different styles and types of bluetooth speakers, it's easy to get overwhelmed. This is just a small sample of the many different options out there, you can always visit your local Best Buy to take a look at all the different options on display.
