17 Best Bluetooth Speakers (2021): Portable, Waterproof, and More | WIRED

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The Best Bluetooth Speakers

These are our favorite portable speakers of all shapes and sizes, from clip-ons to a massive boom box.

THE BEST BLUETOOTH speakers still have a place near and dear to our hearts, even as we've seen better (and more portable) smart speakers creeping into the universe.

It's fun and easy to ask an Amazon Echo or Google Nest speaker to play your favorite track or tell you the weather, but smart speakers have a few crutches—first and foremost, stable Wi-Fi. By (mostly) forgoing voice assistants and Wi-Fi radios, Bluetooth speakers gain portability, with the ability to venture outside of your house and withstand rugged conditions like the sandy beach or the steamy Airbnb jacuzzi. They'll also work with any smartphone, and they sound as good their smart-speaker equivalents.

We've tested hundreds of models in the past few years, and we can happily say they are still some of the best small devices you can listen to. Here are our favorites right now.

Be sure to check out all our buying guides, including the Best Soundbars, Best Wirefree Earbuds, and Best Smart Speakers.

Updated September 2021: We've added the Sony SRS-XB13 and Bose Soundlink Revolve+ II, as well as updated our list of honorable mentions.

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PHOTOGRAPH: ULTIMATE EARS

Best Overall

UE Boom 3

There are bigger and badder Bluetooth speakers, but none match the fun and convenience of the Ultimate Ears Boom 3 (9/10, WIRED Recommends). It puts out some of the most pleasant, balanced sound for its size. The waterproof cylinder comes in multiple colors, lasts 15 hours between charges, and gives you 100 feet of Bluetooth range. On top of all that, it has a two-year warranty.

Bigger and boomier: If you really need to get a party kicking, the Megaboom 3 ($200) is a beefier model that amps up the bass.

$150 AT AMAZON

$150 AT TARGET

PHOTOGRAPH: SONOS

Best Smart Bluetooth Speaker

Sonos Roam

The larger Sonos Move is great if you want a speaker that usually lives inside, and which you can occasionally carry outside. But it's not the kind of thing you'd want to throw in a backpack. That's where the Roam (9/10, WIRED Recommends) comes in. This tiny Sonos speaker has all the same smarts as its bigger 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.

$169 AT SONOS

$169 AT B&H PHOTO VIDEO

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 my 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 sound 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.

$70 AT AMAZON

$68 AT WALMART

Best for Home

Sonos Move

If you want a Bluetooth speaker that can fill any room (or patio) but lives a lot of its life inside, the Sonos Move (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a good one to build a home network around. Sonos invented wireless multiroom speakers. Its speakers connect to nearly every streaming service, and they work with Google Assistant or Alexa. They also sound amazing by every measure. The Move streams music over your Wi-Fi network, but it can also function as a Bluetooth speaker when you take it outside.

It gets 11 hours of battery life, plus it's splash-resistant. We shot a hose at it, so we know it can handle getting wet. It also has a charging dock for when the outside fun is over.

$399 AT SONOS

$399 AT MICROSOFT STORE

PHOTOGRAPH: ULTIMATE EARS

Best for Pool Parties

UE Wonderboom 2

The Ultimate Ears Wonderboom was a WIRED Gear of the Year award winner in 2017, and that's 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 (three more than before), 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 even pair two together for proper stereo sound.

$95 AT AMAZON

$64 AT WALMART

PHOTOGRAPH: JBL

Adventure Time

JBL Clip 4

We like the latest JBL Clip model 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. It also has more controls (volume, play, Bluetooth, power) than other micro speakers, and its sound is surprisingly bold, making this a great one to hang off of packs or harnesses while on weight-limited outings.

$70 AT AMAZON

$70 AT B&H AUDIO

PHOTOGRAPH: TRIBIT

Handlebar Ready

Tribit Stormbox Micro

The Tribit StormBox Micro has become one of our favorite tiny speakers for bike rides because it has a stretchy silicone strap that's just taught enough to stick to bike handlebars or a backpack strap. If a friend has one, you can pair two together for ride-alongs. It has an IP67 dust- and water-resistance rating, which means you can ride in any weather, and its eight-hour battery life makes it great on longer rides.

Also handlebar-ready: Bose also makes a great speaker of a similar design called the SoundLink Micro ($99), which was previously our top bike-handlebar pick. It sounds about the same but is twice as expensive as the Tribit.

$50 AT AMAZON

$50 AT WALMART

Pocket Bass

Sony SRS-XB13

These sub-$100 speakers from Sony have become a go-to when riding to socially distanced gatherings, thanks to a clever built-in strap, and the fact that they sit flat in a bike basket. They get up to 16 hours of battery life, are IP67-rated for dust- and water-resistance, and you can even link multiples together for stereo sound. They also come in a variety of awesome colors—favorites include bright blue and pink—so you'll never be lost in the crowd.

$60 AT AMAZON

$60 AT SONY

PHOTOGRAPH: MARSHALL

Rock & Roll

Marshall Stockwell II

If you're a music fan or just love the classic Marshall guitar amplifier design, this Bluetooth speaker is ready to rock. As with all Marshall products, you pay a price for the style, but the audio lives up to expectations. For a speaker that's about as big as four old DVD cases stacked, standing upright, it sounds killer, with a smooth, balanced, and refined sound.

The exterior has a durable-feeling, splash-resistant silicone finish, and the front and back are covered with a steel grille. It has a front-facing woofer and a tweeter on each side, powered by a battery that lasts around 20 hours (USB-C charging with a 3.5-mm jack too), depending on how much you tweak the stylish volume, treble, and bass knobs up top. The battery indicator is also handy. You'll enjoy toting all 3 pounds of it around with its carry strap, which has a leather feel on the outside and red velvet on the inside.

If you want a little more power and heft, the Marshall Kilburn II ($250) is similarly excellent, and the Marshall Emberton ($150) is a great extra-portable addition to the amp company's Bluetooth line. Like the Stockwell II, it has a built-in battery gauge.

$330 AT AMAZON

PHOTOGRAPH: ULTIMATE EARS

Porta Party

Ultimate Ears Hyperboom

With 24 hours of battery life, a rugged design, and 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.

$400 AT AMAZON

$400 AT BEST BUY

PHOTOGRAPH: JBL

Boom Box

JBL Boombox 2

Think of JBL's Boombox 2 as the modern equivalent of a 1980s boom box, complete with a handle and some intense bass. Break-dancers from the past would have killed for a speaker that was completely waterproof and had 24 hours of battery life. The Boombox can connect to multiple smartphones at a time, so you don't have to DJ by your lonesome. With a 20,000-mAh battery onboard, it can also charge your gadgets for days.

$500 AT AMAZON

$500 AT JBL

$500 AT NEWEGG