Picking the Best Bluetooth Speaker: Considerations and Tips

Picking a Bluetooth speaker can be an overwhelming task. The market is full of options, and it’s difficult to know which one will work best for your needs. Luckily, I’m here to guide you through the process! In this blog post, we’ll discuss considerations and tips that will help you find the perfect speaker for all your listening needs. You can also check out picks for the best Bluetooth speakers.

Key Considerations When Purchasing Bluetooth Speaker

How Will You Use The Speaker For Most Often?

Will this speaker be used mostly at home? Or do you need a portable speaker to take on the go? If you want the speaker primarily for home use, do you intend to keep it in your one place like a home gym? Or do you want a multi-room speaker? These may seem like small things, but they make a huge difference. Some of the best Bluetooth speakers serve specific purposes with key features. A Bluetooth speaker with 50 hours battery life might be perfect for one buyer. That same speaker might be worthless to someone who needs a water-resistant speaker.

What is Your Budget?

Your expected usage will impact the type of Bluetooth speaker you look for. Your budget will dictate how many features you try to pack on. Unfortunately, all those features will likely add up. You can find water-resistant speakers in affordable and expensive speakers. Water resistance and micro-sd card playback. Combining these two features won’t always force you to pay more. It will reduce your options. Cheaper options can provide value. They also might have shortcomings that push you to consider more expensive options.

What’s the Most Important Feature?

All this is why it’s key to identify what the most important feature is for you. Start with the feature you prioritize the most. Once you pick that feature, the buying process becomes much easier. Let’s use IPX7 water resistance as an example. After narrowing it down to the best speakers with IPX7 water resistance, you have already removed many other options. Now you can be flexible and consider how valuable all the other features are for each speaker. Find the one that you think is the best and ask if it fits your budget. If not, it’s not a big deal. All the cheaper options still have your most important feature. Consider how much you’re willing to spend select the best option that fits your budget.

Most Popular Types of Bluetooth Speakers

Portable Bluetooth Speakers

Portable speakers is somewhat of a catch-all category. Some of the most popular Bluetooth speakers on the market fall into this category. People have various features to look for when shopping for Bluetooth speakers. For better or worse, manufacturers often create products that do it all. The result is fairly compact portable speakers.

The best portable Bluetooth speakers do everything well enough and try to do few things great. They’re small enough to grab and take out the house. They produce good enough sound for people to rely on them in home settings also. It’s easy to see why these speakers are so popular. There is a lot to like but their size prevents them from doing some things truly great. There are exceptions, but sound and battery life will be limited due to the raw physics.

Smart Bluetooth Speakers

The fastest-growing category is smart Bluetooth speakers. These are smart speakers first. They connect to your Wi-Fi network and allow hands-free interaction with the speaker. This is made possible by smart assistant technology. Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant are the most popular. For that reason, most popular smart Bluetooth speakers are made by Amazon, Apple, or Google. By connecting to the internet, these smart speakers can support a ton of functions. Think smart automation (“Alexa, turn on the kitchen lights”) to entertainment (“Hey Google. Play Beyonce.”).

These speakers are typically meant to be used in a smart home setting. This allows them to use more varied form factors than portable Bluetooth speakers. They generally maintain a small to the medium footprint. Sound quality on smart Bluetooth speakers varies, but they are more likely to support playback of high-resolution audio. Privacy is a concern with these smart speakers. Some of the most popular smart speaker features require controversial “always listening” technology.

Party Bluetooth Speakers

Sometimes Bluetooth speakers are required for more specific purposes. A party is one of those situations. Normal Bluetooth speakers typically fall short in a party scenario. Many aren’t powerful enough to produce volume to sufficiently fill a medium or even small room. We’re talking about music that can clearly be heard over casual conversation. We also mean music that can be felt. Smaller portable Bluetooth speakers can not sufficiently re-produce rumbling sub-bass. That thumping impactful bass is typically something people look for during a party. The tinny sound of smaller speakers really stands out in this environment. A wider frequency response will really enhance the experience.

Battery life is another consideration. Most of the battery life ratings you see will be based on moderate volumes. That means even if you crank the volume on a small Bluetooth speaker, the battery won’t last very long. Party Bluetooth speakers typically provide loud, dynamic audio quality with bigger batteries. They also often have additional features like party lights or speaker pairing.

Rugged or Waterproof Bluetooth Speakers

These portable and wireless speakers are built with durability in mind. For people who expect to use their speaker in water or dust-filled conditions. They typically have a compact design and great build quality. IP ratings measure dust and water resistance. The first number in IP ratings is for dust or solid particles. The 2nd number is for tells you how water-resistant the speakers are. Water-resistance ratings are more prevalent with IPX8 being the highest you will typically see on Bluetooth speakers. Speakers with dust resistance ratings are harder to find. The best rugged/waterproof Bluetooth speakers have both (ex. IP69).

Key Features for Bluetooth Speakers

Battery Life

No one wants to run out of battery life. Whether your listening to music or on your phone, it’s inconvenient. You also don’t want a device that must constantly be plugged in. When buying a Bluetooth speaker consider how much battery life is enough for your use case. For a portable Bluetooth speaker, it’s not a good idea to settle for eight-hour long battery life. Just because you can charge it when you get home doesn’t mean you will remember to. You can afford much more flexibility with speakers intended for smart home use or most home listening.

Design and Durability

Only you know what you like. Bluetooth wireless speakers come in so many designs and colors these days. You should now have any issue finding something that appeals to you aesthetically. It’s also important to make sure it’s well-built with quality material. This is often one of those things you can only find out by reading reviews. You won’t be streaming music if your speaker breaks the same week you buy it. On the other hand, water and dust resistant ratings can be found by looking at specifications.

Sound Quality and Power

Today’s best Bluetooth speakers vary in sound quality. The truth is not all consumers listening to music do so with a critical ear. As always, use case is an important factor. Something as small as a shower speaker won’t be able to produce quality sound. Even slightly bigger speakers struggle and produce tinny music with no end. Don’t choose a small portable speaker if bass, sound quality, and full frequency response are important. You will likely be disappointed in the resulting sound quality. Just deal with the potential drawbacks of a slightly larger speaker.

Great sound can be found at several price points. Just do your due diligence as not all manufacturers prioritize better sound. Power is another important aspect of Bluetooth speakers if loudness is a priority. Commercial Bluetooth speakers have enough volume for most use cases. If you plan to be outdoors or use the speakers for parties, you might need more. Look at the specifications to see exactly how much power the speakers have. Use 50 to 100 watts as a starting point for really loud music playback.

Connectivity and Playback

If you mostly stream music via Bluetooth, other playback options might not seem necessary. You also never know when you might need to use them. If you lose internet connectivity, local playback with USB or Micro-SD card can be a lifesaver. Other popular playback options include radio and 3.5mm AUX. Not all Bluetooth connectivity is created equal. Check the specifications when researching to find the Bluetooth version. Bluetooth 5.0 is the latest major release, but you can still find popular products on version 4.XX. Newer versions will have faster and more stable connectivity.

Portability

Portable speakers make up a large segment of Bluetooth speakers for good reason. They provide flexibility and convenience and often weigh only around two pounds or less. You can grab them and throw them in a backpack or laptop case with ease. Many of them are also still able to achieve long battery life. If portability is your aim, you should have no problem finding a good Bluetooth speaker. Just don’t forget small speakers have limitations too. They won’t be able to achieve the best sound quality or have impactful bass.

That’s not to say bigger speakers are always better. Small speakers just mean small drivers which will always have limitations. Bigger speakers will be less convenient by default, but can provide more in other areas. Some also provide things like small handles to help portability. Realy big Bluetooth speakers add things like wheels and even cup holders. This all aides ain portability and makes the experience more enjoyable while you’re out.