Portable Bluetooth speaker?

[BorisG]

Good day! A question to the knowledgeable community of speaker lovers - are there any good portable Bluetooth speakers you could recommend? Only requirement is neutral-ish sound.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Moonhead]

Maybe Some among these…

https://www.dxomark.com/speaker-rankings/

 

[Jim Matthews]

My wife takes her JBL Flip5 everywhere.

It's compact, so it has volume and frequency limitations. It's small, so the battery seems to really last given it's manageable weight.

In an enclosed space (like a "powder room") the output is surprising.

 

[stumper3819]

Tribit maxsound plus is a budget JBL flip 5. I own one and use it at work. Good sound, good volume, great value, and well reviewed. Around $50 on Amazon I believe.

 

[JJB70]

LG make some pretty good BT speakers, despite the toy town light effects.

 

[beeface]

The Ultimate Ears Boom I have does the trick for me. Obviously it’s not the last word in fidelity but it sounds ok to me for what it is, and I like the form factor.

 

[BorisG]

Thank you all very much for your replies! But perhaps I didn’t specify the question enough - fidelity / neutrality is an absolute must for me. I don’t necessarily need a big sound / long battery life / waterproof build, but I do need it to be neutral (no boosted bass, in particular, which unfortunately rules out the JBL Flip series).

I understand that tonal accuracy might not be a feature most people look for in a portable speaker, but that’s exactly why I hoped the ASR community might help me with this

 

[JJB70]

Does it need to be BT? Sonos speakers are excellent but they are WiFi, not BT

 

[beeface]

Thank you all very much for your replies! But perhaps I didn’t specify the question enough - fidelity / neutrality is an absolute must for me. I don’t necessarily need a big sound / long battery life / waterproof build, but I do need it to be neutral (no boosted bass, in particular, which unfortunately rules out the JBL Flip series).

I understand that tonal accuracy might not be a feature most people look for in a portable speaker, but that’s exactly why I hoped the ASR community might help me with this

RTINGS publish FR charts for Bluetooth speakers and have a comparison tool: https://www.rtings.com/speaker/graph

 

[Laserjock]

The HK Onyx Studio 4 is on sale for $99 often I believe
The wife loves it.
Blue here just to be different but it also is available in Black or White.

 

[LTig]

Thank you all very much for your replies! But perhaps I didn’t specify the question enough - fidelity / neutrality is an absolute must for me. I don’t necessarily need a big sound / long battery life / waterproof build, but I do need it to be neutral (no boosted bass, in particular, which unfortunately rules out the JBL Flip series).

I understand that tonal accuracy might not be a feature most people look for in a portable speaker, but that’s exactly why I hoped the ASR community might help me with this

Still I'd like to recommend the JBL Charge series. I do own the Charge 3 and it's bass performance depends strongly on its position in the room. Keep it some distance from walls and it sounds quite good to me. Put it close to a wall and bass becomes boomy.

 

[Pawelekdabek]

I think Soundcore Motion + and Motion Boom are very nice. Much better than JBL counterparts. And also not as expensive as other brands.

 

[Zensō]

Does it need to be BT? Sonos speakers are excellent but they are WiFi, not BT

I second this. Sonos if WiFi will work for your situation.

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

Does it need to be BT? Sonos speakers are excellent but they are WiFi, not BT

Sonos Move is BT and WiFi...

 

[jhwalker]

Sonos Move is BT and WiFi...

It takes a bit of juggling to set up the first time; i.e., it will connect to home WiFi if it is available AT ALL, so not possible to set up Bluetooth unless you are actually AWAY from home (or turn off your WiFi just for this purpose), but once it's set up it's pretty seamless. Very nice sound, too.

 

[escape2]

Still I'd like to recommend the JBL Charge series. I do own the Charge 3 and it's bass performance depends strongly on its position in the room. Keep it some distance from walls and it sounds quite good to me. Put it close to a wall and bass becomes boomy.

+1 on this.

Charge 3 is a very decent speaker for its size, and the bass isn't overblown like it is in JBL Xtreme, although the bass boost can be disabled in Xtreme, but then it sounds rather bad. I own both. The Xtreme is a better outdoor speaker. Charge 3 is better indoors.

 

[Vintage57]

The Marshall Tufton, we have one at our cottage and it plays loud and clean outdoors, on the deck or on the dock.
It has great battery life, we get more than full day out of a charge
Only drawback may be weight, it is 5 kg. or 11 lbs.
I think MSRP is $400.

 

[gags]

Spent another Sunday playing tunes in a market with 12 of these and a sub woofer.

They are BT but we wire them. Flexible and neutral to crisp, they’re worth a listen.

I think they’re helped by the sub but as it’s a separate bit of kit you can opt out.

Minirig Bluetooth Portable Speakers UK

Minirig Portable Bluetooth Speakers, designed and manufactured in Bristol UK

minirigs.co.uk

 

[fragzone]

I own the Sony xb33 and it doesn't do it for me. Impressive bass output and pretty good battery life but it's very grainy.

Conversely I have a now defunct product from a company called Clint, the Clint Freya WiFi model and despite the resonances in the bass at higher volumes, is much closer to what I would consider 'hi-fi'. Very natural and buttery mid-range with impressive separation and resolve for a mono speaker. Anyway my point is, I am sure there are some good ones out there. Oluv reviewed the small cylindrical offering from Sonos not too long ago and I was very impressed by the mid range in comparison to the xb33 (albeit through headphones).

 

[Destination: Moon]

We've got Few. The BO 15 is pretty nice. Don't know I'd pay what they usually go for though.
When we want GOOD music, I drag out the elac 62s and the Smsl da9 onto the deck.
I'm listening to the Neumi 5s on the deck as I write this (playing Bob James)