As per the title, I am looking for recommendations for a new Bluetooth speaker. So, what have you got?

Size?  Usage?  Budget?

I got an Anker Soundcore Motion B from Amazon a little while back.  Great little thing.

Search the site?  This question crops up like weekly.

I have an old JBL and upgraded it recently. Can recommend both just shop around for best price

Our old JBL flip is still doing good service. Though of course whatever you get will be a newer model..

Bose.

I’ve got an Anker Soundcore 1 and it’s great. The v2 is supposed to be even better.

What has amazed me though is the battery life. I think I’ve only charged it once or twice after owning it a year.

I also have an Anker Soundcore Motion B (think it’s a v2).

cost £35-ish off amazon.

seems decent enough for the money to me…

had mine a couple weeks and had to recharge it already! Used it a fair bit though mind.

There are better options than Bose for the same money.

Only seen the Anker stuff recommended on here though I’ve some of their other products which are solid. Certainly worth trying at those prices.

Having heard quite a few, I went with a Minirig V2. Nothing from JBL, UE or Bose etc was as good. Though there are better single speakers which are bigger.

Budget?  Location for use?  static or portable?

I love my UE Roll as an outdoor/travel speaker but its not what i’d choose for living room listening

one of these

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wireless-Bluetooth-TPA3116D2-120W-2-4-0-Audio-Receiver-Digital-Amplifier-Board/273375549118?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2648

a couple of speakers  and build your own

Heard a Marshall bluetooth portable speaker being demo’d when I was hanging around Heathrow departures early this year – sounded really good but was worried it might just be a bit of fancy ‘branding’ …

But bought the missus the Marshall ‘Kilburn’ portable one for her birthday … the sound is just immense!! it’s quite heavy, but the ‘cabinet’ is solidly made so no rattle or vibrations etc. One of those rare occasions [these days] when you aren’t disappointed with a purchase … even if it isn’t for you! 🙂

Libratone Zipp.

Bluetooth, DNLA, Airplay 2, Spotify Connect, USB, Aux In, makes toast, multi-room, 10hrs battery.

….oh and sound great.

New v2 has Alexa built in, but not sure it’s worth the extra over the older models.

I’ve had a Minirig since last Christmas and it’s been brilliant. The sound is fantastic for a small single speaker and the battery lasts days. I use it to charge my phone sometimes.

I also have an Anker Soundcore Motion B (think it’s a v2).

cost £35-ish off amazon.

Mine was an impulse buy.  I bought it with a USB-C cable (I actually was shopping for the cable rather than the speaker) and Amazon were doing a ‘buy together’ type offer which knocked like eight quid off the order.)

Anker Soundcore 2 owner here and have no complaints, my brother was all for spending £100 on some Sony speaker until he heard this, canned that idea and bought one of these instead.

I think for the price they are pretty much the best combo of value/performance going.

Just got the Anker Soundcore mini. £20. Very impressed.

I have the soundcore and a bose mini.

The bose is a lot better but also at least 4 times the cost.

I’d still buy the bose out of the 2.

Mine was an impulse buy.

I’d  agonised over choice for months and months. It all ended when I had a trip to a mate over by Gairloch and he muttered something about Bluetooth and playlists so I took my laptop and connected to his JL Bluetooth radio and ‘curated’ the sounds for an evening… great I thought, sure my expensive Sony DAB radio will be Bluetooth… nope.

Decided to remedy with something cheap, checked a thread or two and plumped for the Anker and now I can play playlists anywhere in the house not on shitty laptop speakers. yay. more money to spend on expensive forks… 🤣

I have a Soundcore 2 and it’s good, but not loud enough if you’re going to use it somewhere with lots of background noise.

I’ve used the Soundcore Boost and that’s much better in that respect.

Just awaiting delivery of an Audio Pro Addon. Reviews are very positive, and looks better than most.

Used a UE Boom over the w/end and thought it was pretty dire.

Tibo sphere 2 here very good, and currently £119 at richer sounds

I have a Bose mini and its OK for booming out music to fill a room. It does fall over though if you are trying to listen to it in a hotel room a bit quieter. It just booms as low volume. Its also not that great listening to spoken word like the radio.

It does throw out an impressive amount of sound though, however this is at the expense of any finesse.

Though I should remember its not hifi only a bluetooth speaker 🙂

I got a Creative Metallix Plus about 6 months ago.

It’s very good and the reviews I read at that time were very positive. It was only about £35 too.

Refurbed / Whitebox UE Boom from Ebay… very happy and saved a lot. Has a good app to control with a phone and a couple of speakers can work together for a stereo effect.

Denon Envaya 250bt

Doesn’t have all the advance features or Alexa BS but for outright sound stage and quality it’s pretty amazing.

Minirigs are great, one of those little things that give me a little frisson of joy when I use it, seems expensive but they’re made in uk sound great and the battery life is insane.  If you want something bigger then the Marshalls’ recommended above are great as are Audio Pro AddOn T3

What’s your reason for wanting Bluetooth, as opposed to cabled, speakers?

Apologies for the mini thread diversion, but while on the subject can any of you audiophiles recommend a bluetooth receiver to connect to an AV amp. Doesn’t need a DAC, just an optical/digital out so I can push spotify from my phone.  My amp is pretty old and doesn’t have it as an option. argh!

The vast majority of my music is now digitally stored with my phone as the player. Not interested in HiFi with unidirectional gold cables, just a simple Bluetooth speaker. Ideally small so that it doesn’t dominate the surface it’s on but decent volume and sound quality.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

Not interested in HiFi

Fair enough.

…decent … sound quality.

I see.  🤔

Apologies for the mini thread diversion, but while on the subject can any of you audiophiles recommend a bluetooth receiver to connect to an AV amp. Doesn’t need a DAC, just an optical/digital out so I can push spotify from my phone. My amp is pretty old and doesn’t have it as an option. argh!

You don’t want to use Bluetooth for this, get a Chromecast Audio or a Gramofon or something like that. Then your phone is just the remote control and the CCA/Gramofon does all the grunt work

Mum has a UE Boom and everytime I visit them I use it in the garden for tunes etc. she also uses it to play along with when practicing her flute so decent and loud. I’m always quite jealous of it but not sure I’d use it enough to justify it although I do love apple play and sometimes a speaker would be better than headphones. Maybe one day!

Sony SRS-XB21.

£70ish and very very good. Much better than my previous JAM Heavy Metal.

Bought my daughter a UE Wonderboom which is pretty good. Enough volume for a portable, battery life is good and it’s waterproof for when she drops it in the bath.

You don’t want to use Bluetooth for this, get a Chromecast Audio or a Gramofon or something like that. Then your phone is just the remote control and the CCA/Gramofon does all the grunt work

This!

Or the new Alexa enabled puck from Amazon if you like that sort of thing.

Any ideas on a Bluetooth speaker that will drown out 2 big fans and a turbo trainer?

Using a Samsung pro tab, it seems to be quoted than the smaller iPads we have in the house oddly.

A jawbone jambox and Anker premium can’t be heard veey well watching (trying) box sets at threshold….

JBL Flip for a handy-sized workhorse (hotels, kitchen, workshop etc).

Dali Katch for a bit more posh.

Another vote for AudioPro here

You need to be able to EQ the Bose stuff, they insist on completely swamping the bass response.

I have a JBL Extreme and it is much more blanaced than the Bose Mini I had.

Apologies for the mini thread diversion, but while on the subject can any of you audiophiles recommend a bluetooth receiver to connect to an AV amp.

The Neet one seems pretty good :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00H8ONMGA/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I am setting up Roon but still need to use something like this to stream downloaded radio shows from iplayer.