Best Bluetooth speaker under 10k

The benefit of using a Bluetooth speaker is that you may listen to music, movies, and other media with the highest possible audio quality, as opposed to being limited by the small size of the speakers built into your smartphone, tablet, or laptop. With a budget of Rs.10,000, you can obtain some of the greatest Bluetooth speakers on the market that sound fantastic.

And we all know that’s exactly what you’re looking for, right? We’ve identified the thirteen finest Bluetooth speakers in India under Rs.10,000 from thousands of models to make your shopping decision a lot easier. Without further ado, continue reading to make your buying decision!

1. UE Boom 2

If you’re looking for a Bluetooth speaker, you’ve undoubtedly heard of, or at least should have heard of, the original UE Boom. It has an unrivaled design, excellent audio and battery life, and a plethora of capabilities thanks to its companion app. When it first came out, it was undoubtedly one of the best Bluetooth speakers.

Until the release of the UE Boom 2 a few years back. If you didn’t get a chance to play the UE Boom 2 when it originally came out, we strongly advise you to do so now. Aside from the features listed above, it’s a vibrant waterproof Bluetooth speaker with a price that’s practically unbeatable. It has marginally improved sound quality over the original and adds tap controls to UE’s speaker portfolio.

The UE Boom didn’t require a redesign, which UE gratefully acknowledged. There are a few minor differences that we’ll go over later.

First and foremost, the mesh fabric used here appears to be less porous and more robust than that used on the original Boom. The UE Boom 2’s controls haven’t changed, and they’re still astonishingly straightforward to use – even if you’re using it for the first time. However, if you have a keen eye for detail, you’ll notice a few cosmetic changes to the device.

The Bluetooth logo has been removed from the connection button for a cleaner look, and the power button has been redesigned. Even with these adjustments, new users should have no trouble getting to grips with the system. The port flaps on the bottom of the Boom 2 have been tidied up by UE, making them flat with the base.

More crucially, due to the modification, they are now easier to open and access. The flap door, like the previous generation, can be removed fully if you don’t want to deal with it every time you need to charge.

The UE Boom 2 expands on the great foundation laid down by the previous model, making notable improvements in its 360-degree sound delivery, which was one of the first model’s biggest flaws. We were constantly struck by how loud this little, cylindrical speaker sounds due to its room-filling capacity.

The speaker has an astounding collection of functions, just like the previous Boom, but you’ll need the associated app to use them. The UE Boom app lets you tweak the equalization effect and use Twice Up, UE’s method of connecting two of its speakers through Bluetooth to double the sound. The app can also wake you up with alarms, while the older Boom can do the same thing.

The UE Boom 2 has several new tricks up its sleeve, as previously stated. To begin with, the new speaker’s software supports Block Party, a function that allows up to two individuals within range to connect to it through Bluetooth and play a song. The tap controls come next.

You can activate them using the app, allowing you to change the tune simply by picking up the speaker and tapping it. The UE Boom 2 replicates the familiar input found in most headphone cables these days, just like the remote.

You can also skip songs by tapping twice or three times, or go backward by tapping three times. This may appear to be an unnecessary addition, however, the original model lacked this additional level of control.

The UE Boom 2 is a competent speakerphone in addition to pumping out the tunes. By pressing the Bluetooth pairing button, you can answer and end calls. I discovered that this speaker can easily pick up numerous voices conversing at low to medium volumes.

The waterproofing is the cherry on top, and it’s the feature that might entice original owners the most. The IPX7-equipped UE Boom 2 outperforms the IPX4-rated UE Boom, which couldn’t withstand more than a few splashes.

It can be submerged in water up to a meter deep for 30 minutes without leaking. This also means you can leave it outside in the rain without worrying about flushing 14000 INR down the toilet.

Owners of the old UE Boom may be undecided about whether or not to upgrade. Because you can pair UE’s latest with the original model, it’s best to think of this as a supplement rather than a replacement. If you take them outside, make sure you remember which one is waterproof.

The UE Boom 2 maintains the original’s simplicity of use while also improving the audio profile and 360-degree soundstage effect. The battery life hasn’t improved from the original’s 15 hours, but it still matches, if not exceeds, the industry norm.

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2. Creative’s Muvo Mini

Bluetooth speakers have never been more competent or feature-rich. We’ve seen powerful sound squeezed into compact form factors, alternatives with long battery lives, and even ones that can withstand a beating. But, before the Creative Muvo Mini, we hadn’t encountered a single speaker that could do all of these things.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better value in the Bluetooth speaker market right now than this jack-of-all-trades Bluetooth speaker for listeners on a budget of less than $9000 who don’t want to sacrifice sound quality to save a buck.

The Creative Muvo Mini, like the Jawbone Mini Jambox, has a design that will divide opinion. I, for one, am a sucker for the simplistic accents in each, although I know that the approach may come across as uninspired to some. Given that this speaker costs the same as a video game, most people will be impressed by its appearance and overall build quality.

The rectangular Muvo Mini is completely covered in a smooth, matte plastic. The front of the speaker is capped with a grille, which has its unique design elements. Its grille perforation pattern appears to be a series of three-dimensional boxes, but you might see it differently. A sleek mesh coating covers the two drivers and bass radiator directly beneath the grille.

The Muvo Mini has a pair of buttons on the top of the speaker, as well as a location for tethering your device via NFC if it supports it. A power button, a Bluetooth button, and two volume buttons raise and decrease, are located from left to right. Except for the Bluetooth button, which has several uses, each of the buttons’ functions is self-explanatory.

You can not only set the speaker into pairing mode by holding it for a few seconds, but you can also answer and hang up a phone conversation with a single press. A few LEDs surround the panel of buttons, providing a visual indicator of the speaker’s connectivity and battery health.

Creative imprinted its very discreet trademark around its backside. The micro USB and 3.5mm connectors are hidden beneath a rubber flap. If you plan to expose the Muvo Mini to dust or water, make sure this flap is closed.

A micro USB cable is included in the box, which is used to charge the Creative Muvo Mini. Unless you’re interested in product manuals, you won’t find much more than that. It’s a wonderfully plain-looking speaker packed into an equally unobtrusive container, but its sound and longevity will astound you.

It’s easy to create an argument for poor-sounding little Bluetooth speakers. “It’s just that it’s so darn little. So, what are your expectations?” We expected more, and the Creative Muvo Mini delivers a stunning sound that defies its diminutive size. Even at high volume levels, the sound from this rectangular box excels at avoiding distortion.

The speaker’s front-facing bass radiator performs an outstanding job of pounding out low-end notes, but if I had to pick one flaw, it would be this. Despite this, a wide range of musical genres sounds surprisingly full with this speaker, with plenty of warm mids and highs to enjoy.

A battery within the speaker lasts long enough to give the music to almost any celebration. The Muvo Mini was marketed as being able to go for 10 hours without needing to be charged, and it easily met that lofty goal.

The Muvo Mini from Creative has already given you plenty of reasons to jump at its affordable price, but it also has one more trick up its sleeve: weatherproofing. This speaker has an IP66 classification, which means it’s entirely dustproof and waterproof but not quite submersible. Spray it as much as you want, but don’t submerge it.

I tested the Bluetooth range of the Muvo Mini by leaving my phone in one location and going through my 30-foot-long studio unit. Even across a few walls, there were no audio artifacts or drops in connection. Call quality was fine when used as a speakerphone, and the person on the other end had no trouble hearing my speech over the microphone.

Is it feasible to prevent disappointment and sacrifice by purchasing this Bluetooth speaker at such a low price? Yep. The Muvo Mini from Creative provides enough functionality and performance to justify a much higher price. This tiny box is not only cheap, but it also holds the title of the best value for a durable and capable Bluetooth speaker.

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3. Sony SRS-XB23

Sony’s redesigned range of 2021 Bluetooth speakers hasn’t been out long, but they’ve already gotten a lot of notice for their performance and pricing. The Sony SRS-XB23, a portable outdoor speaker with an IP67 rating and a 12-hour battery life, is the pinnacle of that performance-to-dollar ratio.

The Sony SRS-XB23 is an affordable outdoor speaker with a few hidden features that most people will love. It may not sound as good as the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2, one of the best Bluetooth speakers in 2021, but it is still an affordable outdoor speaker with a few hidden features that most people will love. In 2021, Sony made some significant changes to its entry-level speaker. To begin, instead of an extended oval, the shape is a cylinder, and the passive radiators have been relocated to the top and bottom for maximum dispersion.

The speaker’s exterior is protected by a mesh grille that conceals two Mica Reinforced Cellular (MRC) speakers, cone drivers that are now more oblong-shaped than circular, according to Sony.

The speaker is small and light, measuring 3 x 8.6 inches (76 x 218mm, D x H) and weighing 1.3 pounds (580g). It’s the right size for a cup holder or the drink holder on an armrest, and it’s light enough to not slow you down on a long trek.

The speaker’s playback controls (play/pause and volume up/down) are located on the back, along with two useful features: Stereo Pairing, which allows you to designate each speaker to a left-right channel, and Party Mode, which allows you to connect up to 100 Sony speakers. These modes will, of course, require extra speakers, but their inclusion lets you be more creative with your setup.

While Sony would never admit it, the new top bungee strap allows you to hang the speaker from a carabiner, shower nozzle, tree branch, or fencepost depending on where you use it, and while Sony would never admit it, it feels like it took a lot of design cues from Ultimate Ears’ lineup for this year’s entry-level SRS-XB23. Ultimate Ears wasn’t the first to adopt it, and it can’t claim exclusivity over a largely practical feature, but for openness, it’s worth mentioning the design inspiration.

Another feature worth noting is the new XB23’s IP67 designation, which makes it entirely dustproof and waterproof up to one meter – this has obvious benefits in an outdoor speaker, so it’s fantastic Sony has maintained up the requirements.

Speaking of updated specifications, the Extra Bass speakers are the first to use USB Type C connectors instead of Micro-USB, allowing most of us to carry a single charging cord for our phone, headphones, and Bluetooth speakers, rather than carrying one for each device. Finally, the XB23 supports Bluetooth 5.0, the most recent standard, and three key codecs: SBC, AAC, and LDAC, the latter of which is found on newer Android devices and sounds fantastic.

To put the Sony SRS-XB23 to the test, we compared it to some of the competition and asked family and friends to tell us which speaker sounded better without telling them which one was which. The Wonderboom 2 was universally acknowledged to sound better than the Sony XB23, but only because it had a broader soundstage, higher peak volume, and a better bass response that filled the room.

If you don’t have another Bluetooth speaker in the area to compare it to, the SRS-XB23 will likely blow you away — it can get very loud without a lot of distortion, and the passive radiators help the bass sound clearer than any of Sony’s prior models.

We tested the speaker with the LDAC codec streaming MQA recordings from Tidal via a Google Pixel 3a XL, and everything sounded rich, strong, and powerful. As hard as it is to believe, we could have needed a little more bass from Sony’s Extra Bass range, but the two cone driver, two passive radiator system is a major success for its debut outing.

On the subject of battery life, Sony claims 12 hours of playback on a full charge, however, this is based on listening to music at 50% volume. We only got about seven to eight hours out of the speaker on the first charge due to the rigorous testing we put it through – but that was with the sound at 80-90 percent of its maximum volume. If you keep these at a low volume, you should be able to get near to the 12-hour battery life Sony claims on the box.

What irritated us was the speaker’s inability to tell us how much battery life was left, instead advising us to charge the speaker when it fell below 30%. We were irritated not only by the speaker’s continuous interruptions to notify us that it needed to be charged but also by the fact that the speaker didn’t simply tell us that there was only 10% battery life left.

The good news is that the speaker charges slightly faster than Sony claims in the instructions (it took around two hours instead of four), and if you need the extra juice, you can use the Sony Music Center app to put the speaker in Stamina Mode, which saves battery life at the expense of sound quality.

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4. JBL Charge 4

The adage goes, “If it ain’t busted, don’t fix it,” and JBL followed this concept while updating its already-excellent Charge 3 speaker. The design and specifications are nearly the same, but the modifications are minor and not visible until you start listening to the speaker and hear the improved sound quality.

The JBL Charge 3’s capacity to pump out significant bass impressed us, but its muted highs left us wanting more. The JBL Charge 4 has a lot better tonal balance while still being able to provide some powerful bass that doesn’t drown out other frequencies.

On paper, the JBL Charge 4 may appear to be a dull update, but it’s still one of the best waterproof speakers available. You get a speaker that sounds excellent, is tough as nails, doubles as a phone charger, and lasts all day for the price. You’d be hard pushed to notice many distinctions between the JBL Charge 3 and Charge 4 if you put them side by side. The exposed woofers, which are an outstanding sight when the bass is kicking, and the cylindrical shape remain.

While we were initially concerned about harming exposed speakers, JBL’s other exposed woofer designs, such as the Pulse 3 and Charge 3, have proven to be trouble-free.

All of the speaker’s physical controls are located on top of the speaker. This includes power, volume, Bluetooth pairing, media control, and JBL’s Connect Plus feature, which allows you to pair two or more of the company’s other speakers to listen to music in stereo or enhance it.

A huge silicone door protects the 3.5mm aux, USB-C, and USB-A ports around the back of the device. Because the Charge 4 has a full-sized USB port, you can use it to charge your phone and keep your music playing. Because the JBL Charge 4 is a directional speaker, sound emanates from the side bearing the JBL logo. This may disappoint those expecting 360-degree sound, but the speaker is loud enough that everyone in the room can hear the music.

Because the speaker is directional, users can position it either horizontally on its foot or vertically on either side. (If you set the speaker vertically on a surface that helps radiate the bass, it can aid boost bass response.) The Charge 4’s largest increase over the Charge 3 is sonic performance: While the Charge 3 excelled at delivering bass, the Charge 4 takes a more balanced approach.

The violin, for example, can now sing since the highs are no longer a limitation. The mids are also excellent, allowing vocals to be heard clearly. The resolution is adequate but not exceptional, which is to be expected in this price range for a waterproof and portable speaker.

The JBL Charge 4 may also be rather loud. Playing music at half volume is more than enough to fill a medium-sized room with sound. The speaker is extremely loud for inside use at maximum volume, but the extra volume is welcome in noisy areas like the beach. The speaker is IP7X rated, so feel free to submerge it or dust it off at the beach.

The Charge 4 is rated to last 20 hours on a single charge by JBL, and we had no trouble reaching that number while listening to music at low to medium volume. If you’re consistently playing at high volume, expect to lose a few hours from that rating.

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5. Sony XB32

Bluetooth speakers are one category that has suffered from over-commoditization. Because there are so many options, many of them are practically identical, and most once-innovative features no longer feel unique. However, this is not the case with the Sony XB32. It may not be reinventing the wheel by beefing up the low-end and including a cool LED light show, but it does help it stand out in an increasingly crowded sector.

Even better, while this speaker was designed for the pool and beach population, it sounds great anywhere you want to listen to music. The SRS-XB32 is a hefty device, weighing in at around 2 pounds (0.9 kg). It’s not the kind of speaker you can stuff into your pocket, but it’s small enough to throw in a bag and take with you everywhere you go.

Better yet, with an IP67 designation, it’s on the verge of being officially waterproof, meaning it can withstand being submerged in water for up to a meter (clearwater, mind you, no salt for this thing). Rain, splashes of water, and the occasional rinsing won’t stop it. This isn’t a new feature for this range, but it adds to the impression that this speaker belongs in the great outdoors.

The built-in LEDs generate a light show during playback, yet we never noted any defined pattern or corresponding activity to coincide with whatever we played. (The lights aren’t “smart” in the sense that they pulsate to the beat of the music.) When turned on, they just light up and change color or pattern on their own).

The rubberized frame has four separate legs on the bottom and an assortment of buttons on top, all in keeping with the XB line’s classic design. Play/pause, volume up and down, power, and a unique feature called Live, which is effectively the speaker’s bass boost function.

On the back, there are more connections, including a micro USB port for charging the speaker, a USB port for charging other devices, and an Aux-In port. Sony also included specific buttons for turning off the lights, adding more XB32 speakers via WPC, and adding one to create a left and right stereo pair using the Add button.

The free Sony Music app for iOS and Android, which complements the speaker with additional capabilities and controls, is worth highlighting. Although the design isn’t particularly attractive, its simplicity and ease of use are easy to appreciate.

It has an EQ for manual sound adjustments, as well as a few preset options. We also experimented with the light modes, which included at least a dozen options. Although the feature set isn’t particularly extensive, we believe it’s worth getting to get the most out of the speaker.

Party Booster is one of the more unusual things you may do. When the speaker is turned on, tapping five various places of it activates sound effects that are supposed to add some excitement to the music playing through it.

We tried it, but we think it’s an acquired taste. The XB32, like many speakers in its class, is heavy on the bass. Regardless of mode, the sound characteristic always favors that side of the audio spectrum. That includes some of the extra gear Sony installed, such as the digital signal processor (DSP).

The bass was thick when we played Between the Sheets by the Isley Brothers, but we were pleasantly pleased by how full the mids sounded. Single speakers of this size are notoriously difficult to balance, yet the XB32 performed admirably with its default sound characteristics.

Songs like Leave the Memories Alone by Fuel and Walk This Way by Aerosmith still managed to drive bass out, but not in an overbearing way. On both (and comparable) tracks, the highs and mids were warm, allowing us to listen to music from many genres without constantly fiddling with the EQ.

The XB32, unsurprisingly, doesn’t have a lot of depth across the spectrum, thus while music sounded nice, instrument and vocal clarity were proportional to loudness.

The DSP, according to Sony, is there to not just boost performance but also prevent the speaker from plummeting off an audio cliff. The XB32, like any other speaker, has a distortion tipping point, although getting there isn’t always clear. On a piece of bass-heavy music like Miguel’s Adorn, for example, the sub-bass began to crackle at first, only to almost self-correct later. At work, that was the DSP. Distortion can still occur, but we discovered that we needed to increase the volume to achieve this.

That’s excellent for listening to music outside, especially near a pool or beach where the noise level may already be high. The built-in microphone for phone calls or voice assistants, however, did not impress us. It was simple enough to record ourselves, but callers never felt we sounded clear, and playing back voice recordings revealed the mic lacked some clarity. Sony isn’t alone in producing subpar Bluetooth speaker mics, but we had hoped for more.

In terms of battery life, Sony promises that the XB32 can last up to 24 hours, although we never got close to that in our tests. The only way we got close was to turn off the LEDs, keep the level at around 50%, and listen to music via Aux-In instead of Bluetooth. For everyday playback, these aren’t precisely realistic settings.

We were receiving about 15 hours each charge with our mixed usage habits, which isn’t horrible in the great scheme of things. For what it is, it was difficult not to like the XB32. It serves as a varied playing choice for indoor and outdoor conditions as a portable Bluetooth speaker with a ruggedized body and powerful drivers.

The LED lights, Party Booster, and app settings are the icing on the cake for distinguishing yourself from the competition. We think you’d have a good piece of gear if you acquired two of them to stereo pair.

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6. Sony SRS-XB33

When you take the Sony SRS-XB33 out of the box, it doesn’t appear to be anything exceptional, but appearances may be deceiving. Underneath that unassuming look, this Bluetooth speaker features colorful LED illumination and, more crucially, plenty of music-playing power.

You might be concerned that it sounds a touch too bassy at times due to the unusually robust low frequencies, and that it is already available for less through third-party shops. While audiophiles may be disappointed by the quality, those looking to create a party environment may appreciate the Sony SRS-XB33.

The Sony SRS-XB33 weighs just over 1kg / 2.2lbs, yet thanks to its design and size, it’s easy to transport and set down practically anyplace.

It’ll look great on a bookshelf in your home, but it’s also durable enough to put on the ground outside or by the pool. This is due to the fact that it is waterproof (IP67), rustproof, dustproof, and seawater resistant. It’s also shockproof up to 1.2m / 3.9ft, so it should be able to withstand whatever you throw at it.

The Sony SRS-XB33 is essentially a party speaker, so it lacks the finer features of a more home-focused speaker, such as a microphone or voice assistant support. However, this isn’t an issue because Sony has focused on one core goal for this device — being the party’s highlight.

There’s also a lot of app support, though you’ll have to download two different applications to get the most out of the Sony SRS-XB33. One controls the speaker’s fundamental functions, while the other helps you channel your inner DJ by allowing you to modify the LED lights and even sync them to the beat.

Neither is necessary, although we do love the fact that you may modify the EQ. This is useful if you want to adjust the sound profile a little.

The Sony SRS-XB33 places a premium on durability in its design. It has a nice appearance, but it doesn’t stick out among the other portable speakers on the market. Nonetheless, it completes the task at hand. Sunken buttons for power, volume, Bluetooth pairing, and Live Sound are located at the top of the speaker.

The latter is Sony’s marketing speak for amplifying your audio to a higher level. Although we can understand how it affects battery life, it makes sense to keep it turned on. In low light, the buttons are difficult to see, but you can ‘feel’ the different symbols, which helps you know what you’re doing.

All of this is irrelevant if the audio quality is bad, which the Sony SRS-XB33 happily is not. The bass is large and strong, as one would expect from a party speaker, courtesy to the speaker’s two passive radiators and Sony’s usage of Extra Bass, which translates to, well, extra bass. The goal of Live Sound is to produce a three-dimensional sound effect, and it usually succeeds.

Everything is appropriately bold and loud, which is exactly what you want when creating a party environment. The only unavoidable drawback is that symphonic compositions, in particular, might sound a little skewed at high volumes, with trebles and mids lacking the clarity we’d like. When you turn it back down, however, the problem is much less noticeable.

With the SRS-XB33, Sony claims a battery life of up to 24 hours, but this appears to be highly subjective. That’s partly due to the Sony SRS-extensive XB33’s capabilities. As with any speaker, turning the volume up high reduces battery life; similarly, putting a light display on all the time will reduce battery life. Finding what works best for you with the Sony SRS-XB33 will take some practice, but there are plenty of options to tweak its performance.

Overall, the Sony SRS-XB33 does an excellent job as a bass-heavy party speaker. You won’t have to worry about it straining to keep up with your parties because it sounds great and can survive some damage. The only thing we desire is somewhat better looks, which are reasonably priced.

The Sony SRS-XB33 is exactly what you’d expect from a rugged underwater speaker. That is to say, it isn’t fashionable, but it is functional. It’s light enough to carry in one hand as you move between rooms or on your travels, weighing just over 1kg / 2.2lbs. It won’t detract from the rest of your decor, either.

The Sony SRS-XB33 is waterproof (IP67), rustproof, dustproof, seawater resistant, and shockproof up to 1.2m / 3.9ft, which is fairly impressive for the price.

That should rule out the possibility of it being damaged (unless you try to break it, which we certainly don’t encourage). When you consider that you might wish to take this portable speaker to the beach at some point, saltwater resistance is a good feature.

The Sony SRS-XB33 is easy to operate. The buttons on the top of the speaker have slightly recessed plastic symbols that are easy to feel around, though not visible in low light. Power, volume, Bluetooth pairing, the Live sound mode, and play and pause are all controlled by these. It’s all really basic.

A plastic cover on the rear of the gadget hides the USB-C charging port and a USB-A port that lets you charge your smartphone directly from the speaker — useful if you’re out and about and your phone’s battery is running low.

We can’t say enough good things about the Sony SRS-XB33, which has a powerful sound, deep punching bass, and decent clarity. It boasts two passive radiators and Sony’s Extra Bass technology, which ensures the lowest frequencies get a lot of attention.

Because of this, you don’t need to crank up the volume very high to get powerful, aggressive bass that may be pretty exciting depending on the tune. While listening to Muse’s discography, we found that to be the case. It amplified the energy of songs like Childish Gambino’s Feels Like Summer and Kasabian’s Ill Ray (The King), making them ideal for a party setting.

It maintains clarity and clarity at greater volumes, which we loved – though we’d like to hear a little more detail in the trebles. There’s also something about the bassy tone that doesn’t lend itself well to calmer instrumental works, especially when played at high volumes. Still, you’re probably going to listen to tunes at lower settings anyway, and this speaker isn’t designed for analytical listening.

Simply said, this is a technology designed to facilitate social meetings. You can’t help but be excited about what’s next on your playlist, whether it’s The Weeknd’s Blinding Light or an old classic like David Bowie’s Life on Mars, thanks to the powerful bass. You can connect the Sony SRS-XB33 to up to 100 compatible wireless speakers, as well as link it with another XB33 to generate true stereo sound, according to Sony, so you can quickly design your ideal sound system.

The Sony SRS-XB33 is expected to last up to 24 hours on a single charge, according to Sony. We aren’t persuaded. During our time with it, we discovered that if you fiddle with the light display or ramp up the loudness, the estimate plummets. As a result, it’s a situational battery life estimate, which is to be expected with any wireless device.

We prefer that you keep the speaker fully charged or plugged in during a party, but it should still work fine if you decide to take it hiking for a few days because you won’t be scaring off wildlife with loud volumes.

The Sony SRS-app XB33’s support is where it excels. The Sony Music Center download includes music-playing options as well as the opportunity to update the speaker. Fiestable is a companion app that allows you to control lighting effects and add DJ-style tunes. If you want to, you can add scratch effects to your favorite music. Some of the effects are gimmicky, but we don’t blame you if you want to play with them after a few drinks.

7. Anker Soundcore 2

While the speaker on your phone may be adequate for listening to music on the go, it is far from perfect. Their sound doesn’t go far, and in terms of the frequency range, phones often fall short.

Thankfully, Bluetooth speakers have become affordable and durable enough that anyone can enhance their audio without breaking the bank. Consider the Anker SoundCore 2, a low-cost, long-lasting Bluetooth speaker that illustrates you don’t have to pay a lot of money to get good sound. The SoundCore 2’s design is unremarkable; it’s a generic-looking black bar with power, playback, pairing, and volume buttons on top.

Two 6-watt drivers are hidden behind a black metal grille on the front of the speaker. A water-resistant cover on the side protects the micro USB charging port and 3.5mm aux connector, which can be used with older smartphones. The Anker SoundCore 2’s body is covered in a gripping matte black rubber that feels great to the touch but reveals fingerprints rapidly.

The build quality is outstanding, and it’s comforting to know that its tough body and water-resistant construction can handle the rigors of outdoor use. Keep in mind that the SoundCore 2 is only IPX5 water-resistant, which means it can withstand splashes but not be submerged in water like the UE Wonderboom.

The Anker SoundCore 2 is 165mm x 54mm x 45mm in dimension, making it compact enough to stuff into a bag without fear of it breaking and not so huge that it takes up a lot of room. It’s easy to transport because of its bar shape, and it’s light enough that you won’t mind carrying it around with you.

The Anker SoundCore 2’s sound quality is mediocre, but it’s far superior to listening to music through your smartphone speaker. With electronic dance music and hip-hop, the sound quality is nicely balanced, but the bottom can seem anemic at times. The highs are fine, but they distort when the volume is turned up.

The Anker SoundCore 2 doesn’t get loud enough for our tastes when it comes to loudness. In a quiet room, the speaker sounds plenty loud, but when it has to contend with surrounding noises, the SoundCore 2 quickly reaches its volume limit. When we compared the Anker to the UE Wonderboom, we discovered that the UE was superior in terms of maximum loudness and distortion.

The Anker SoundCore 2 sounds strained when compared to comparably sized speakers, as though its amp isn’t powerful enough to drive its speakers. The SoundCore 2 sounds nice in isolation, but bass heads will be wishing for more. The battery lasts an astonishing 24 hours, which is significantly longer than the competition.

The UE Wonderboom, for example, only lasts 10 hours, while the Bose SoundLink Color 2 only lasts 8 hours. The Anker SoundCore 2 can also make and receive calls and work with voice assistants such as Siri and Google. To engage your phone’s assistant, simply press and hold the play/pause button. When using the SoundCore 2, calls were loud and clear, and the other side reported good sound quality.