They may not be smart, but Bluetooth speakers still have a place near and dear to our hearts.
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 smarts, Bluetooth speakers are more versatile, more rugged, and more portable. They’ll also work with any smartphone and sound as good their smart-speaker equivalents.
We’ve tested hundreds of Bluetooth speakers and researched dozens more online 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 March 2021: We added the JBL Clip 4 and Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1.
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