Very happy with this one
My Cambridge Minx Go has finally given up the ghost and and a new speaker is on the want list. With the current Amazon Prime offers available I figured now is as good a time as any to start looking.
I've had a look through the forum and the most recent thread was last used 6 months ago and, knowing how quickly these things can change I thought I would start a fresh one.
So, can anyone recommend a good Bluetooth speaker for somewhere around £100? I'm more interested in sound quality than weather proofing which seems to be the big selling point at present as it will mostly be used indoors or on the patio rather than the beach.
Thanks in advance.
I have been using a Creative iRoar Go which I have been very impressed with.
Only problem is that it's a bit too big/heavy for travelling with, so last week I bought a Bose Soundlink Micro. It OK, especially given its size, but the sound quality/musicality hasn't impressed me (it just doesn't make me want to listen to music), so I have just ordered a Bang & Olufsen Beoplay P2. It's due to arrive today, so I can't comment on it yet.
What's the "best" speaker for you will depend to some extent on what sort of music you listen to (Rock? Classical? Grime? Podcasts?), whether you want it to have physical buttons or are happy controlling it from an app, how important battery life is to you, whether you want it to be able to play from local storage (e.g. microSD card) or just Bluetooth, whether you have any weight/size restrictions (will you just be using it at home or taking it with you when you travel?), whether you are tied to a particular recharging cable (e.g. micro-USB, USB-C), how important the design is to you (are you happy with a black box or do you want anodised aluminium with an Italian leather strap), etc, etc.
Audio pro T3. I think you can get them from £130 new normally so worth checking if it's in the sale. Alternatively I picked up a used (but near mint) one for £80 on ebay.
It's bigger than most bluetooth speakers but the sound is excellent for the money.
Thanks for this I think I'll do a bit of reading as it sounds like it will do the business. Incidentally have you come across these before? I've come across a few great reviews today when I've been researching.
https://minirigs.co.uk/
I have no personal experience of them, but the reviews that I read were all just a little bit bit too positive, which made it feel as if they had run a very successful marketing campaign rather than actually being any good. That may be very unfair to minirig - as I say, I've never heard one. The other thing which put me off was that they use a proprietary charging plug, which is a no-no to me for a travel speaker, where I want something standard like USB-C or microUSB. (To be fair, the iRoar Go also uses a proprietary charger/plug, but I can live with that for a speaker that stays at home).
If you have a John Lewis near you, they normally have a reasonable number of different Bluetooth speakers on display, and (in Southampton, at leats) will let you play with them and pair your phone to play your own music through them without hassling you.
JBL Flip 4 is amazing for a decent chunk under £100.
Lovely warm sound, but i must admit, I would push the boat out and get the Bose one mentioned above.
Buy to your budget
When I was after a Bluetooth speaker the Dockin D Fine was one of the best on the market, if not the best.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/DOCKIN-Blue.../dp/B01M0YCMIO
We used a B&O A2 speaker in a cottage we rented earlier in the year and it was very good, better than our bose minilink. It is more expensive and larger I suppose but still eminently portable.
Another vote for the Bose - great sound, connectivity is good, and you can get a little rubber coat for it when you want to take it outside!
I've got a couple of the Minirig v2 speakers and think they're brilliant. Everyone I've shown them to has been amazed at the sound from them.
Made in the UK, really solidly built, absolutely fantastic Hi-Fi quality sound from such a small package with surprising volume levels and long battery life too :)
I bought their sub as well and have used them all together (even bought the rucksack which is a bit crap FYI lol), but tend to just carry a single most of the time and have it here with me while I work.
The minirig 3's are supposed to be even louder and have better battery life.
Last edited by Pyr0; 25th July 2019 at 11:58.
Company changed the name of the product, was once called the X-Boom. Great value, very good speaker.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tribit-Blue.../dp/B07KXN8G6D
The original Bose Soundlink Mini has served me well, daily, for years. Build quality, sound, battery life and connectivity are all top notch. I imagine the newer generations are even better.
I use a bluetooth speaker for presentations and tried many before purchasing a Bose Soundlink colour 11.
Plenty of volume and excellent sound quality as well, plus small enough to fit in my briefcase with a laptop for travelling.
Have a look at the UE Boom, they are very good and under your budget
Wonderboom
Awesome sound - portable, waterproof, you could have two of the small ones for just over a ton
Easy to move on or add to if you decided
Both me and my daughter have a JBL 4 and the sound quality is excellent for the price.
I'm going to hijack this thread, if I may. I'm looking for a battery-powered bluetooth speaker/speakerphone that I can use for calls whilst traveling as well as listen to music from my Iphone. I realise that most things advertised as speakers are just that but some devices may have a microphone and it’s quite time-consuming to delve into the detailed specifications on, for example, the Richer Sounds website to work out which do and which don’t (further complicated by advertised Alexa/Siri integration).
I’m almost certainly going to purchase a Plantronics Callisto 7200 unless somebody has a better suggestion (my previous solution was a Callisto 620).
https://www.plantronics.com/gb/en/product/calisto-7200
I'm trying not to be seduced by Bose's offerings...
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
Almost all the Bluetooth speakers that I have experience of contain a microphone and can be used as a speakerphone for calls. This is certainly true for the Creative iRoar Go, Bose Soundlink Micro, Bang and Olufsen P2 and Anker SoundCore Mini (all of which I have). In fact, I'd work on the assumption that most portable bluetooth speakers do include a microphone.
As an alternative suggestion, this looks interesting: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0722V3J...v_ov_lig_dp_it
The Jabra units are excellent, used these for the last five years and found them to be totally reliable with good speaker and microphone quality. They integrate with windows seamlessly.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jabra-SPEAK...gateway&sr=8-6
Thanks for that - food for thought. The Lenovo offer looks like quite a lot of stuff for the money but clearly isn't designed with travel in mind (and I wouldn't travel with an unencrypted hard disk anyway). I think I might give a Bose Soundlink Revolve ago at an airport next week if I can; looking at the models in your portfolio there appear to be some on the market which are only controllable (i.e. capable of being muted) from an app and I'd rather have a physical button. I need to see how that works and, obviously, hear it. If the iRoar was smaller that might even have made it on the list.
In the interest of full disclosure I've always been a big Plantronics fan and have bought their products personally and professionally for over twenty years (they've also thrown a lot of free test equipment my way). I remember trialing some Jabra gear when they first entered the market and it went in the bin within a month - I know they have improved significantly since then but I find it hard to put this experience out of my head.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
All my portable media (laptops, portable hard drives, USB memory, microSD cards) is encrypted at a device level. I normally use Bitlocker or Android's native encryption for this, but there are various other mechanisms available. Any especially sensitive data is additionally encrypted at the file level. And none of my data is stored in any cloud.
For speech, I'd agree that Plantronics are the gold standard. I understood that you are looking for a dual purpose music/speech speaker.
Best of luck with whatever you go with. John Lewis tend to have a reasonable selection of Bluetooth speakers on display, and will let you play your own music through them.
UE boom fan here for outdoors and travelling.
Bose is great if you don’t travel much and stay in hotels.
Bose sohndlink mini 2 is £120 at the mo
In Costco
I’ll second this. As an ex sound engineer, I’ve always been wary of the marketing behind Bose products but owned one of the original Soundlinks for many years. I bought a Cambridge Audio Minx for a friend thinking it would be better but it wasn’t. The Bose has been excellent value.
Recently got the UE Boom 3. Perfect for us. Not sure how it compares to the other ones sound wise, but we have been happy with it. It’s IP67 rated, so waterproof and dust proof, perfect for the beech.
John Lewis were doing it for £100 including charging dock.
Harman Kardon Outlet - I've got the older model of this and it's got great battery length, plenty of umphf and power for it's size.
https://www.harmankardon.co.uk/outle...Lw_wcB&start=1
Thanks. One question about the Bose - my reading is that the USB slot is for charging only and that sounds from a PC have to be Bluetooth? Having forgotten my dongle yesterday I was reminded what a faff PC-Bluetooth pairing is. Unless I can use USB for PC audio then Plantronics it will have to be - 90% of use is audio conferencing with the occasional hotel internet radio via a phone/streaming music.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
Happy UE boom user here.
And another vote for one of the UE stable (Boom, Wonderboom, Megaboom etc). Found them to be very good. Good sound, easily portable and (although not a consideration for OP) weather resistant.
Has anybody tried the Bose Home Speaker 500?
https://www.bose.co.uk/en_gb/product...eaker-500.html
Not as portable as the Soundlink Mini however we're looking for a permanent fixture for the Kitchen.
Late reply but I'm struggling to find a "music" bluetooth speaker that takes USB audio (not just charging via the USB) but have failed so far. The best I've been able to do is a Denon Envaya Mini which has an analogue audio input. Like you I've used a Plantronics conference unit for ages & I think either the latest version (which you showed) or a Jabra version is the best bet for business use.
Those looking for Bluetooth speakers mught like to have a look at this review site:
https://www.youtube.com/user/clavinetjunkie/videos
http://switcher.oluvsgadgets.net
He does in depth reviews of many speakers.
Another shout for UE. I went for the Blast which does wireless as well as blue tooth. Great sound and comes with Alexa built in.
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.