INSMY Portable Speakers, 20W Wireless Speaker Loud Stereo Sound Rich Bass, IPX7 Waterproof Floating Stereo Pairing, 24 Hours, Built-in Mic for Outdoors Camping

Product Information

The terms wireless and Bluetooth are used interchangeably when referring to headphones, but they’re different things in the speaker world. Bluetooth speakers typically only connect over Bluetooth, though you may find some that are capable of connecting to a Wi-Fi network, too. Overall, the JBL Charge 5 sounds like a bigger portable speaker than it is. It dishes out an impressive amount of bass for its size without sacrificing on the mids or highs. You want delicate audiophile sound: It sounds great, but it's still made for impact outdoors, not for refined ears. Think fun and energetic, not classy and controlled. Almost identical to the original A1, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) is an appealing and highly portable Bluetooth speaker that comes with (admittedly flawed) Alexa support without the need for Wi-Fi.

While it’s a little larger than other portable speakers, don’t let its heft discourage you; the Middleton is dustproof and water-resistant to withstand whatever you throw at it and comes with a carry strap to make transporting it easier. Boasting two 3in 15W woofers, two 3/5in 10W tweeters and four class-D amplifiers, it delivers a powerful sonic experience too, and its sound is customisable via physical controls or the Marshall Bluetooth app. You want to charge your phone: Unlike the JBL Charge 5, the Flip 6 won’t be able to top up your phone’s battery. READ NEXT: The best outdoor speakers on the market Can I take calls and use my voice assistant with a Bluetooth speaker?Most Bluetooth speakers are designed with portability in mind and house built-in batteries that allow you to take them with you wherever you go. These batteries can last anywhere from a few hours to over 20 hours depending on the size of the speaker and the amount of power it uses.

You want a smart speaker: There are no mics for talking to Siri, Alexa or the Google Assistant here, which means you wont hear your voice over the speakerphone.On iPhones and on most Android phones, you can turn on Bluetooth by swiping down on your screen to pull down the notification panel/control center and then tap on the Bluetooth icon. If you can't find it, open the phone settings, type "Bluetooth" in the search box, and it'll direct you to the Bluetooth menu. We test countless portable speakers every year at TechRadar, and that means we know exactly which features and specs to look out for.It's important for us to compare the performance of these speakers against the specs claimed by their manufacturers, which is why we take the time to make sure the battery life and connectivity is as good as the brands say they are. You can find a full breakdown of what each IP rating means here. If you’re after something extremely resilient, you’ll want to look out for speakers with an IP67 rating. Battery life of around 12 hours is less than the Charge 5, and the Flip 6 can’t be used as a power bank, but at its lower price, the JBL Flip 6 is terrific value. You want a speaker for a large room: This is better for a living room or more intimate environment, although it will do the job well enough for occasional use.

You need Wi-Fi connectivity: You only get Bluetooth support with the Hyperboom, so look elsewhere for a wireless speaker that hooks up to your home network.

Fix: Bluetooth Audio Not Working on Windows 11

Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity means that the speaker is easy to pair with your smartphone, while built-in Alexa voice assistance means it can double up as a smart speaker. The A1 is the first speaker to offer Alexa support without needing to be connected to your home Wi-Fi network – and while this is impressive in itself, we did find that the voice assistant was sometimes quite slow to respond to our commands, since it's routing over Bluetooth to your phone, and your phone is then making the request over whatever internet connection it has… which won't always be great. But Tribit has made no secret of wanting to bring the party to both your ears and your body, and it has emphatically delivered. This thing can go loud and still sound good when it does. If you're worried whether one speaker will be enough for the garden party, it will here – and for this money, it represents unbeatable sound-per-pound value. If you're looking for a speaker to toss in a bag or clip to a bike, you'll find it hard to get a better speaker for such a low price. It's superb, and its flaws are very minor – only that there's no wired connection, really.