WiFi and Bluetooth speakers
Find out which kind of wireless speaker is best for you, the features you should look for, and the top recommendations from our tests.
Find out which kind of wireless speaker is best for you, the features you should look for, and the top recommendations from our tests.
Portable speakers use Bluetooth to play sound from your device, while home speakers often use WiFi to stream directly. We’ve tested both, including budget options and pricier models. Here’s what to think about when buying.
Our test includes battery-powered speakers, which can be easily shifted to a different room or brought outside the house. But it also includes smart home speakers, which plug into the wall as semi-permanent pieces of furniture. Confusingly, they can often look similar, so make sure you don’t buy the wrong type.
Portable speakers can lack the sound quality of their plugged-in cousins, but that’s not always a dealbreaker. Because they’re used so differently, convenience is more important. If your speaker’s going outside, weight and water resistance are worth thinking about – but neither are relevant for home speakers.
In general, portable speakers use Bluetooth only, while home speakers likely use WiFi as well. A few home speakers don’t have Bluetooth capability at all. Either connection type can do the job, just in different ways.
Connecting via Bluetooth is simple and doesn’t require network support. Just put the speaker into pairing mode and select its name in the Bluetooth settings on your phone or computer.
While manufacturers usually claim range is limited to about 10m, our testers got ranges in excess of 30m, even through obstructions such as doors or walls. They got the best range when the speaker was on a flat surface, such as a table.
Bluetooth connections compress audio files for transfer, which can affect audio quality, whereas WiFi does not.
Speakers on WiFi can stream from services such as Spotify or Apple Music. Usually, this requires using an app from the device manufacturer. Once connected, playing music is simple – in Spotify, you select the speaker from a list and press play. You can also control the sound from your device, including skipping tracks and setting up a queue.
If the speaker has a built in virtual-assistant, such as Amazon’s Echo devices, you can ask it to play whatever music you want. For example, “Alexa, play music from the 80s”. You can also use your voice to skip, shuffle, change the volume or stop. You can even ask for the song’s title and the artist performing it.
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If you’re happy with your current speakers – portable or wired – but you want Bluetooth connectivity, there is an option. You can plug a Bluetooth audio adapter into your speaker’s 3.5mm aux input, then connect your Bluetooth device to the audio adapter. However, because aux ports aren’t powered, you’ll either need to plug the adapter into the wall or recharge its battery occasionally.
We weigh up two superb speakers with very different roles - one smart, the other portable.
We've tested 68 wifi and bluetooth speakers.
Find the right one for you.
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