# Bluetooth Mobile Speaker - which one???



## Derwood-guy

The Mrs. and I really want a portable speaker to take with us camping, use in the boat to stream satellite and for music in the kitchen, too. I like the idea of being able to control the music from my phone (samsung mesmerize) via bluetooth. Budget is about $250... can I get a decent one for that? Will it sound the same over the bluetooth or should I forget about that idea? Thanks!!


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## MAGHUNTER

Try the jam box by jawbone.


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## blackssr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Derwood-guy* /forum/post/21432111
> 
> 
> The Mrs. and I really want a portable speaker to take with us camping, use in the boat to stream satellite and for music in the kitchen, too. I like the idea of being able to control the music from my phone (samsung mesmerize) via bluetooth. Budget is about $250... can I get a decent one for that? Will it sound the same over the bluetooth or should I forget about that idea? Thanks!!



The best there is.

http://www.amazon.com/Soundmatters-P...9414789&sr=8-2


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## Walk_Good




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *blackssr* /forum/post/21654324
> 
> 
> The best there is. http://www.amazon.com/Soundmatters-P...9414789&sr=8-2



For a few people at the same time I wouldn't agree, maybe it might be best in the micro speaker category but not for my taste. For me it's too small for anything other than a small cubical workspace but don't take my word on it, there's an interesting review by the Audio Critic here ...



> Quote:
> ... the sound is a little bit thin and pinched as the music gets louder, and there is audible bass distortion from time to time (depending on the program material), but the overall impression is one of realism rather than sonic miniaturization. The stereo effect is minimal; there is no “air” around the sound; but what do you expect, with the left- and right-channel drivers 4 inches apart? ...


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## blackssr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Walk_Good* /forum/post/21657069
> 
> 
> For a few people at the same time I wouldn't agree, maybe it might be best in the micro speaker category but not for my taste. For me it's too small for anything other than a small cubical workspace [/url] ...










Maybe this is your taste?


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## Walk_Good

I prefer the JVC Kaboom over that and doesn’t sound bad with a DAP source. Seriously who would consider candy bar size speakers for 2 or more adults, especially in a boat as the OP stayted, no matter how good they may sound. BTW did you read the audio critic review?


Edit: This should give you an idea of the Kaboom and it works fine on a boat or by the pool ♪ ♪ ♪


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## blackssr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Walk_Good* /forum/post/21724578
> 
> 
> I prefer the JVC Kaboom over that and doesn’t sound bad with a DAP source. Seriously who would consider candy bar size speakers for 2 or more adults, especially in a boat as the OP stayted, no matter how good they may sound. BTW did you read the audio critic review?
> 
> 
> Edit: This should give you an idea of the Kaboom and it works fine on a boat or by the pool ♪ ♪ ♪



Didn't those go out of style in the 80s? Why would anyone over 12 years old walk around with that Ghetto Blaster? Seriously are you messing with me? You do not really walk around with that thing do you? The Foxl is the perfect mini speaker system. It easily fills a 12 x 12 room with sound and you can take it anywhere.


Oh and the reviewer is an ,,nevermind ...Sound is subjective.


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## Walk_Good

Thank you for calling me 12 old man







I do look much younger than I am







while we’re lobbing stones it’s amazing how someone with over 2,000 posts doesn’t edit out the same pictures I just posted above yours. No I’m not kidding but then again I don’t carry the Kaboom around much. I mainly use by the pool as my outdoor stereo system went down due to weather and I decided not to replace it. It's highly possible that you just don’t like good bass response when needed as there is no way that a candy bar size speaker can fill a 12 x 12 room as you state with any substantial bass. BTW they make smaller portable systems than the Kaboom that would easily blow away those tiny speakers in both frequency response and bass but they don’t have the bass that this does as I tested several. Sure it could be made smaller as there's a lot I don't use on it (CD player/tape player) but I went with it for it's ability to reproduce low harmonic frequencies very well without loss of detail in the mids & highs.


You may not like the Audio Critic's review but it’s an honest opinion backed with facts which I happen to agree with and they do a good job on common sense recommendations and many other reviews …



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Audio Critic* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> … *Who would want a loudspeaker that small, designed to be listened to at a distance of 20 inches or so?* …
> 
> 
> … Overall, I would call the frequency response of the foxL remarkably good, considering the extreme miniaturization and special purpose of the design. …
> 
> 
> Read "The Measurements" taken at 1 to 2 meters …
> 
> 
> ... the sound is a little bit thin and pinched as the music gets louder, and there is audible bass distortion from time to time (depending on the program material), but the overall impression is one of realism rather than sonic miniaturization. The stereo effect is minimal; there is no “air” around the sound; but what do you expect, with the left- and right-channel drivers 4 inches apart? ...



But then again you did say “_never mind ...Sound is subjective_”


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## senorcamel

I might be biased by my age, but I love my Boombotix Boombot 2. It's much cheaper than the jambox and the soundmatters speakers, and definitely more durable and WEARABLE (one of my favorite features). You can drop 'em like crazy, and they are water resistant. They even have a handlebar mount so I can use it on my bike...way safer than headphones.


The sound quality is good, but it won't blow you away quite like the jambox. It's VERY loud though, never have trouble hearing it. And even cooler is when you have it tethered via bluetooth, you can connect it to a home stereo a use it as a wireless receiver!


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## Lief Storer

Have you guys seen the new Boombot REX ?


These things are coming out pretty soon but like Senorcamel said, the Boombot2 is a pretty solid powerful yet lightweight option. The Boombotix line is generally below $120 so you can save some extra cash for beer, sausage ans S'Mores on your camping trip.


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## oztech




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MAGHUNTER*  /t/1384402/bluetooth-mobile-speaker-which-one#post_21437436
> 
> 
> Try the jam box by jawbone.


A friend of mine just got the big Jam Box and I must say its impressive for its size.


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## cpk123

I searched and listened to most of them. I ended up with the Bose Soundlink II. I know, I don't care for Bose lineup, but this bluetooth is worth it. People are amazed at the quality and volume of this unit. I use it outside when friends are over and I have to keep the volume down. It's $300 but well worth it compared to others. Take a trip to BB and listen to them. I almost bought something else, but I happened to cycle thru the music genres and when female vocal and classical music came on it was a no brainer compared to the rest.


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## yingqianhua1

I found a fantasy speaker, looks cute. I like it very much. What do you think of it?


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## kushum

does any of you have experience with even smaller speakers. The ones that are the size of a baseball or hocky puck. I'm looking for something that has good sound for around 50$ that I can put in my camel bak.


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## yingqianhua1

There are so many , you can go ebay or amason , key words are bluetooth speakers, mini speakers or portable bluetooth speaker etc. You will find many .


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## yingqianhua1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kushum*  /t/1384402/bluetooth-mobile-speaker-which-one#post_23828881
> 
> 
> does any of you have experience with even smaller speakers. The ones that are the size of a baseball or hocky puck. I'm looking for something that has good sound for around 50$ that I can put in my camel bak.


There are so many , you can go ebay or amason , key words are bluetooth speakers, mini speakers or portable bluetooth speaker etc. You will find many .


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## Justintoxicated

For use on a boat I would go with the UE Boom. it is extremely impressive for the size, has mounting options (takes standard tripod stud mount (so any bolt on tripod style mount will work for your boat), but it also fits in a cup holder, water resistant and it sounds great. Everyone I have show it to has been blown away. It's better than the Jambox IMO, but not as good as the Big Jambox which is several times larger. The Bose soundlink mini is impressive but again not was rugged. The UE Boom has great battery life as well at around 1/2 volume. It gets really loud and can max out without distortion, I hardly ever have it turned up all the way unless I'm far from the speaker, and it is omni-directional.


The other nice feature is the battery life indication (voice tells how much charge), standard micro USB charging jack, and you can control the volume as well as the music from your phone. Hell if you get 2 of them you can run them in stereo, and the volume would be quite loud. It's louder than my old school boombox in a tiny package, and sounds better too.


It was expensive but one of my best purchases in 2012!


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## theandies

This thread is kind of old but I'll throw my 2 cents in.

I just bought the Bose Soundlink Mini. So far it's been a great little package. Build quality is high and it sounds great for the size. I've been working my way up to this price point ($200) and I'm very pleased. You can link up to 6 devices and pairing is a snap. It even has a 3.5mm input for devices that may not have BT.

The bass is good......better that average for the size and form factor. It will not fill a very big room with sound but at a moderate volume level it does well. At high volume the sound does get a little tinny but that is just because it is so small and this form factor cannot keep up with the bass at high volume levels. Sound separation is lacking since it is so small. I've found like with most Bose speakers it's better to direct some of the sound off a wall or hard surface. When you do this it really sounds like a larger speaker.

For traveling or in an RV this is a great product. Small, compact, rugged and easy to use.


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## Tweaked05

I recently picked up the JBL Extreme. It is water resistant, has fantastic sound. It is not the most portable, but not bad at about 5 .lbs. The bass on it is impressive and so is the run time. 15+ hours of run time. This thing has amazing sound quality. I can crank it up as loud as it goes with no audible distortion. It will fill a large room with plenty of sound. Pairing is super easy and it can be linked with other Harman portable speakers easily as well for distributed sound.


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## RynuX

I would like to bring this topic up, I'm looking into portable wireless speakers and considering buying one for indoor (mostly home) usage.. from room to room for instance (so it needs to run on battery). 
I tested a few in different shops, looks like there are several categories that have their own advantages & drawbacks.. and I'd like some advice from you guys.

In my quest for a bluetooth speaker, I have seen "can-like" speaker with 'not-that-bad' sound from 70 to 150€ (JBL Flip, Logitech UEBoom2...) and "brick-like" speakers that sound quite good for their sizes and usage from 100 to 350€ (Bose, Creative, Sony, Onkyo...etc)

I can't test them all, some being unavailable in stores (but avail. from amazon or company website..). 
*What would you do if you had ~300€ for a bluetooth speaker? *

I was surprised by the sound of the Bose Soundlink Mini 2, but at 200€ it only shines by sounding good (am I really talking about Bose?) lasting 12h and being very compact. (I wasn't convinced by big sound link 3, too expensive for the result IMO)

JBL Flip is as easy to handle as the Bose, sounds ok and is half as cheap, do you think Bose Soundlink mini2 is worth the extra money ? In the same category but pricier the UE Boom 2 benefits from a good reputation but the nearest store broke their demo UE Boom2 so it doesn't work when I go there to test it. the app is looking good, and app is a useful and fancy feature to my mind. I read they don't deliver enough bass, i'm not all bass and boom, but i like some, do the UE B2 deliver enough bass ?

Creative recently released Sound Blaster Roar Pro & iRoar which are pricy but have more feature than I need, but looks really awesome, I liked the previous SB Roar 2 but I wonder if those new ones provide better sound in addition to battery life?

I have a lot of questions because I believe HD audio can't pass through bluetooth... there is so much thing to know and I'm starting to get lost and not sure what I really need

Well, I guess what I'm asking is* "are >200€ bluetooth speaker worth the extra money? or should i stick with.. let say a basic 2nd hand JBL Flip 2 for ~50 bucks?"*

thank you.


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## OnRails14

RynuX said:


> I would like to bring this topic up, I'm looking into portable wireless speakers and considering buying one for indoor (mostly home) usage.. from room to room for instance (so it needs to run on battery).
> I tested a few in different shops, looks like there are several categories that have their own advantages & drawbacks.. and I'd like some advice from you guys.
> 
> In my quest for a bluetooth speaker, I have seen "can-like" speaker with 'not-that-bad' sound from 70 to 150€ (JBL Flip, Logitech UEBoom2...) and "brick-like" speakers that sound quite good for their sizes and usage from 100 to 350€ (Bose, Creative, Sony, Onkyo...etc)
> 
> I can't test them all, some being unavailable in stores (but avail. from amazon or company website..).
> *What would you do if you had ~300€ for a bluetooth speaker? *
> 
> I was surprised by the sound of the Bose Soundlink Mini 2, but at 200€ it only shines by sounding good (am I really talking about Bose?) lasting 12h and being very compact. (I wasn't convinced by big sound link 3, too expensive for the result IMO)
> 
> JBL Flip is as easy to handle as the Bose, sounds ok and is half as cheap, do you think Bose Soundlink mini2 is worth the extra money ? In the same category but pricier the UE Boom 2 benefits from a good reputation but the nearest store broke their demo UE Boom2 so it doesn't work when I go there to test it. the app is looking good, and app is a useful and fancy feature to my mind. I read they don't deliver enough bass, i'm not all bass and boom, but i like some, do the UE B2 deliver enough bass ?
> 
> Creative recently released Sound Blaster Roar Pro & iRoar which are pricy but have more feature than I need, but looks really awesome, I liked the previous SB Roar 2 but I wonder if those new ones provide better sound in addition to battery life?
> 
> I have a lot of questions because I believe HD audio can't pass through bluetooth... there is so much thing to know and I'm starting to get lost and not sure what I really need
> 
> Well, I guess what I'm asking is* "are >200€ bluetooth speaker worth the extra money? or should i stick with.. let say a basic 2nd hand JBL Flip 2 for ~50 bucks?"*
> 
> thank you.



I went through a bunch of these speakers before I finally purchased the Bose Soundlink Mini 2. I love the speaker and have had zero problems with it. Many of the others I tried just ended up being flaky over time. The Bose just works every time and sounds pretty good too. Just my two cents.


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## DanPackMan

Size matters. The JBLs are probably as good as any with similar size.


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