Bluetooth speakers compare the best speakers in the 2020 test

The best wireless speakers in the test

These Bluetooth speakers sound good and fight for a permanent status beside you. After a lot of testing and comparison, we show our favorite boxes here. Trends in 2020: better waterproofing, more colors and more interesting designs.

With the help of Bluetooth speakers, how many children's rooms have been turned into cinemas? How many interest rooms are there in the VIP cloakroom and how many picnic blankets are on the dance floor? Bluetooth speakers bring life into every corner. Unlike some smart speakers, they usually control children's play and cost less than a multi-room system or classic stereo system.

This is why we love Bluetooth speakers so much. But if you want to consider Bluetooth speakers, do you really mean Bluetooth speakers? We distinguish Bluetooth speakers, smart speakers and multi-room audio systems as shown below.

The five boxes that our Bluetooth speakers compared were convincing in the test! Good price, excellent features or optics-different from these speakers.

1. Test Champion: Teufel Rockster Cross
2. Cost-effective winner: Anker Soundcore 2
3. Best waterproof speaker: JBL Xtreme 2
4. The most interesting box: Divoom Tivoo
5. Loser: B & O Beoplay A1

Test Champion 2020: This is why Teufel Rockster Cross is ranked first

In the spring and summer of 2020, Teufel Rockster Cross will become the first place in our ranking. It was launched in 2019 and is simply an excellent all-rounder. The angular box shows its characteristics in design, but it is compact and can be carried around. With waterproof protection [IPX5], it cuts as well in the outdoor swimming pool as it does on the shelf at home. You can connect two Rockster Crosses together and play them as a stereo pair. However, other devices are at best average.

With Rockster Go, Teufel itself provides a possible choice for everyone who can do it without a last punch, but prefers a compact housing. Another option is JBL Flip or JBL Charge.

35 Euros price / performance champion: Anker Soundcore 2

Anker once again proved that a speaker who pays attention to Bluetooth technology does not have to spend a lot of money. The Soundcore Mini 2 model can be purchased from Amazon, and the price is slightly higher than 30 euros. The speaker left a good impression in the test. Sometimes, he is exhausted at mid-high pitches. It is waterproof, has a fairly long battery life, and does not need to be touched with child gloves. Successful overall packaging!

Best waterproof outdoor speaker: JBL Xtreme 2

If the Bluetooth speaker has a built-in bottle opener, it clearly shows outdoor quality. Fortunately, JBL Xtreme 2 does not only rely on this kind of head. IPX7 is waterproof, so you can completely submerge it in a short time! Due to its long battery life [including mobile power supply], a slum-style practical shoulder strap is included in the scope of delivery, and the JBL speaker sound is also loud, we can be sure that this is the best waterproof box.

"Most interesting" Bluetooth speaker: Divoom Tivoo

"Oh, it's cute!" If you put Divoom Tivoo on the table, you should not be surprised: the part is like a magnet, and everyone wants to know whether the current TV show is actually running on the "screen" designed by the TV. No, it is not. But a dot matrix display with more than 100 LEDs does attract attention. You can also play games on it and do more nonsense.

Loser: B & O Beoplay A1

Bang & Olufsen: The brand name alone surprised the connoisseurs. High-end forging is actually manufacturing Bluetooth speakers under the Beoplay label. At first glance, the round Beoplay A1 does not look like high-end forging or high-end forging, but like a shower head. However, once you hold it, feel its weight and hear its performance, your opinion will change quickly. I promise!

When buying a Bluetooth speaker, you should pay attention to this

You should not expect that most models described here have HiFi-level sound. But we are always surprised at how much sound even small speakers can produce. If you value sound that is as undisturbed as possible, please pay attention when buying aptX process support. In this way, as long as both support the protocol, audio signals can be passed from the source to the speaker with little loss. However, this protocol is not a prerequisite for a really good Bluetooth speaker. Rule of thumb- Sound needs volume -quite. Therefore, very compact speakers usually sound thinner than models with corresponding resonance rooms.

In addition, you should definitely check the equipment list of the required model. One Built-in FM radio At first glance, this may not sound exciting-at the latest at major sports events such as the World Cup, you can really show off with such a device in the park. Models with large battery capacity and long battery life Sometimes there is an option to power the connected smartphone. If the Bluetooth speaker is also a power bank, it is very practical. However, additional functions are not always useful for every user. For example, the Sony SRS-XB40 plugs LED lights and stroboscopes into the ring, while others have built-in speakers. So pay attention to the purpose.

table of Contents

1. Test domain overview

2. Price range: How much does a typical Bluteooth speaker cost?
   

3. What is the range of the Bluetooth box?
4. What is aptX?
5. What do you mean by "waterproof" and "weatherproof" for outdoor speakers?

6. Do you need a language assistant?
   

7. Battery performance in practice
   

8. Stereo vs. multi-room audio
   

Price range: How much does a typical Bluteooth speaker cost?

You can get reasonable and reasonable Bluetooth speakers for less than 100 Euros or even less than 50 Euros. In most cases, these are small mini-boxes with a small size. The sound can be used for many purposes, but it does not match the larger speakers. The small box is still enough to enhance the sound occasionally, for example, here you can use the Soundcore Icon Mini. The price of Teufel Boomster Go remains below 100 Euros at 99 Euros.

In addition, we recommend using Anker Soundcore Icon Mini or JBL Flip 4 for about 75 Euros.

What is the range of the Bluetooth box?

Depending on the application area, your Bluetooth connection will reach its limit. Outside, you can use your smartphone to extend the box to a distance of 50 meters-at least in theory, in fact, you should start from 10 meters to 20 meters. Water, trees and other objects blocking the direct line of sight between the phone and the box will reduce this situation. The same is true for connections within buildings. Here, you can assume a range of about 10 meters, but obstacles are especially walls and other "radio operators", such as home Wi-Fi.

Let's limit ourselves to practice. If you use the box on the beach or in a city park, there is a speaker next to the phone, and the speaker is a few meters away. A range of 25 meters is a good choice, but it is rarely needed. On the other hand, the decisive factor is the scope of the family. A longer scope ensures better access and absorbs any problems under local conditions.

If you have had bad experience with Bluetooth connection in the past, please pay attention to the Bluetooth class [if specified] or the Bluetooth standard. Ideally, you will find "Class I" devices or devices that comply with the "Bluetooth 5" standard. These promises range up to 100 meters. However, the player, ie mobile phone or PC, should also support the corresponding standard. Otherwise, the equipment follows the highest standards in both aspects, so the weakest link in the chain determines the distance between the equipment.

What is aptX?

Music must enter the box somehow-with a Bluetooth box, of course, this is done via Bluetooth. This is where aptX comes into play. Bluetooth itself defines the standard for radio transmission, and aptX as a codec [Limited companywith Decemberoderer] do compression work. Roughly speaking, this determines the quality of the music when it reaches the box. "Rough" is because there are several decisive factors in the end:

• Standards supported by the player [smartphone, PC or similar product]
• Customer supported standards [Bluetooth headset or Bluetooth speaker]
• The quality of the music itself
• The quality, design and volume of the box

Therefore, it is important that both the mobile phone and the box must support the corresponding standards. Otherwise, both devices will always agree to a lower standard. Therefore, if you call your device that supports aptX HD to no avail, but your phone supports up to AAC. Unfortunately, this is true of all iPhones, not just AAC. Contrary to Android smartphones, since Android 8.0, they also support Sony's standard "LDAC", and using aptX and aptX HD, you can also get two other codecs from Qualcomm.

In practice, few people will really hear the difference. Even AAC [the alleged weakest encoding] still has good sound and is sufficient for normal sound enhancement. If you use the box at home, it is certainly worth a closer look here, because players are usually better. This can be a PC with a tidal account or a CD player.

What do you mean by "waterproof" and "weatherproof" for outdoor speakers?

Of course, you can also use Bluetooth boxes outdoors, after all, they are portable, have batteries and do not require any cables. In sunny weather, the work that can be easily done with all the packaging boxes has problems on the beach or in rainy days. Here, you should pay attention to the corresponding logo, you will find it in the form of "IP" specification. The "anti-contact protection" specifies the dustproof and waterproof performance of electronic equipment. The first number after "IP" defines the dustproof level, and the second number indicates the waterproof level.

We will explain the meaning of each number in the outdoor smartphone special issue in detail. Very important to you: The last one should be as high as possible, "IPX3" can protect you from splashing water, "IPX7" can even let you submerge the box briefly.

Do you need a language assistant?

Bluetooth speakers with voice assistants such as JBL Flip 4 or Teufel Rockster Go will be suitable candidates in the testing field. Both not only support Apple Siri, but also support Google Assistant through the corresponding buttons on the device. However, you always need a paired smartphone to use the voice assistant function, They are not really smart speakers like Amazon Echo or Apple Homepod.

Battery performance in practice

The battery runtime given in the comparison is related to the manufacturer's information and our experience in testing. In principle, you can rely on these values, which always refer to the normal volume. If the box is opened as far as possible, the running time will be reduced. If you use line input that is almost always available instead of Bluetooth, you can save power.

Many Bluetooth speakers provide heads. There are 256 programmable LEDs here to lure you to buy. [Divoom Tivoo].

The box is almost always charged via USB connection. This also means that you can use the power bank to charge. In some cases, you can also choose the opposite way, and use the Bluetooth speaker as a mobile power bank. Also make sure that the required equipment does not have a dedicated power connection. Since spontaneous charging [for example, charging through a mobile phone charger] is usually found somewhere, it will automatically level down.

Stereo vs. multi-room audio

Many of the listed Bluetooth speakers can be connected to a stereo pair, sometimes even eight speakers, or, for JBL [JBL Connect +], up to 100 speakers can be recorded on the network. For spontaneous parties on the beach, this is a good trick. For your own four walls, we recommend using a real multi-room solution, such as the one provided by Sonos. They will still run in sync after many hours and also provide direct connections to various music streaming services.

We compared multi-room solutions in separate tests. Here, we will introduce you to the top dog Sonos and various other alternatives. If you are looking for wool sows to lay eggs, we recommend that you check the Sonos Move test report. The speaker not only feels good in the Sonos settings, it can also be used as a Bluetooth speaker and provides support for various voice assistants.

Bluetooth connection problem

Unlike cable connections, radio connections always depend on the environment. As mentioned above, objects or other wireless power sources may interfere with the radio connection. In some cases, incompatibilities between devices can cause problems. Since the list of all problems and possible solutions are beyond the scope of comparison, we have collected them for you in a separate article and provided some instructions.

At first glance, this may sound strange, but due to the physical characteristics, our problem solving program's prompt for WLAN connection is also suitable as a troubleshooting method.

We sincerely hope to help you buy a Bluetooth speaker. What is your comment on this comparison test? Then, please send us a comment under this article. held a party!