Top 5 Best-Seller Bluetooth Speakers Right Now
Bluetooth speakers are great technological progress. You can use them to boost your devices’ sound quality, have a good time with a group of friends or entertain yourself when cycling. All of these are nice but sadly, Bluetooth speakers can be costly. It can be hard to find an affordable speaker that would also satisfy your needs. Therefore, we have prepared a list of the best Bluetooth speakers under £50.
1. Anker SoundCore 2 – Top Pick & Value-for-Money
Anker Soundcore 2 is one of the most affordable choices you have. It is also a best seller on Amazon.co.uk. There is only one reason for that: value for money. Let’s see what we can get from that price range.
DESIGN
To be honest, Anker Soundcore 2’s design is not the most interesting one. It is basically a 17 cm x 4.6 cm x 5.7 cm bar with buttons for power, volume, and playback on its top. The body is covered with a matte rubbery material which is not anti-fingerprint unfortunately. The body is available in black, blue, and red. With 413 g, it is very lightweight. You can easily carry it around in your bag. Most importantly, the materials used are of high quality. Also, it is water-resistant. So, you don’t really have to worry about damaging the speaker. In the end, the design may not be the sleekest one but that certainly makes it easy to use.
FUNCTIONS
When purchasing any kind of Bluetooth device, its wireless range is one of the first things you take a look at. Well, Anker SoundCore 2 gives you a pretty good range of 66 feet for its price. You can easily use it for a whole day without charging it, thanks to its lithium batteries. Now, the most important thing: sound quality. This speaker’s sound quality is average but still, it is way better than our phones. Actually, the quality is very good unless you turn the volume up so much. It is when you turn the volume too high that you start to notice problems like distortions. As expected from an affordable speaker like this one, deep bass frequencies are not very successful. However, it has a surprising feature. It has a microphone that enables you to use your phone assistants like Siri and Google. Also, you will get amazing customer service and an 18-month warranty. So, if you are looking for an above-average device at this price range, Anker SoundCore 2 may be your best option.
2. Sumvision Psyc Monic Wireless Bluetooth Speaker 20W Passive Subwoofer Bluetooth 4.0
Another budget-friendly option but this time it has an award. Sumvision Psyc Monic has won the PC Magazine 2017 Awards. Let’s take a look at what does an award-winning speaker provide.
DESIGN
This one has a very simple design as well. The only big difference is that this time, the body is covered with brushed aluminum. It has two rectangular buttons on top in order to control the volume. It is a little bit heavier and bigger than Anker SoundCore2 but it is still easy to carry it around. Also, you can easily use it in all kinds of situations because it has a 1-year warranty.
FUNCTIONS
Sumvision Psyc Monic has a decent range. It can still stay connected even if there are walls and 50 feet distance between the speaker and the source. Battery life could be better actually. Currently, you can use it for 6 hours of continuous playback which would generally be enough. However, its sound quality is really mind-blowing. Regardless of the sound frequency, it produces high-quality sounds. It is also great at separating the sounds of different instruments. So, if sound quality and price are the most important things for you, you will definitely love this speaker.
3. Tribit Audio Stormbox Micro
Tribit Audio is currently a relatively small Chinese company and they generally produce affordable but high-quality speakers and headphones. Let’s see how they did with this one.
DESIGN
Stormbox Micro has a very nice design, it can effortlessly go together with all kinds of home decors or backpacks. Its front is covered with a soft-feeling charcoal fabric jacket and the backside is some sort of rubber. It has two buttons for power and Bluetooth connection on one side and volume and stops buttons are located on the front side which looks great. Also, it has a little strap that you can unsnap if you want your speaker to sling over a bike handlebar or tent pole. Its lightweight and small size of 9.8 x 9.8 x 3.5cm make it very easy to carry around. It is waterproof and dustproof as well.
FUNCTIONS
First of all, it has an interesting quality, you can pair two Stormbox Micros in either mono or stereo. Its battery goes for a long time, it can keep on playing for about 13 hours but it has a long charging time of 3.5 hours as well. The sound it produces is well-integrated and detailed. Because of its size, the bass power is limited but still very decent. It is also better at musical separation than its similarly sized rivals. All in all, Stormbox Micro is a very successful speaker for its size and price.
4. TaoTronics TT-SK03 Water Resistant Wireless Bluetooth Speaker
Speaking of small speakers, TaoTronics TT-SK03 is extremely small and splashproof. So if you are looking for singing sessions in the shower, this is your speaker. Let’s take a look at what other things does TaoTronics TT-SK03 offer.
DESIGN
The size of TaoTronics TT-SK03 is pretty much as small and light as it’s going to get for its sound quality. It is only 8.4 cm x 8.4 cm x 5.1 cm and 109 g. It is also round and has 5 buttons. You can stick it to any kind of flat surface thanks to its strong suction silicon cup on the back. Also, there is a LED light that indicates opening and pairing. You can choose to get a blue or black speaker and both of them will have a 1-year warranty.
FUNCTIONS
It has a decent range of 33 feet which means you can leave your phone in one room and receive a call through your speaker in another room. When you can charge your speaker until it’s full which takes 2 hours, you will be able to use it for 5-6 hours. For a tiny speaker, the sound quality is surprisingly well. The sound is crisp, well-balanced and it performs well even in treble and bass sounds. It is not very loud but it can definitely fill a medium-sized bathroom with music.
Pairing is extremely easy, you just keep on pressing the power button until a blue light flashes and then you choose the speaker from your phone. However, because it doesn’t have an audio jack, you can only use it by pairing. It also has 1-year warranty but tries to avoid submerging your speaker in the water anyways because it is only splashproof.
5. Nubwo Wireless Portable Travel Mini Speaker
Nubwo Mini Speak is very affordable and has a very interesting design. Its qualities are similar toTaoTronics TT-SK03 but there are still some things that separate them.
DESIGN
Surprisingly, this one is even a little bit smaller than TaoTronics. It is still heavier though. It has the grill of the speaker on top and buttons are underneath the speaker in order not to disturb the visuals of it. Of course, it improves the looks but inevitably it complicates the usage a little bit. Apparently, Nubwo considers style to be more important than functionality. Also, its LED is ring shaped and it emits a beautiful blue light when the device opens. The speaker is available in rose gold, black, gold, and silver.
FUNCTIONS
The range is not very impressive. It is only 33 feet at its best. If you don’t turn the volume up too much you can use TaoTronics TT-SK03 for 5 hours non-stop. However, if you do want maximum volume that you shouldn’t expect a battery life longer than 3 hours. Its performance truly exceeds your expectations at mids and the basses are average. You may see that it doesn’t have an audio jack and assume that you can’t get a connection through cables. However, you would be wrong. Instead of having two different cords, this device combines them together. Using a cord for connection, you will get the best quality. Undoubtedly, you get everything you pay for and more.
6. Betron KBS08 Wireless Portable Travel Bluetooth Speaker
Betron KBS08 got our attention thanks to its looks, price, and special features. Let’s see if it is worth your attention as well.
DESIGN
Betron KBS08 manages to look stylish without giving up its sportiness. Very much like the previous speaker on our list, this one has a cylinder look. It has a black grill on top, surrounded by 4 buttons and as for the body, you can choose between 7 metallic colours. It weighs just 200 g and the size is pretty small as well. You can even easily carry it in your pocket.
FUNCTIONS
Its range doesn’t surprise us, it has the standard 33 feet range. However, the sound quality does. The bass sounds are very strong and we are not even talking about the mid range sounds. The maximum volume is not the best but it is justifiable for its price and size. As for the battery, when fully charged, it can for about 4/5 hours. Now, let’s talk about the special features. First of all, the LED light around it has various colour so it turns into a disco ball when you are playing your favourite songs. However, if you are not a fan of this feature or you just want to have a longer battery life then you can turn off the LED. Also, it has a built in FM radio. A plugged-in cable or SD card starts to serve as an antenna so that you can listen to music without being connected to a phone. It allows you to answer phones thanks to its built in microphone as well. So, you pretty much get everything you need for a very affordable price.
7. Amazon Echo Dot (3rd generation)
Amazon Echo Dot offers you decent sound and smart voice functionality. If you want to bring Amazon’s Alexa to your house, this may just be the most appealing way to do it.
DESIGN
Amazon Echo Dot has a very delicate design. It is puck-shaped and small. It has 4 buttons on top and the speaker part is on the sides. A ring-shaped LED is between the top and speaker parts. You can use wires to connect and if you want a wireless connection then you can activate it anywhere as long as it can hear your voice.
FUNCTIONS
Because you can use Alexa you don’t need to have a connection to another device to use Amazon Echo Dot. However, if you want a better quality sound, then a wired or wireless connection would really help. Its most distinctive feature is undoubtedly Alexa. We all know the things Alexa can do and with this speaker, Alexa does pretty much the same things. Also, the speaker has a microphone in it so you can answer calls as well. The sound quality is very impressive. Everything is loud and clear, bass sounds are strong and treble sounds are soft. Overall, the sound quality is very good for a speaker this affordable.
8. Amazon Echo Dot (4th Generation)
Amazon made a bold move by changing the 3rd generation Echo Dot’s loved puck shape to a spherical design in 4th generation Echo Dot. At first, they got some negative comments but 4th generation Echo Dot eventually impressed everyone with its qualities. Let’s take a look at them.
DESIGN
Of course, the first thing that catches our eye is the spherical shape. There are 4 buttons on the top side of this speaker and Amazon Echo’s trademark blue ring of light is located at the bottom side. It is bigger and heavier than its predecessor 3rd generation Echo Dot with 328g and 10 x 10 x 8.9cm. The buttons on top are usual; microphone, volume, and start/stop buttons but there is an addition. They have added a 'tap to snooze' button to make your Echo Dot usable for alarms and reminders. Also, Alexa responds quicker than the other models.
FUNCTIONS
Amazon has added some new features to encourage you to buy more than 1 Echo Dot. For example, you can place 4th generation Echo Dots in every room and tell Alexa to play a song in the living room or you can stereo pair two Echo Dots. Alexa’s voice has gone through great improvements as well. You can choose between various voices and all of them sound better than 3rd generation Echo Dot. The sound quality is really nice. Especially when you place the speaker in a corner with its power connector at the back, its sound is extremely loud and clear. Also, this model has a low power mode, so you can save energy anytime you want.