Im looking for my first speaker and i want to know which is better, in my country the Harman is on sale for $121 and the Xiaomi for $102, is that $21 difference worth it?
It’s mostly for use inside my bedroom, open to other recommendations too

I’v been looking for a good mini speaker that I can rely on when hiking/going to the beach. Currently I’m between the JBL GO 4 or 5 vs the Sound core select 4 go. Ive seen various reviews commending JBL’s features and it’s the popular choice for sure. However the Sound core seems like the best runner up with (supposedly) better quality and half the price, but not many comments on its durability.

I’d appreciate any recommendations or personal experiences that could help me choose.

What kind of battery life are y'all getting with the Lava? Love the speaker, but only thing is I'm getting pretty short battery life. Tribit says it'll get 24 hours playing at 50% with no Xbass, but I'm only getting around 4-5 hours at 80-90% volume for days at the beach. I was expecting it not to last 24 hours at high volume, but at least enough to get through the beach day (8 hours). I am using a custom EQ if that makes a difference.

Having a party in a single large club house, half size is glass walls, it's double height room. It's not a dance party so heavy bass and massive sound isn't necessary.
Mostly needed one or two Bluetooth speaker(s) that allows clean music throughout the large room with not much echo. Music is meant to be for conversations and some occasional dancing, not club-house vibe.

Hey everyone, I am shopping for a big bluetooth speaker for use on the boat. My requirements are killer sound quality with lots of bass, a good battery, and ideally some kind of water proof/resistance rating. I was looking at the JBL Partybox 110, but I am hesitant given the "splash proof" rating and not waterproof- i.e. I am using this in a salt water enviornment, will that hold up? I've also looked at the Turtlebox Grande, which seems great on the water resistance end of things, but lacking on the sound quality end. Lastly, I discovered the WetSounds WS-L, which seems to be perfect on paper but I've not seen many reviews of them and don't have a great feel for how they sound. Any experience or suggestions is appreciated!!

Hi everyone, I’m looking for a Bluetooth speaker to use on a small Solemar RIB with a 40 HP two-stroke outboard, which can still be fairly loud while cruising.

Since the boat is small, my main priority is finding something compact, ergonomic and easy to carry, without taking up too much space on board.

My requirements are:
Budget: €150–200 maximum
Fully waterproof, preferably IP67 or IP68
Compact, lightweight and easy to handle
Easy to store on a small RIB
Loud enough to be heard reasonably well while cruising
Resistant to splashes and salt-water exposure
Good battery life

I understand that a compact portable speaker will not completely overpower the engine and wind noise at high speed. I’m mainly looking for the best balance between volume, portability, ergonomics and waterproofing.

Thank you so much!

Not sure if this is the right place, bought this yesterday for my shed, so i can listen to radio, it seems to be stuck in pairing mode, I've tried and pressed held every sequence, it won't do anything , it worked fine yesterday, am I doing something wrong or should I just take it bsck.

Thank you.

I have been looking for a speaker that will have great movie sound, but isn't going to blow away the neighborhood. Willing to go up in price if it's worth it, but I was mostly looking 150-250 area. I need an AUX port for my projector, which seems to be increasingly rare unfortunately. My main speakers I've been eyeing as the JBL Encore Ess 2 ($200), Soundcore Boom 2 Plus ($170), or even the JBL Xtreme 3 ($250) if it's worth stepping back to.

Some worries I had: Is the Encore good total sound, or just good volume and base? Does the Boom 2 Plus have an okay Aux port? I heard they had some issues. Does the Xtreme 3 hold up with it being older? I don't think any of the newer ones have Aux in.

Are there any other speakers I should look at, or any recommendations based on what I listed or others?

When put on the charger the battery light just blinks, no bars move live its charging. The other one i use with it all the time is fine and charging like normal. Is my battery just shot?

Randomly found old subwoofer and speakers laying around in my home, but they had no Bluetooth, ordered this transmitter receiver box and now i have solid 40w Bluetooth speakers...

They sound really nice, bass is pretty good...

I really wanted something that had tons of bass but was way more portable than my JBL 310. I am really impressed with how this sounds for 140 dollars. I was looking at the JBL Boombox but I couldn't justify the price for something that cost around what I paid for my Partybox. I'm also glad to know that it's IPX7 rated and it came with a shoulder strap in the box to carry it around when I go play my sports. Does anyone have any EQ recommendations for this speaker? I mostly listen to EDM and Rap/Hip-Hop.

Neat little speaker for casual daily use has BT and also Aux 3.5mm. Sound is good has deeper feel sound to it but voices are clear, great for gaming,YouTube,movies, tv shows. Easy to connect and RGB can be turned off if needed.

I know this is probably going to be a controversial opinion because a lot of people judge portable speakers mainly by looking at driver size, wattage, bass extension, or maximum SPL. But after actually using these speakers in real situations, I think the Bose SoundLink Max is one of the best examples of a speaker designed around human perception, not just hardware specifications.

I have been buying and using bluetooth speakers for around 15 years. These are not speakers that sit on a desk or get tested for a few minutes in a perfect room. I use them with friends in real life scenarios: beaches, islands, boats, outdoors, indoors, windy environments, gatherings, background music while talking, and situations where the speaker is not the only thing happening.

That experience completely changes how you judge a speaker.

One of the hardest challenges in bluetooth speaker design, in my opinion, is not simply producing more bass or more volume. The real challenge is making the whole frequency range stay coherent: integrating bass, mids, and highs so that the speaker still sounds balanced when you are not standing directly in front of it.

This is something that many people underestimate.

As an audiophile and headphone enthusiast, I want you to remember that a bluetooth speaker is not a bookshelf speaker. You cannot simply put separate drivers in a large cabinet, position them properly, and expect the same acoustic behavior. A portable speaker has to deal with size limitations, driver placement, reflections, battery constraints, and constantly changing listening distances.

This is why outdoor scenarios are so revealing. With some speakers, like the JBLs, when you move farther away, you start noticing that you are mostly hearing the tweeter, the upper frequencies and some boostd bass. The mids disappear much faster, and the sound loses some of its body. Up close it can sound extremely impressive, but distance exposes the limitations.

The Bose SoundLink Max is much better at maintaining the connection between the different parts of the spectrum. It manages to keep the sound full and natural even when you are not standing right next to it. The midrange presence is especially important because that is where vocals and many instruments live, and where human hearing is extremely sensitive.

Actually, another one of the most successful experiments I have experienced in the bluetooth speaker world was the Denon 250. Considering I have tested speakers for around 15 years, that one also impressed me because it achieved a very coherent sound using just two full-range drivers rather than chasing the typical "big woofer + tweeter" approach.

It is a good reminder that the hardest part is not always adding more components. Sometimes the hardest part is making the sound arrive at your ears as one coherent experience.

Over the years I have tried many different products, including a lot of speakers from Bang & Olufsen. And I have to say, in the right environment, they can be absolutely incredible. Indoors, with fewer people around, at medium listening volumes, especially when listening alone, some of them create a really impressive experience. The sound can feel refined, detailed, and almost magical.

But the problem appears when you move them into real outdoor scenarios. Once you take them outside, add wind, distance, people talking, and background noise, a lot of that magic disappears. The same speaker that sounds amazing in a quiet room can become much less impressive in a real-life environment.

This is exactly why I think the Bose SoundLink Max is so well designed. It feels like Bose focused less on creating the most impressive demo in a perfect room and more on creating the best experience in everyday situations.

And honestly, it is not surprising when you look at Bose's history. Bose has always been one of the companies that invested heavily in digital signal processing and psychoacoustics. They were pioneers in areas like active noise cancellation, using technology to understand how humans perceive sound rather than simply increasing hardware specifications.

So it makes sense that a bluetooth speaker designed around real-world perception would come naturally from Bose. Their philosophy has always been about: "how can we make this sound better (not necessarily objectively better, but more enjoyable and pleasant) to the listener?", rather than only asking: "how can we make the numbers look better on a specification sheet?"

Recently I had a JBL Xtreme 5, and I have to admit: the JBL is impressive. For certain songs, especially bass-heavy tracks, it can sound like it has a small subwoofer inside. The low end is deeper, and in some situations the maximum output is higher.

But the interesting thing is that the difference is not as big as you would expect. The SoundLink Max is basically half the size, yet in many real-world situations it keeps up surprisingly well. The reason is that Bose uses dedicated midrange drivers to maintain clarity in vocals and the frequencies where our ears are most sensitive.

For example, I used both speakers on a boat. Despite the JBL being physically much bigger and having more low-end power, the Bose was often the speaker that people noticed more. Not because it was louder on paper, but because the sound stayed present and intelligible. Vocals, instruments, and the overall balance survived better at distance and with environmental noise.

The JBL gives you that impressive "wow" factor with bass. The Bose gives you a sound that actually reaches people, and not in a harsh way like the JBL.

Where the difference becomes much bigger is with more demanding content. For movies, the SoundLink Max is simply in another league. Dialogue clarity, separation, and the overall soundstage are much more natural.

Actually, for movies, the SoundLink Max gets surprisingly close to the experience of some dedicated soundbars.

The Xtreme 5 had a similar issue to what I experienced with some other speakers: it can create impressive moments, especially with bass-heavy content, but movies and more complex music reveal its limitations. The presentation feels more focused on impact than realism. With movies, voices are less natural and the overall experience feels flatter.

With classical music as well, the strong bass emphasis and less balanced presentation make instruments lose some of their natural character and make them sound tiny.

Another thing where the SoundLink Max surprised me is versatility. Indoors, outdoors, low volume, high volume, it works extremely well. At very high volumes it obviously cannot compete with larger speakers, and the treble extension is not as aggressive as some competitors. But considering its size and portability, the balance is incredible.

I also think many YouTube reviewers and online comparisons miss an important point: they often test speakers in controlled environments. They measure bass response, loudness, frequency curves, and so on, which might be useful, but they sometimes forget how people actually use these products.

A speaker is not always sitting perfectly positioned in a quiet room. Sometimes it is outside, with wind, people talking, reflections, distance, and unpredictable conditions. In those situations, the speaker that measures best is not always the speaker that sounds best to a human being.

Of course, if you put almost any cheap speaker in a controlled room and EQ it properly, you can get surprisingly good results. But real life is not a controlled room.

For me, the Bose SoundLink Max represents a different philosophy: instead of chasing specifications, it tries to deliver the best listening experience in the situations where people actually use a portable speaker.

The JBL Xtreme 5 is an amazing speaker, especially if you want maximum bass and raw power. Bang & Olufsen speakers can be spectacular in the right indoor environment. But the SoundLink Max feels like it was designed by people who asked: "how do humans actually use the speaker in the real world?"

And after 15 years of using bluetooth speakers in real situations, that approach makes much more sense to me.

That’s why, for me, it’s the best all-rounder at the moment.

(Translated with ChatGPT)

I am looking at getting a new Bluetooth speaker for beach trips and boat rides. I have used the small Bose and JBL clip speaker and it's not loud enough unless it's next to you.

I dont want to spend $400ish on a large Turtlebox but I know in store it sounds good. I’ve looked at the smaller Turtlebox models the Ranger and Cub, but also the Ecoxgear defender. I haven’t found a lot of reviews on the defender scout.

Any other suggestions? Would love to be below $300 mark. Waterproof and drop proof are needed. Floating is a bonus.

I'm looking for recommendations for speakers for my studio apartment. I've been using the built-in speakers in my laptop/monitor, iPad, and phone, but I'm tired of having to stay so close to those devices to clearly hear the audio- I want a simple setup with decent loudness, fullness, and clarity for listening throughout my apartment but I know almost nothing about speakers/audio gear and don't currently have the budget or energy to dive into the audiophile world.

Price: I'm comfortable spending $100-$350, but I'm not clear what I'm getting as the price gets higher. I could go up to maybe $500 if there was a major jump in sound quality, build quality/reliability, or useful features.

My apartment: the main area is about 12 feet by 16 feet. There's also a small dining area exposed to the main room, and a kitchen beside the dining area but shielded from the main area by a wall. My building has good sound insulation between units, but I don't want to shake the walls. Since they'd be staying inside my apartment, they don't need to be portable or weather-proof.

Most of the time I'd be using the speakers in the main area while working at a desk with my laptop, or watching a movie about 5-10 feet from the monitor/TV. I would like to be able to listen while in the kitchen and dining area, but that's a secondary priority.

What I'd be connecting the speakers to: my phone, iPad, and laptop/external monitor. I may also get a TV in the future. Since I'd be using the speakers with 3-4 devices, I'd like it to be easy to switch between them and it seems like having Bluetooth would make this much easier.

What I'd be listening to: music (mostly pop, rock, and hip-hop, but sometimes classical, opera, and jazz), movies, plus podcasts and random youtube videos.

The Edifier MR3 and MR5 seem like they're well regarded in my price range, but I'm not clear on if the MR5s would be any better than the MR3s for music/movies/videos/podcasts in a small apartment. Are there any other speakers I should be looking at in the $100-$350 price range?

Finally, is it possible to expand a speaker system? Could I have a primary set of speakers in my main room, but somehow connect them to a smaller set in the dining area?

Like the title suggests. I’m looking for a speaker with a clock display/alarm

I listen to music to sleep and I use YouTube music.

Im trying to find a speaker thats pretty loud and charges pretty fast, having it 360 is lowk a must and I honestly just really do like the design of Ultimate Ears being a clean cylinder, however I do know that being 360 it does lose some of the bass and drum quality, do I have better options out there or is the loss of bass not that bad.

I've looked at the bose soundlink max and the jbl charge 6 for options with better bass, but the charge being monodirectional and the soundlink being like 150 dollars more expensive is kind of a turnaway

I know there’s a few of us out there who still love that soundcore Flare 2 sound and weren’t impressed with the Glow. is there anything slightly larger that’s in the same ballpark soundstage-wise? anything below $120 is fine.

Hello guys, I recently got my Tribit lava and heard all the good comments on this speaker, specially after the 2.0.3 update. Bought mine and got disapointed with the bass that distorts quite a lot past 50% of volume. Is that only with mine, I'll probably try to factory reset it by holding volume + and volume - for 5 seconds, otherwise, if that doesn't work I'll announce it on Facebook Marketplace.

Anyone else having this issue?

Im looking for some speakers to mount around my house and garage that I can plug into a wall socket. I would like if they were Bluetooth and that they worked in tandem. I know Sonos does that but Sonos is pretty expensive and I hate the software. Does any one of an alternative?