Which Bluetooth speaker sounds the best?
31/7/2026
Translation: Natalie McKay
Support: Michelle Brändle, Natalie Hemengül, Pia Seidel, Stephanie Vinzens, Lorenz Keller, Florian Bodoky
Pictures: David Lee
We compare the sound quality of portable speakers. Since opinions are always subjective, each device will be rated by seven people.
If I’m testing a single device by myself, I don’t have anything to compare it to. Did the other speaker really sound better, or is that just how I remember it? Or was it because of the room acoustics? Did I listen to the same songs?
The answer to these questions is «42». That’s how many different opinions this article presents – seven people each review six devices. This means the rating of the sound quality doesn’t hinge on an individual’s personal taste or current mood.
All the reviewers are members of the Digitec Galaxus editorial team. We have different areas of expertise and interests, are different genders and different ages. Our tastes in music vary, too. After all, the whole idea of having multiple reviewers is to cover as broad a spectrum as possible.
We listen to one song at a time on each device, then move on to the next tune. We test at two-thirds of the maximum volume and at the maximum volume. The test is carried out in our video studio, a relatively large room with good acoustics. We agreed on three titles everyone’s familiar with, so we all have a general idea of how they should sound: Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, Flowers by Miley Cyrus and Hello by Adele. If the songs and the acoustics had been different, maybe our ranking would’ve looked different too.
I won’t go into detail about the devices’ specs here. The main selection criterion was size – only mid-sized speakers were included in our test group. They’re all between 16 and 22.5 centimetres long. Larger devices tend to be louder and have more powerful bass, so comparing speakers of different sizes wouldn’t be very fair.
All of the speakers are also available in colours other than the ones tested here. All of them are IP67-certified, with the JBL Flip 7 and the Soundcore Boom 3i even boasting a rating of IP68, meaning they can be dropped in water and are dustproof. None of the speakers has an audio jack, which is to be expected these days.
Here are the individual speakers, in alphabetical order:
JBL Flip 7: perfect for parties
Despite its compact size, the Flip 7 packs a punch with incredible volume and was unanimously rated as perfect for parties. The sound tuning is also impressive. The bass is powerful, but it doesn’t drown anything out. If you turn the volume up to the maximum, the sound quality noticeably deteriorates, with the midrange frequencies becoming too dominant. But the speaker’s volume is so good, you’ll hardly ever need to use that setting. The hi-hat in Dreams is a little too prominent for Natalie’s liking. Pia notes that this device is more about power than finesse. But those were the only complaints. Four out of seven people chose the Flip 7 as their number one. That’s just enough to take the top spot in the overall standings.
The JBL Flip 7 is the only speaker in the test group that we don’t stock in our online shop. Costing nearly 150 francs, it’s the most expensive device we tested.
Marshall Emberton III: a compact model that doesn’t quite cut it
As a guitarist, I have a soft spot for the design of Marshall speakers. Based on appearance alone, the Emberton III would be my favourite. But the sound quality really lets me down. The Marshall speaker is the smallest in the test group, and you can really hear it. It’s much quieter than most of the others. To my ears, the bass sounds artificially boosted, and the treble’s also pushed up a bit, while the midrange is lacking.
Natalie and Michelle disagreed, and thought the bass was on the weak side. That surprised me, but maybe we’re talking about different things. The Emberton III doesn’t reproduce the very low frequencies very well, but the slightly higher bass frequencies are really prominent.
All the reviewers ranked the Marshall speaker last or second-to-last, sending it straight to the bottom of the overall standings. The speaker emits sound evenly both to the front and rear. So you can put it in the middle of a room, and it’ll fill the entire space. That being said, it lacks side-firing speakers, and at home you can’t place the device against a wall. On the plus side, it has the longest battery life of all the speakers we tested.
Sony Ult Field 1: subtle, but good
For me, the Sony speaker delivers the best sound. I could really hear the difference, especially on the drums – I was super pleased about that. Even so, I still ranked it only second, behind the JBL. After all, these are party speakers that need to deliver the goods outdoors and in large rooms. If you turn the Sony Ult Field 1 up from two-thirds volume to maximum, it only gets a little louder. So its maximum volume is quite a letdown. You absolutely need to turn on the bass boost, otherwise the sound is thin and flat.
But in a small room like a kitchen or bathroom, the speaker will do just fine without the bass function. Loud bass quickly gets out of control in these settings, so the Sony model would be my first choice.
My fellow reviewers’ notes show they agree. Five of them ranked the device second, while Natalie even awarded it the top spot. Overall, that’s enough for second place, just behind the JBL. The general consensus is that it’s not exactly a party hit, but it’s still well-balanced and understated. There’s just one thing – Lorenz is annoyed by the «unacceptable» beep that plays when the bass boost’s switched on and off, which I completely understand. Mainly because the music’s also paused at the same time.
Soundcore Boom 3i: big, loud and a matter of taste
Visually, the Soundcore speaker wasn’t a hit with any of the reviewers – it looks like something that belongs on a construction site. But, for the purposes of our rating, we’re not interested in that. The Boom 3i, along with the Teufel gadget, is the largest speaker tested, with a volume to match. You’d still be able to hear it clearly on a construction site.
When it comes to frequency tuning, I think Soundcore is the opposite of Marshall. It’s the midrange frequencies that are particularly loud on this device. This means voices and instruments like the piano stand out very clearly, but sometimes unpleasantly so. The frequency range of a woman’s voice hurts my ears when the volume’s turned all the way up. The lower midrange, on the other hand, is rather quiet, which makes the whole thing sound a bit sterile.
This was the device that made the least sense to me. So it came as no shock that opinions among the other reviewers couldn’t be more different. According to Natalie, it’s «more like something for a kids’ birthday party»; she put this speaker in last place. For Pia, on the other hand, the Soundcore Boom 3i came out on top: «The loudest yet still the most pleasant, with the clearest vocals on Dreams and Hello. The only exception was Flowers – the balance wasn’t right on this track.» But it failed to impress the majority of reviewers, landing in fifth place in the overall rankings.
Teufel Rockster Go 2: pleasant
While its appearance lives up to its name («Teufel» being the German word for «devil»), this device sounds meek and mild. That’s how I’d sum up the Teufel Rockster Go 2 in one sentence. The bass and treble are very prominent, but not as extreme as on the Marshall model. The Teufel gadget sounds warm and never harsh, and remains consistent even at maximum volume. Personally, I feel like it could do with a bit more gusto in the midrange There, Teufel lacks what Soundcore has too much of.
My fellow reviewers agree. So the rating comes down to personal taste. This gadget, with its unique design, is Stephanie’s winner, and she’s glad it also comes in a subtle shade of grey. Pia ranked the Teufel model second. Both of them appreciate that the sound never gets unpleasant, even at the highest volume. Other viewers put the device in the middle of the pack. It reaches third place in the final standings.
UE Boom 4: just okay
This speaker plays music in all directions. In our test, the speakers are placed free-standing in the room, so their sound dispersion shouldn’t affect the listening experience. At two-thirds volume, I think the sound’s okay, but nothing to write home about. The bass falls well short of what you get from the best models. The speaker has a somewhat midrange-heavy sound, which suits Adele’s Hello but doesn’t work with other songs. At full volume, the speaker starts to distort, and the emphasis on the midrange becomes unpleasant.
At least that’s what I heard. Lorenz, on the other hand, notes that the midrange frequencies become less noticeable at maximum volume. Either way, the sound changes and becomes unpleasant to listen to. Some of our fellow reviewers noticed the distortion as well; Stephanie, for example, thinks the sound is terrible at maximum volume and put the speaker in fifth place.
In the overall rankings, the UE Boom 4 comes in fourth; most people placed it somewhere in the middle of the pack. Natalie awarded it second place because it gave her goosebumps when she listened to Adele’s Hello.
Overview and conclusion
None of the speakers blew us away, but none of them completely missed the mark either. In the table below, you can see each person’s ranking and the overall standings calculated from those ratings. Six points were awarded for first place, and one point for sixth place.
It turns out – not for the first time – that, under the same test conditions, individual differences in perception aren’t actually that extreme. The resulting ratings are also similar – with a few exceptions. Opinions on what balance of bass, midrange and treble is well-rounded and pleasant couldn’t be more different.
Sound is also just one factor among many. Many other factors play a role in the purchasing decision – price, battery life, appearance, colour options, features such as the ability to pair multiple speakers and additional capabilities in the app. That’s to say, just because a speaker fared less well in this comparison doesn’t mean it’s a bad choice.
David Lee
Senior Editor
David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.chMy interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.
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