Somebeach (Forum Supporter)
Somebeach (Forum Supporter) HalfDork
5/12/21 2:26 p.m.

I am looking for a blue tooth speaker under $150 that is loud enough to use outside while doing outside stuff. Like building a deck etc. 

 

I looked on Amazon and am overwhelmed by the options. 
 

does anyone have a recommendation? 

RevRico
RevRico GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
5/12/21 2:33 p.m.

I just recently got this one as an early wedding present.

I'll be honest, I was overwhelmed with Amazon so just picked something middle of the road price wise. It's pretty great.

Wireless, battery holds a good long charge, like 8+ hours and still over half way, loud, but not overly bassy. It doesn't break up at comfortable volumes. 1/8" aux, Bluetooth, USB A inputs. Bluetooth is good to about 60 feet with my phone in my pocket.

I had trouble hearing it over the tiller, but saws, plasma cutter, drills it's fine. 

gearheadmb
gearheadmb SuperDork
5/12/21 2:53 p.m.

Do you have any cordless tools? There is probably one that uses the same battery.  I have a black and decker bluetooth speaker that came with my drill. It sounds good, not great, but good, and it lasts several hours on a full charge. I cant honestly say how long because I've never ran it long enough to kill a battery.

pres589 (djronnebaum)
pres589 (djronnebaum) UltimaDork
5/12/21 3:22 p.m.

Based on the requirements given I would buy the largest Anker speaker that fit the budget.  The Anker products I've been around have all been pretty easy to use/deal with with surprisingly decent sound quality for their small size and weather resistance.  I really wish they had a unit that fit a standard bicycle bottle cage but I don't think they do.

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter)
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
5/12/21 3:33 p.m.

Build it yourself. Kits are plentiful.  Proper finish on it and it's even water/splash resistant so you don't have to panic if it starts raining.

Anker is always a solid bet in the bang-for-buck category.  I have a SoundCore by Anker that probably isn't up to the volume levels you're hoping for, but the battery lasts forever and I got it for $5 at a Thrift store (sells for $30 new on Amazon)  Mine plays loud for a solid 5-6 hours, if I keep the volume down it will go for days.

I have personally heard the following two larger speakers:

Pyle 100w or something very similar to this one.  Loud.  Frequency response wasn't fantastic (boomy mids) but if you're just looking for loud tunes while you run power tools, it will do nicely.  Only complaint I saw on Amazon was that the battery life could be longer.  Might have been this one.  Hard to remember

JBL Flip 5.  Sounds bigger than it looks.  JBL usually wins the portable speaker category.

Mr. Peabody
Mr. Peabody UltimaDork
5/12/21 3:36 p.m.

A few years ago I toured all the electronics stores and listened to everything with the intention of buying 2, one for each of my sons. I was most impressed, from a sound for value perspective, with the Ultimate ears Wonderboom. Since they live together they pair them and for their size they sound incredible. I bought one for myself 

maschinenbau
maschinenbau GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
5/12/21 3:45 p.m.

I have the Kove Commuter. It's shaped to fit a cupholder, so good for crappy project cars and boats. I use it mostly out in the garage. It's a little glitchy sometimes, but that might be my older android phone having trouble pairing. But it's durable and has enough battery for me. Seems like they discontinued it though. 

EvanB
EvanB GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
5/12/21 3:59 p.m.

I have the anker soundcore 2. Loud enough for the garage, bonfires, working outside etc. I'm very happy with it for the price.

Teh E36 M3
Teh E36 M3 SuperDork
5/12/21 4:19 p.m.

Doss traveler. $40 and loud as hell if you desire, with good bass for outside usage. Waterproof, tough, long battery life.  I'm on my second one, because after like 5 years I damaged the usb charging port. Only slight downside is that the volume steps could be slightly closer together, but again- I bought another one. It's good.

https://www.dossaudio.com/products/traveler

DOSS Traveler | Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker - DOSS Audio

Toyman01 + Sized and
Toyman01 + Sized and GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
5/12/21 4:41 p.m.

Monster. 

I have 6 of their EZ Play speakers that we use for parties and around the pool. Most of them are 20 watts each and they will run for around 8 hours on the batteries. I have a set of BTW-249s, 2 of the Monster Glow lanterns, and 2 of their Tower of Music. All of them have been awesome and the ability to pair them all together is nice to have if you get groups of people together. They also put out decent quality music.

https://mymonsteraudio.com/collections/all

Lee
Lee UberDork
5/12/21 4:43 p.m.

Unfortunately it's unavailable at the moment, but I was pleasantly surprised by this thing.  Jewels and I were Elton John & "Tiny Dancer" for Halloween a few years ago and needed something discrete to play our intro music on at the party, so I bought about the cheapest thing on Amazon, I think it was around $25.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071CTB118

Somebeach (Forum Supporter)
Somebeach (Forum Supporter) HalfDork
5/12/21 5:11 p.m.

Thanks for all the responses. I was still overwhelmed with the options and the Bugani M118 was on sale on Amazon for a certain color so I just went with it. Thanks for the recommendations. 

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