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All of Our Reviews, Most Recent First

Tools like this long handled weeder enable easier gardening, especially if bending down or arthritis are issues. Pictured: my mother with her beloved Fiskers weeder. Gardening is a great, healthy, and often delicious pastime, but arthritis, limited mobility, and other issues related to age and/or disability can present challenges. In this article I’ve compiled the …

Some Tribit speakers are just frankly not worth it. But Tribit also offers some of the very best waterproof, ultraportable Bluetooth speakers around. This is definitely a case where you want to choose wisely. We’ve analyzed the whole range of Tribit speakers, as well as what other audio critics say about them, and in this …

The JBL Boombox 2 has been a critical darling of reviewers since its release in April, 2020 and so expectations have been running high for the JBL Boombox 3. JBL announced in January of 2022 that they would indeed release the latest version of this outdoor-ready party monster in the summer of 2022; it now …

The JBL Pulse line of speakers has been a bit better with each version, so we had been looking forward to finding out if the JBL Pulse 5 would improve on the JBL Pulse 4. The JBL Pulse 5 was announced by JBL in January of 2022 and they promised a release of the speaker …

JBL’s smallest, go-anywhere speaker line is its JBL Go line. From the beginning these darling, pocket-sized speakers have been able to kick out a surprising amount of sound, and they’ve gotten just a bit better with each version. So here we’ll look at what’s gotten better from the original JBL Go to the later JBL …

The latest ultra-light clippable bike or backpack speaker from JBL is the JBL Clip 4, and it’s as you might expect a slight step up from the previous JBL Clip 3. In a nutshell: A few features have been gained, a few minor features have been lost, and the sound is overall improved and slightly …

We’ve listened to tons of JBL and Ultimate Ears Bluetooth speakers over the past ten years, penned countless reviews, and read just about everything our fellow, lesser audio critics have to say about them as well. Both companies’ portable Bluetooth speakers are great for loud, crisp, gorgeous sound on the go, and you ardent fan-ladies …

We’ve been following the JBL travel speakers closely for years now, and the Flip line is now on its sixth iteration. Once again JBL has made a few excellent, small improvements. We’ll detail what’s different going from the Flip 5 to Flip 6 below in a nutshell and give you our take on who should …

Bose has three worthwhile options at the smaller end of its classy Bluetooth speaker lineup. From smallest to largest, they are the Bose Soundlink Micro, the Bose Soundlink Flex, and the Bose Soundlink Revolve II. These are the speakers to consider if you want something small enough to fit into a purse or small backpack …

Bose’s rather costly but very stylish and sweet-sounding Soundlink Revolve portable speaker line has been updated: The Bose Soundlink Revolve has been replaced by the Bose Soundlink Revolve II.The somewhat larger and louder version with a carry handle, the Bose Soundlink Revolve+, has been replaced by the Bose Soundlink Revolve+ II. You’ll also see these …

JBL’s very loud, bossy, bass-forward portable speakers are great for picnics, tailgating, and—with their complete waterproofing—the pool or beach. The JBL Charge 5 fulfills this role in a speaker about the size and shape of a wine bottle placed on its side—and weighs just a bit lighter than that boozy bottle of pinot magic in …

JBL has had some ups and downs in its Charge speaker line, and we haven’t always recommended the newest version when JBL makes an “upgrade”. But the JBL Charge 5 is a suitable, minor improvement over the Charge 4, and depending on your specific feature needs and the pricing at the time you read this, …

Do you want the finest bass and loudest-but-still-smooth sound from a portable speaker for tailgating, yard parties, and beach dances? The two best speakers out right now for these purposes are both from JBL: The JBL Xtreme 3 and Boombox 2. Which should you get? Depends on things like whether you need extreme battery life …

The JBL Xtreme, Xtreme 2, and Xtreme 3 speakers offer an excellent, portable, rugged route to serious bass oomph and to getting a quite loud outdoor party going. This series has long been a favorite in terms of ruggedness among the largest, loudest Bluetooth speakers we review; we think that for people who party a …

Doubts are in order when we see a cheaper speaker like this one promising all the latest snazziness, so we weren’t sure what we’d get when we opened our latest box: the Tribit Stormbox Micro BTS10. But we’re overall delighted that we decided to give this ultra-portable speaker a listen, and in fact it has …

The largest portable speakers from the often-awesome speaker-crafting company Ultimate Ears are the Megaboom 3 and the Hyperboom. We like and recommend both, but for different reasons and different folks. The Megaboom 3 fits handily in one hand; the Hyperboom is easy enough to lug with one hand via its carry strap. The obvious difference …

In the hundreds of speaker reviews and comparisons we’ve done around here, it’s often easy to choose which to recommend. Comparing the JBL PartyBox 100 vs. Ultimate Ears Hyperboom presents a more difficult choice however; it depends on your outdoor-dance-party priorities, and even then it’s not so clear-cut. To be blunt, the JBL Partybox 100 …

We generally, though not always, enjoy JBL speakers; let’s take on their big boys. The loudest, bossest JBL speakers that you still might want to carry (lug) around are the JBL Boombox 2 and JBL PartyBox 100. Both have large internal batteries and so can work away from the grid, and both are ideal for …

We’ve reviewed many dozens of Bluetooth speakers and two of our favorites at the moment are the JBL Charge 4 and the Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3. These are the speakers you’d go to if you’re looking for something portable, about the size and shape of a wine bottle without its neck; want to spend less …

The JBL Boombox 2 was released in spring 2020 as as an update to the original portable outdoor party companion, the JBL Boombox. Both of these are at the larger, and more outdoorsy end of the biggest, loudest portable speakers we’ve reviewed. And they’re expensive. In this article we go through what all reliable critics—not …

Our vast research project looked at the largest and loudest Bluetooth speakers. We focused particularly on those that sound great but are still portable enough to be taken out for beach parties, boating, patio soirées, tailgating parties, etc. The market is saturated, to say the least, which is great: there’s something for any taste. Further …

  We recently tried out the , which are very competitively priced. Given this price, expectations were low — and easily beaten. These are an excellent set of headphones (and calling headset) for what they offer, and the best we’ve heard so far at this price range. A few listeners tried them including one musician …

Not all Bluetooth speakers actually improve in their new additions — though most do. We’re excited to take a peek at the JBL Pulse 4 and see if it’s a worthy follow-up to the Pulse 3. The JBL Pulse 4 was released in September 2019 and Pulse 3 in January of 2017, so we wouldn’t …

This article covers previous-model speakers. For the latest from JBL, check out our comparison review of the JBL Flip 5 versus Flip 6. The JBL Flip 5 was released August 1, 2019 as an update to the JBL Flip 4 — already one of the better affordable portable Bluetooth speakers out there. While the Flip …

The Bose Portable Home Speaker, released in September of 2019, is just a big bigger and heavier than the Bose Soundlink Revolve+, and looks similar. But it’s important to be aware that the new speaker has a whole different set of features. The Revolve+ is the largest of Bose’s portable offerings, and was released in …

Update as of December 2021: Note that these speakers have been replaced by newer models; see our comparison of the JBL Flip 5 vs. Flip 6 for more, as well as our comparison of the larger JBL Charge 4 and Charge 5. The broad differences between these speaker lines remain the same however, and the …

We’ve done in-depth reviews of all current portable JBL Bluetooth speakers, but understandably you folks don’t want to read all that. So here’s a quick set of comparisons, mini-reviews, and an FAQ to help you choose the right JBL sonic portable delight for you. JBL makes great-sounding, well-regarded, very reasonably priced portable Bluetooth speakers that …

Update: We have released a comparison of the JBL Pulse 4 with the newer JBL Pulse 5 speaker. Don’t worry; the new version is just as trippy. We’d say the JBL Pulse 4 is without a doubt the speaker to get if you enjoy the wacky tabacky, as my old man calls his reefer. JBL …

The first version of the Marshall Stockwell got overall praise from reviewers, though it certainly didn’t please everyone. The features and design changed quite a bit for the Marshall Stockwell II, so we were immediately curious to see how they compare in terms of performance. Would the new Stockwell II be worth upgrading to? Should …

There are some major differences in the range of portable Marshall Bluetooth speakers to be aware of, even if the Stockwell II, Kilburn II, and Tufton do have the same outward design and similar sound profiles. (Note that there is no such thing as a Marshall Tufton II; the recently released Tufton is the newest …

Out of the hundreds of speakers we’ve reviewed there are a few that are perfect fits for those going off to college. You’re not staying in your university’s dorm or apartment-style housing forever; most people move at the very least from year to year. So it’s important to have a speaker that’s portable enough not …

JBL has released a new speaker; for the latest, see our comparison of the new JBL Pulse 4 vs Charge 4. But if you want to know about the previous JBL Pulse 3 and how it compares to the Charge 4, you can certainly read on… JBL has long had the best lava-lamp-cum-speaker on the …

Update: These speakers are both now outdated; check out our review of the JBL Charge 4 vs. JBL Charge 5. Newer is not always better; we’ve seen this sometimes even with JBL’s speaker designs. So we were curious to unravel the differences between the JBL Charge 3 and the newer JBL Charge 4. First of …

UPDATE: JBL has released better versions of both of these speakers; check out our new comparison of the JBL Charge 5 and Xtreme 3. They are both a small but solid step up in sound performance and features. (You can also check out the differences between the JBL Charge 4 and 5 and the JBL …

The Riva Arena and Riva Concert speakers appear quite similar, but were released at different times and with slightly different marketing, so it can be difficult to untangle what are real contrasts and what is just confusing, useless hype. We’re here for you. The speakers are actually quite similar; both offer fantastic, room-filling sound from …

We’re generally fans of small, outdoors-ready speakers and so were excited to see and hear the upgrade to the short, squat nearly pocket-sized speaker, which was the best-sounding speaker for its tiny size, price, and super-indestructibility. And the new is absolutely an improvement over the original; as we’ll discuss below, it goes a bit louder …

Update: Bose released new models of these speakers in 2021. You’ll probably want to instead check out our full comparison review of the new Bose Soundlink Revolve and Revolve+ vs. the new Bose Soundlink Revolve II and Revolve+ II. But, if you’re just torn between these outdated models or like our old stuff for the …

Note: This article covers a previous-model speaker: The Xtreme 2. For a comparison of the latest from JBL, check out our review of the JBL Xtreme 3 vs JBL Boombox 2. The JBL Xtreme 2 and JBL Boombox 2 can look quite a bit alike, especially if you’re just glancing at online photos of the …

We’ve been reviewing and analyzing Bose speakers for years, and were thus curious to get hands-on with the newer Bose smart home speakers and compare them head-to-head with the classic Bose SoundTouch speakers. Note that there is not cross-compatibility between the systems (boo, Bose! booooo!), so it’s worthwhile to have either all Bose smart speakers or else …

I’ve actually listened to a pair of cheap true wireless earbuds from a rather unknown company — and liked them. I was not expecting to enjoy any truly wireless earbuds, especially given how big name brands have been reviewed by major critics from tech publications. Apple Airpods connect well but the shape is strange and …

Alrighty, let’s bring trademark audiophile obsessiveness into explaining the differences between the Ultimate Ears Boom 3 and its more powerful big sister, the Megaboom 3. Both portable speakers are excellent. In our opinion they’re the top-choice speakers out of the Ultimate Ears lineup and for most people’s uses they’re the top rough-and-tumble, take-anywhere speakers, period. …

We loved and happily recommended the original UE Boom as well as its follow-up, the UE Boom 2. Hard acts to follow, but here comes the Ultimate Ears Boom 3. Has Logitech been able to find areas for improvement with this upgrade? A bit, yes. We’ll do a full comparison of the UE Boom 2 …

We’ve long been listening to and recommending both Ultimate Ears and Marshall speakers, and they’re at the top of our lists of larger, louder Bluetooth speakers. Here we’ll do a head-to-head comparison between the latest: the Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3 and the Marshall Kilburn II. Both are portable party monsters that go very loud, and both …

Torn between the old and the new versions of the deservedly loved Marshall Kilburn? The Marshall Kilburn II is getting lots of praise, but for now the original is still on sale and often discounted. So which should you get? We’ve done a thorough meta-analysis of the reviews for both, and these are speakers that …

The Bose SoundWear Companion is a beautiful-sounding innovation for personal sound, but this wearable neck speaker is also rather expensive. We’ve done a thorough comparison of every alternative speaker out there at present, and come up with some perfectly fine and much cheaper speakers that can help quality sound follow you around without blocking your …

We’ve gone all out in our head-to-head comparison of the features and sound of the JBL Charge 3 and the Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3. These are very similarly sized waterproof portable Bluetooth speakers, they both go quite loud, and they are both consistently at the top of critics’ lists in terms of sound quality. But …

Reviews have been pouring in for the Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3 and we’ve analyzed what everyone has had to say about it — with a particular eye to comparing it to the original Ultimate Ears Megaboom (which was also a critical darling). Logitech skipped a number in their branding scheme with this speaker (there never …

We’ve been carefully analyzing dozens of Bluetooth speakers for years, and we also love gardening, so we were happy to approach the question of how best to combine the two. We’ve found that listening to podcasts and music while weeding (especially with a stand-up weeder) makes the whole venture a lot more enjoyable. We went …

In our years reviewing Bluetooth speakers here, the UE Boom 2 has been our top-rated portable Bluetooth speaker for travel. So when the company designed the very similar Ultimate Ears Blast we were intrigued. But we’re not ready to recommend it just yet for most people. What exactly are the differences between the and the …

We ran an exhaustive meta-analysis on Bose’s Bluetooth speakers, and what  major European and American consumer organizations had to say about them. We also took into account the commentary from all sorts of audiophile critics and tech bloggers. Which is best for whom among the Bose Soundlink Revolve, the Bose Soundlink Mini II, or the …

We’ve run a thorough investigation of UE’s foremost smart speaker, the Ultimate Ears MegaBlast, and compared it to the company’s similar critical darling, the UE MegaBoom. Both speakers are excellent portable outdoor options; frequently people want to know which has better bass, which is louder, which sounds better, and if the small price premium of …

We’re always looking for even lighter and more portable ways to travel comfortably and listen to good audio, so we were hopeful as we approached this review of the Blitzwolf BW-ANC1. We compared them to some of the other headphones we’ve reviewed in the past but this was the first time we’ve tried out headphones …

Stuck in a decision between the Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3 and its smart-speaker close cousin, the Megablast? We’ve done a thorough analysis of both speakers, including how they sound and the small differences in features that might make one better than the other. We’ve got a full side-by-side comparison below, followed by a meta-analysis of critical …

We’ve run a full comparison of the JBL Link 10 and JBL Link 20 to see how these two speakers compare. As usual, we’ve taken into account reviews and criticism from around the world from audiophiles, customers, and consumer organizations. These are currently two of the best-sounding smart speakers on the market, and yes, as …

Update: While these were fine speakers they’ve been supplanted by newer models. For the latest, see our comparison of the JBL Flip 5 vs Flip 6 and the JBL Charge 4 vs Charge 5. We’ve run our usual thorough analysis on JBL’s two most convenient and portable Bluetooth speaker options: the JBL Flip 4 and …

We ran our usual, exhaustive meta-analysis on the new Bose Soundlink Micro Bluetooth speaker, comparing what the best audio critics had to say about it with their comments on the well-known (and quite fêted) other Bose speakers, especially its close cousin the not-quite-as-small Bose Soundlink Color II. We’ll also share how these stack up against the other …

We’ve examined every Bluetooth speaker on the market, but we thought it would be wise to narrow our focus here to just two excellent, small, outdoorsy speaker offers from Logitech’s UE: the Wonderboom and the Roll 2. We stand by our overall Bluetooth speaker meta-review‘s recommendation of the UE Boom 2 as the best combination of durability and great sound …

As we analyzed every single published review of the largest, loudest Bluetooth speakers, we discovered two that were consistently at the top of critics’ lists in terms of sound quality: the Marshall Kilburn and the UE Megaboom. Each of these portable speakers has advantages over the other — here we’ll discuss the contrasts and how we’d decide …

In examining every scrap of press on the latest Bluetooth speaker releases, we’ve seen Marshall speakers coming to the top of critics’ lists. So here we’ll look at the portable speaker offerings from Marshall, the famed guitar-amp manufacturer. There are only two truly portable (that is, battery-powered) Marshall speakers to consider: the Marshall Kilburn and …

  Update: All of these models are now replaced by much newer, better options from the respective manufacturers. Head to our review of the best portable travel speaker for the latest recommendations from Ultimate Ears (formerly UE), JBL, and Bose. In the current bluetooth speaker market deluge, three models consistently float to the top of …

We’ve taken a hard look at the differences between these top portable Bluetooth speakers and all of the commentary from the leading critics. Which is better for you? It depends if you’re carrying tunes around the house, to the beach, or on a whitewater rafting trip — here’s a look at which speaker of these …

Update: All of these models are now replaced by much newer, better options from the respective manufacturers. Head to our review of the best portable travel speaker for the latest recommendations from Ultimate Ears (formerly UE), JBL, and Bose. We’ve analyzed everything said by consumer organizations, tech sites, and audiophile bloggers for the three greatest portable Bluetooth speakers …

We’ve examined everything about Fugoo’s Bluetooth speaker offerings in the Style, Style-S, Sport, and Tough lines in order to tease out exactly what the differences are and which is right for whom. As usual, this means a meta-review of everything put out by consumer testing organizations, audiophile bloggers, and tech reviewers. We’ll have a little more …

We’ve analyzed every stand-up weeding tool out there, as well as what gardeners’ blogs, consumer testing organizations, and forums have to say about them. We’ve seen everything from pretty silly tools to truly durable, effective equipment. If you want a healthy garden or lawn and have back difficulties, or you just don’t care to squat down for every damn …

We reviewed every scrap of information published so far about the recently released UE Wonderboom. We were crazy curious about this speaker, as other speakers from Logitech’s UE have frequently been our favorites. The Ultimate Ears Wonderboom is quite new, so the verdict is not in yet from world consumer testing organizations, but plenty of other …

With a bit of smart shopping you can pay about half price on top Bluetooth speaker brands such as JBL, Ultimate Ears, and some lesser-knowns that we think sound lovely. We’ve reviewed hundreds of speakers over the years, and while we appreciate the incremental improvements of recent models, we also love to point out where …

Our complete meta-review found that the is the most recommendable portable Bluetooth speaker out right now. That survey, however, did not take into account bigger speakers like the , and our readers have been asking us about it and how it compares to its famous littler sibling. Both are excellent speakers and quite similar, but there are a few differences to be …

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