speaker comparisons
College Dorm Speakers: The Best Sound for Small Rooms, for Large Parties, and for a Shoestring Budget
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 Pulse 3 vs Charge 4: Choosing Between an Impressive Light Show and Slightly Better Sound
JBL has long had the best lava-lamp-cum-speaker on the market, first with its Pulse and Pulse 2, and the latest JBL Pulse 3 is even snazzier. But how does it actually sound? Are we better off going with the Pulse 3’s sister speaker, the similarly sized JBL Charge 4? We’ve got a side-by-side comparison table …
JBL Charge 3 vs Charge 4: Is the Upgrade Really Better?
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 all, let’s be honest. If you already have the JBL Charge 3, you do not need to upgrade to the …
JBL Charge 4 vs Xtreme 2: Comparing These Mid-Sized Road Party Speakers
JBL has two mid-sized cylindrical speakers that are waterproof, super tough, and just light enough to be carried outside anywhere for a party or barbecue. But the company’s own pages on the JBL Charge 4 and JBL Xtreme 2 don’t do much more than make it clear that models like to lounge next to them …
Riva Arena vs. Concert: How to Choose Between Riva’s Brilliant Home-and-Travel Smart Speakers
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 …
Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 1 vs Wonderboom 2: Is the Upgrade Worth It?
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 …
The Full Comparison: Bose Soundlink Revolve vs. Revolve Plus
We’ve examined the Bose Soundlink Revolve and Bose Soundlink Revolve+ to run a full comparison looking at the reviews, audiophile blogs, and costumer reviews they’ve thus far received. This is in the same spirit as our complete meta-review of the best travel Bluetooth speakers. Both the Revolve and the Revolve+ have so far gotten great reactions, …
JBL Flip 4 vs Flip 5: Is the New Version Worth It?
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 4 was not our very top-choice small Bluetooth speaker for travel, it was near the top of the list, and its lower price …
JBL Xtreme 2 vs Boombox: The Bass-Heavy Outdoor Party Speakers Compared
The JBL Xtreme 2 and JBL Boombox can look quite a bit alike, especially if you’re just glancing at online photos of the two and mulling over which to buy. But while they share a similar esthetic and features, they’re quite a different experience to actually use. The JBL Boombox measures about twice as much …
Bose Smart Home vs SoundTouch: Which Sounds Better, and What’s Alexa Doing Here?
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 …