Best cheap Bluetooth speakers 2023

It doesn’t quite manage to get under the £50 mark but the EarFun Uboom is worth the money, offering all the key things we look for in a cheap Bluetooth speaker.

For starters, it has an attractive and compact design with an IPX7 waterproof rating and easy to use buttons on the top. It’s slightly surprising to see both a USB-C port for charging and an aux input just in case you need it.

There might not be aptX and AAC codecs but sound quality is good and like the UE Wonderboom 2, there’s a dedicated outdoor mode. It offers a 360-degree sound and really only lacks in the top-end due to there being no tweeters.

The Uboom has Bluetooth 5 giving it good range and battery life is solid, too. Furthermore, latency is low making it suitable for video, there’s a microphone so for hands-free calls and you can create a stereo pair if you buy two.

The Wonderboom 3 is yet another excellent budget-friendly speaker from Ultimate Ears with a lot of boxes ticked that prospective buyers will be looking for. 

It’s extremely portable, easy to use, fully waterproof, sounds great and lasts a long time. That might be enough for many people but there’s also a move to eco-friendly materials which is always welcome in our book. 

It’s not flawless though, as the speaker painfully still uses the old Micro-USB charging port and can’t be stereo paired with the Wonderboom 2, which is frustrating for any existing users. 

Once again EarFun has proven itself to be one of the go-to brands for cheap Bluetooth speakers. So good is the Uboom L that you might wonder why you ever considered splashing out on a Sonos, Bose or Sony alternative.

Punching well above its asking price, the Uboom L offers excellent sound quality over Bluetooth 5.0 thanks to two 55mm drivers and two passive bass radiators. The speaker comes in a compact form that’s IPX7 waterproof enough to immerse, too.

Furthermore, you can pair two for stereo sound (though not for video usage), there’s a 3.5mm jack input and plenty of buttons for control.

At 16 hours, better battery life can be found elsewhere but it’s still long enough that it shouldn’t make much of an impact on useage. The main shame is that no other colours are available.

The ever-reliable JBL has made yet another desirable Bluetooth speaker and the latest version of the Clip is a brilliant speaker for travelling everywhere with you without breaking the bank.

The palm-sized design has an integrated carabiner meaning you can clip it onto almost anything whether that’s a rucksack, bike or something else. The buttons are easy to use and the speaker now has an IP67 waterproof rating making it fully dunkable.

The buttons are easy to use but it’s odd that you can’t go to the previous track with a triple-click. There’s also no microphone or aux input if that matters to your usage.

However, solid sound quality is excellent and battery life is decent, too with USB-C now the port of choice. The affordable price makes this a worthwhile purchase.

Creative offers a solidly good value package in the Muvo Go. You can certainly buy cheaper speakers but there’s enough to like here to make it easy to recommend. 

It’s fairly plain in design in this Midnight Black option, bar the buttons, but there are also Pine Green, Cloud Blue colourways available. More important design factors are ticked off the list like IPX7 waterproof rating and only 570g in weight. 

In terms of sound and features, there’s plenty of volume on offer to fill and room and you can pair two together into a stereo pair. Battery life is also solid with up to 18 hours of playback. 

We’d like more bass and better codec support but after all this is a very affordable speaker. 

Tronsmart’s T6 Plus (Upgraded Edition) is one of the smartest non-smart budget Bluetooth speakers we’ve tested.

Not only is this rugged waterproof speaker capable of pumping out room-filling, 360-degree audio from its two 20W drivers, it can also function as a 6600mAh power bank for emergency recharging of your phone or devices, and let you connect to your phone’s voice assistant with a tap of its click wheel.

For the money sound quality is outstanding, benefiting from Tronsmart’s own SoundPulse algorithm and a dual-passive radiator to deliver balanced and clearly defined audio, with no sign of distortion. And getting audio to the speaker couldn’t be easier, with support for microSD, USB flash drives and Bluetooth streaming.

This upgraded model adds NFC connectivity, taking all the hassle out of pairing your smartphone. Battery life is also decent, offering up to 15 hours playback at 50% volume.

Buy two and you can take advantage of wireless stereo pairing.

Even at one of the cheapest prices here, we have little to complain about with the Muvo Play. This pint-size pocket rocket has a lot going for it.

We like the compact design which means the Play is super portable and is even IPX7 waterproof, which isn’t a given at this price point – the mesh just takes a while to dry out. It’s got easy to use buttons and the 360 design, like many others, means you can pretty much plonk the speaker down anywhere and it will still sound good.

It’s got a 3.5mm aux connection but you’re better off making use of Bluetooth 5.0 which provides a decent wireless connection. You can also join two Muvo Play speakers together to create a stereo pair if you like. 

Creative offers decent punchy sound for not much money here thanks to a pair of full-range drivers and a couple of passive bass radiators. Although the speaker is suited well to a lot of music and podcasts, it does struggle a little bit at the bass end, only able to reach down to 70Hz – when human hearing goes to 20Hz.

That’s really the only downside to this otherwise excellent speaker. 

Though the Tribit StormBox Micro comes in at a low price and a small size, it still produces a very admirable sound quality – especially when it comes to bass-levels. 

Its portable design means that it can fit in the palm of your hand with ease, and the fixed strap is also handy for attaching it to your bike should you wish. Plus with an IP67 waterproof & dustproof rating, you’ll be able to take it out and about in all weathers. 

You do however only get a Bluetooth 5.0 connection. The USB-C port is for charging only, and there’s no aux port. However, with an eight-hour battery life, a Bluetooth-only connection should suffice for most occasions. 

The sound quality is loud enough to fill a room, though if you’re hosting a large gathering we’d recommend purchasing two of these to use in stereo mode. Otherwise, this speaker is perfect for those who are on a budget and want a travel-sized speaker that doesn’t compromise on crisp audio. 

Most of the Bluetooth speakers we test at Tech Advisor are portable but the Edifier D12 is an interesting option if you have a shelf or desk space in mind.

Its wooden ends provide style and acoustic benefit and the three physical dials on top are useful. And you don’t only have to use Bluetooth as the D12 has other inputs making it ideal as a dual-purpose for those with something like a turntable.

Sound quality is good but there’s no stereo field and the speaker can’t automatically switch between different paired Bluetooth devices.

The Sharp GX-BT60 might not be able to offer the same audio quality as the Tribit Stormbox Micro but it’s cheaper and makes for a good option if you’re looking for a very affordable and compact speaker.

Its pocketable size (depending on the pocket) comes in different colours and benefits from a handy strap and IP67 dust/waterproofing, too. The simple trio of buttons can do more than you think, too.

Bass is decent, especially considering the size of the GX-BT60 and you should get all-day battery (up to 13 hours). The low price does mean things like the older Micro-USB port and no modern codects like aptX.