The Gadget Show - Best Portable Speakers

Monday 24 September

This week we’ve delved into the world of portable speakers. Whether you’re looking to ‘rock the house’ at a party or relax to some tunes of an evening, we’ve got it sorted.

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Big Jambox by Jawbone

First up is the Big Jambox from Jawbone, available in three different colours with a design that brings a slick look housing a rectangular box like shape and oversized playback buttons with a nice graphic design touch.

The unit has a SmartSpeaker installed in the device which speaks to you to help you get started with your Bluetooth steaming and music control. The sound quality is great, with dual passive bass radiators to make the most of the Jambox’s LiveAudio technology, so you will feel like your sitting right in the front row.

The speaker can be used wirelessly and can be charged up for 15 hours use, so you can definitely take it down to the park without worrying about the speaker dying. It also has a built-in microphone so you can take your hands-free voice and video calls.

The speaker itself is probably too big to lug around on a daily basis, but there is a smaller Jambox if you need one that’s portable and fits in your bag.

All in all the Jambox gets a thumbs up from us, and even though the price is on the higher end, we do think it’s worth it for the quality of this great looking and sounding speaker.

Buy the Big JAMBOX or JAMBOX here

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Gear4 HouseParty Portable

Next up we have the new gear 4 house party portable, which is an app-enhanced home portable speaker which can be used as a dock for your iOS device or as a Bluetooth and wireless speaker. The curved pebble design adds a sleek finish to the speaker which also gives you an immersive sound with complete portability.

The speaker can be controlled by an iOS app called SmartLink, which can be used to enhance the functionality and usability of the speaker with a range of features like, adjusting the equalization settings, individual acoustic levels and battery allocation. Enabling you to completely control the sound quality of your speaker, and you can also even sync your music to your alarms so you won’t be late for work!

The house party portable delivers a great sound for in-house use and its also portable enough to take outside in the garden, and will still deliver great sound quality for you and your friends to enjoy.

Find out more about the Gear4 HouseParty Portable here

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Logitech UE Mobile Boombox

Next up, The Logitech UE Mobile Boombox is a small speaker with a big sound, which is easy enough to take around with you. The design feels and looks sturdy with its vibrant and strong rubber casing.

You can use Bluetooth to stream music wirelessly with any Smartphone or tablet and it also supports two devices simultaneously up to 50 feet away. The rechargeable battery delivers up to 10 hours of music wirelessly and it can even double as a speakerphone using Bluetooth technology.

The speaker doesn’t have the best bass quality but for a cheaper alternative portable speaker for your office, room or garden this speaker delivers a good sound quality which can keep you listening for hours.

Buy the Logitech UE Mobile Boombox here

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Philips AS351 Android Docking Speaker

Next up we have the Phillips AS851 Android dock speaker. The smooth design of this speaker will impress you with its quality feel and crystal-clear sound.

You can use Bluetooth to stream your music with any enabled device, or with an Android phone or tablet you can also play your music via the free Philips DockStudio app, which brings a myriad of unique features such as the ability to steam thousands of Internet radio stations worldwide and browse your music collection.

The app also comes with the Songbird music function, so you can discover, play and sync media seamlessly between PC and Android powered devices. It also has an in Clock mode, where the app lets you set multiple customised music alarms and gives updated weather reports.

The Philips AS851 is a great for those of you who would love the ability to charge and use your android or other music devices to listen and share great music with your friends with a great sounding speaker for a decent price.

Buy the Philips AS351 Android Docking Speaker here

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Sony RDP-XA900iP

Finally, on the higher end of the scale, we were blown away by the Sony RDP-XA900ip Airplay Speaker. Packing an epic sound whether docked, or wireless you won’t be disappointed with this monster of a speaker. It has some great premium design features like the brushed aluminium retractable dock and the buttons on the top of the speaker.

Sony’s wireless AirPlay speaker and docking station lets you stream your music from any room, whenever you like. The 2.1 channel compact system includes a 100 watt subwoofer, 200-watts of RMS power output and clear sound magnetic fluid speakers.

The high, mid-range and low tones all sound great on this speaker and won’t let you down with any song you want to throw at it. You can even download the D-Sappli app to easily set up airplay and equalisation settings for your speaker.

Although this speaker is quite pricey, its sound quality is a cut above the rest so it will prove to serve you proudly for many years to come.

Buy the Sony RDP-XA900iP here

What speaker do you own or want to own? Tell us in the comments below…