The 4 Best Bluetooth Speakers Under $50 - Winter 2021 Reviews

The best Bluetooth speaker under $50 is the Amazon Echo Dot Gen 4. It has Alexa built-in, which can hear you even if you're far away or in a noisy room. There's also a mute mic button if you want Alexa to stop listening to you.

It has a balanced mid-range, so it can reproduce vocals and lead instruments clearly, though higher frequencies may sound dull or veiled due to its underemphasized treble range. There are also bass and treble adjustments in its companion app, which lets you customize its sound to your liking. It has impressive directivity thanks to its 360-design, so it has a wide and immersive soundstage. Its Bluetooth range is superb, so it can play audio from connected devices even if they're far away.

Unfortunately, it has to be plugged in to be used, so it's not very portable. It also doesn't get very loud, though its companion app has a Party Mode feature that lets you pair multiple speakers to amplify the sound. If you're looking for an affordable speaker with an amazing voice assistant, this is a suitable choice.

The DOSS SoundBox Plus is the best versatile Bluetooth speaker under $50 that we've tested. It comes in many colors, and it has two customizable RGB lights. Thanks to its small and lightweight design, it's also incredibly portable.

Although it struggles to produce low-bass, it has a well-balanced mid-range, so vocals and lead instruments sound clear and present. It can also play stereo content without downmixing it to mono, which results in a more immersive sound. The battery performance is very good, lasting over 10 hours on a single charge, and it turns off automatically after 15 minutes without audio playing. It also has an amazing Bluetooth range, so it can play audio from a connected device even if it's far away.

Unfortunately, its directivity is poor, so its soundstage is perceived as narrow, rather than open. It also can't get very loud, although thankfully there isn't much compression at max volume. If you're looking for something fairly well-suited to most uses at an affordable price, this is a solid option.

The JBL GO 3 is the best portable Bluetooth speaker under $50 that we've tested. Thanks to its small and lightweight design, it's outstandingly portable. You can also attach it to your bag using its built-in strap, so you can take it on-the-go.

It has a well-balanced mid-range, so it can reproduce vocals and lead instruments clearly. While it can't get very loud, it doesn't have much compression at max volume, so its audio production remains clean and pure. It also comes with an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance, though we don't currently test for this. It's suitable for watching videos, since it has low latency with iOS and Android devices, although some apps compensate differently for this.

However, it isn't compatible with voice assistants, even those on your smartphone. Also, its battery only lasts around five hours on a single charge, though this may be okay for shorter listening sessions. If you're looking for an incredibly portable speaker with Bluetooth capabilities, this is worth considering.