The 8 Best Home Bluetooth Speakers - Fall 2024

The JBL Authentics 500 is the best home speaker we've tested. This premium device has a retro design inspired by some of the manufacturer's classic speakers, like the L100. Packed with plenty of modern-day features to make the most of your listening experience, it includes built-in voice assistants and a room calibration tool that optimizes the speaker's sound to your room's unique acoustics. Bass and treble knobs on the speaker itself make it easy to customize its sound, or you can use the graphic EQ available in the JBL One app.

This speaker is suitable for listening to lots of different audio content, making it a great Bluetooth speaker to have around the house. Voices and lead instruments are reproduced with great clarity and accuracy, and there's a little extra warmth in the bass to bring out the excitement in genres like EDM and hip-hop. It gets super loud, too, so you can easily fill larger spaces with sound. This speaker even supports Dolby Atmos Music through compatible streaming services like TIDAL, allowing you to enjoy a more immersive sound with your favorite tunes. It's a little much if you just want a simple speaker, but it's more than worth a look if you want the best of the best.

Want to spend a little less on a home speaker with Bluetooth? The Sonos Era 300 is the best wireless speaker you can buy for home use in the upper mid-range. This premium device has a sleek and stylish design that makes it easy to integrate into your home decor, and it has great sound quality that is suitable for listening to different audio content. You can use the speaker on its own or integrate it into your existing Sonos ecosystem to create a surround sound setup in your living room. Like the JBL Authentics 500, it supports Dolby Atmos Music, which is great for an immersive sound with subscription platforms like Apple Music. You'll find built-in voice assistant support for hands-free control, too.

It's not battery-powered, so if you're looking for a portable home speaker, the Harman/Kardon Go + Play 3 is worth checking out. The Harman/Kardon has a sound profile similar to our top pick, but the sound changes depending on your listening angle, unlike the 360-degree Sonos. The Harman/Kardon also doesn't support voice assistants or come with a companion app. On the other hand, the Sonos comes with a room correction tool designed to optimize its audio reproduction based on your room's unique acoustics. It's called Trueplay, and while the full feature is only available with iOS devices, Android users can access a simplified version. 

If you'd rather manually adjust the speaker's sound, there are bass and treble adjustments in the Sonos S2 app. However, you won't find a graphic EQ to customize across the range like with the JBL. This speaker also doesn't get as loud as the JBL. Still, given its impressive performance, you may find it offers better value, especially if you're already invested in other Sonos products.

If you're shopping in the mid-range, the Sonos Era 100 is the best speaker choice for home use. As its name suggests, this speaker is the smaller alternative to the Sonos Era 300, offering many of the same high-end features for less. It comes with built-in voice assistant support, and you can connect it with other Sonos devices to spread sound throughout your home or create a surround sound experience with a compatible soundbar. Plus, it has Trueplay room correction, though the full feature is only available to iOS users.

So, what's the difference between this speaker and the Era 300? Unfortunately, this model doesn't support Dolby Atmos Music, so you can't take advantage of a more immersive sound with certain subscription platforms like TIDAL and Apple Music. Since it's smaller, it doesn't get as loud as the Era 300. Still, it's a great addition to any living room and boasts a stand-out sound quality for the price. Voices and lead instruments are clearly reproduced right out of the box, which is ideal for all sorts of different genres.

The Amazon Echo Studio is another great all-around smart home speaker that's more affordable than our top picks. Like all the best home Bluetooth speakers, it boasts a sleek design that blends in easily with your home decor. Many smart features are on hand, including built-in Alexa and a Zigbee hub that gives you hands-free control over other compatible smart devices like light bulbs and thermostats. When you use the voice assistant, the light ring on top of the speaker comes to life, so you know it has registered your command. When you're done, you can easily mute the microphone using the button on top of the device.

With its solid sound quality, this speaker is a suitable choice for listening to many different types of audio content. You can easily follow along with the conversation in dialogue-heavy podcasts and audiobooks, and instruments in music are detailed and lively. Unlike the Sonos Era 100, it doesn't have a room correction feature, so it sounds slightly different depending on the space you're listening in. However, you can use the bass and treble adjustments in the Amazon Alexa app to compensate for this. You'll also find multi-room and stereo pairing support in the app to connect it with other compatible speakers, which is a nice touch, especially at this price point.

The best budget home speaker we've tested is the Amazon Echo Gen 4. This smart device has a unique spherical design that makes for a stylish addition to your living room, and you can find it in several colors to match your personal aesthetic. Thanks to built-in Alexa support, you can control the device hands-free with only your voice, making it easy to add ingredients to your shopping list, check the weather, and more. The built-in Zigbee hub controls other smart home devices, like lightbulbs and thermostats. For more private moments, you can mute Alexa's microphone as well.

This speaker's sound quality is solid, making it a great choice for listening to music, podcasts, and more in the comfort of your home. Dialogue is easy to follow, and the clear reproduction of voices and other instruments brings a pleasant and accurate sound to the mix. You can adjust its bass and treble levels in the Amazon Alexa app if you want a different sound. While this smaller device doesn't get quite as loud as the larger Amazon Echo Studio, as long as you're listening in an average-sized room, it won't be much of an issue. Its budget-friendly price is ideal for those who want to try out a home speaker without breaking the bank.

The Amazon Echo Pop is the best cheap home speaker we've tested. Despite its wallet-friendly price, this tiny speaker packs a punch. Its performance with built-in Alexa rivals more premium speakers from this manufacturer, as it easily understands your commands from far away or amidst a noisy setting like a party. With such a small and space-friendly design, it's a great choice for small spaces. It also comes in several colors to meet your style needs.

There are some trade-offs for its price and size, of course. Notably, this speaker doesn't reproduce as much low-bass as the best Bluetooth speakers for home use at higher price points, like the Amazon Echo Gen 4, and it doesn't get as loud. It can't play stereo content without downmixing it into mono, either. That said, if you don't listen to much music, this won't matter much to you. For more dialogue-focused content like podcasts or the news, it's still a fair choice, and it's a great way to enter the smart speaker space without breaking the bank.

The Sonos Move 2 is a unique Bluetooth speaker designed for use both in and out of the home. Much like the top picks on our list, it boasts a sleek and stylish design that's meant to fit right in with the rest of your home decor, and its built-in voice assistant capabilities make it a useful tool for use at home. Unlike most home speakers, though, it's battery-powered, meaning you don't have to keep it plugged into a power outlet to listen to your music. As a result, it's much easier to carry with you from room to room or to take with you into your backyard. It's even rated IP56 for dust and water resistance.

This speaker is the next generation of the original Sonos Move and offers an overall improved sound. Compared to its predecessor, it can playback stereo content without downmixing it into mono, which is handy since most music is mixed into stereo. As with other premium picks on our list, it has a room calibration feature to adjust its sound based on your room's unique acoustics. You can link it to other Sonos products to spread sound throughout your home. It doesn't support Dolby Atmos Music, like the similarly priced Sonos Era 300, and doesn't bring quite as much bass. Still, it's worth a look if you're shopping with portability in mind.

If style is your top priority, you'll be happy to know that more and more home speakers on the market are adapting innovative designs to blend in with your existing decor. The IKEA SYMFONISK Bookshelf is the best speaker we've tested for style-conscious shoppers, and as its name suggests, it's designed for use as a bookshelf. Available in black and white, it's easy to mount to your wall using the compatible brackets that the manufacturer sells separately. Since you can control its features through the Sonos S2 app, you don't have to worry about handling the speaker once it's in place. That's right—this speaker is a collaboration between IKEA and Sonos, so it has many of the same features available on Sonos' more premium models. With Trueplay room correction, you can optimize the speaker's output based on your room's unique acoustics. If you prefer manual calibration, you'll find bass and treble adjustments.

Its sound quality isn't as impressive as the higher-end models on our list, but with such a unique design, style-conscious listeners will want to check this speaker out. If you're looking for a speaker that doubles as a living room centerpiece but doesn't skimp on sound, it's worth checking out the Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 8, too. Unlike the IKEA, this speaker can operate wirelessly, with almost seven hours of battery life. Plus, it has a more balanced sound profile and can playback stereo content without downmixing to mono. Sadly, these features come with a heftier price tag, and this speaker lacks a companion app where you can adjust the sound profile to your liking.