The 14 Best Bluetooth Party Speakers For Every Budget

Music is the driving force of any party, and low sound quality can kill a party faster than the cops. Choosing the right speaker can be tricky, especially for those unfamiliar with the brands or models available. I’ve been curating this list for years, updating it regularly to share my experiences and ensure it accurately captures the best products available, constantly changing as new models are released. I’ve worked with retail partners to listen to many of these speakers side-by-side and here’s what you should know.

Top Picks For Every Budget

What Makes a Party Speaker Different From Other Speakers?

Although party speakers are in many ways just like other Bluetooth speakers, they have a few qualities that make them unique:

• Deeper and stronger bass
• Limited waterproofing
• Larger sizes often include wheels or carry handles.
• Inputs & outputs for microphones, guitars, and more
• Built-in lights
• Higher volume levels
• Multispeaker Pairing

Brands You Can Trust

If you do an internet search for party speakers you’re going to end up with hundreds of different recommendations, many suggesting speaker brands you’ve never heard of before. That’s because party speakers are profitable and a lot of smaller international companies put a lot of effort into marketing.

Although there are exceptions, these are the brands I’ve found to provide consistent quality, especially with their party-centric speakers.

• JBL
• Sony
• Soundboks
• Marshall
• Klipsch

Budget Limitations & Maximizing Value

Many people go into buying a party speaker without a clue about what it’s going to cost them, and may not even have a budget in mind. This is a bad idea, as salesmen will often try to upsell the most extravagant speaker, even though you won’t end up using most of the features you paid for. The good news is that even on a limited budget, there are some good options to pick from. This is what you can expect to get for each budget range:

The Best Party Speakers Under $200

I’ll keep it real, at under $100 you’re pushing the limits. Although there’s an abundance of party speakers in this price range on Amazon, most are cheap imports that aren’t worth buying. However, some rare gems that retail in this range and although limited in features, can still cater to casual gatherings or children’s parties. Speakers in this price range don’t usually have app support and are more prone to distortion at high volume levels.

ION Pathfinder 280

The Best Party Speakers Under $300

Anything under $300 is still considered budget for a party speaker, but in this price range, you’ll now have the option of some highly trusted brands. For the additional $100 you’ll get more access to app-supported speakers and features like microphone input. These speakers are also going to sound better, with more bass and better clarity.

The Best Party Speakers Under $500

Here’s where you’re going to find the majority of party speakers, ranging between $300 and $500. You won’t have to worry about brand reliability as Sony, JBL, Klipsch, Marshall, and Soundboks all have products in this price range. Once you spend over $300, you unlock a lot more features than those offered in more affordable alternatives. This includes features like dynamic lighting, deep bass, lots of volume, additional inputs and outputs, and more.

This is also where you start to find speakers that have replaceable batteries that can easily be swapped out for a new battery pack for even more playtime. This is the ideal price point to start shopping for a party speaker but is still limited to moderate-sized gatherings of between 30 and 50 people.

The Best Party Speakers With Unlimited Budget

For parties with 50 or more attendees, a $500 budget isn’t going to cut it. Big parties need big speakers and you can expect to pay between $700 and $1000 for the right tool. These large and powerful Bluetooth speakers aren’t always the easiest to move around, but they can get large groups of people dancing with their deep, thumping bass and vibrant lights. They’re also likely to feature multispeaker pairing and TWS (True Wireless Stereo) so you can scale up your party accordingly.

Understanding What You Need In A Party Speaker

Simply listing out the best-sounding party speakers isn’t going to help you make a reliable purchase, they’d all be large, powerful, and expensive. Each party is unique and no speaker can do it all. You also don’t need to go through an engineering course to understand what type of speaker you need I’ve condensed it down into a few easy-to-read paragraphs that will help you identify the type of performance and features you should be focusing on.

Kids Parties

Children don’t care as much about sound quality as adults, making more affordable speakers a popular choice for kid’s parties. However, consider the area you need to cover, as more affordable options may be limited in volume, especially for outdoor parties where wind can make the speakers sound quieter than they do indoors. 

Look for these features in a kid’s party speaker:

• Built-in lights which are super exciting to children
• Mobile app support so you or your kid can be the DJ
• Water resistance to protect it from accidental spills
• Microphone input for karaoke

Casual Social Gatherings

When hanging out with close friends and family, the party vibes are a bit different. The music tends to be a bit softer, so you can enjoy each other’s company and still hear conversations and you probably don’t need that extra DJ control pad built-in. 

Here are features to focus on for these types of events:

• High-quality, clear sound
• Mobile app support so you don’t need to get up every time you want to change the track
• Custom EQ so you can add bass if the party evolves
• Long-lasting battery

Large Dance Parties

If you’re hosting a party of more than 30 people, you could consider it a large event. These parties can be demanding, especially if there’s a focus on dancing. It’s going to cost a bit more to get a party like this started, but there are some excellent speakers available for larger events. 

Here’s what you should prioritize in such cases:

• Lots of volume
• Long-lasting battery life or replaceable battery packs
• Multispeaker pairing so you can extend the coverage
• Reliable Bluetooth with enough range
• Built-in wheels to compensate for the weight
• Lots of bass
• Crisp, clear sound even at high volume

Outdoor Parties

Kid’s parties, casual gatherings, and large events can all be held outdoors – but when hosting a party outside there are a few additional considerations to keep in mind:

• Water resistance in case it rains
• Custom EQ lets you compensate for wind by increasing the highs and upper mids
• More volume will be required than indoors

A Deeper Look At The Features & Functionality of Party Speakers

• Lighting can add atmosphere to your party, but it’s not essential for everyone.
• Waterproofing is more relevant to outdoor speakers, but some spill protection can help to protect speakers from spilled drinks indoors.
• Multispeaker pairing connects multiple speakers together for improved coverage.
• Microphone or guitar inputs can turn your speaker into a karaoke system that kids and adults can enjoy.
• Mobile app support is very useful in party speakers and can even change how your speaker sounds.

We’ve already covered some of the essential features at a glance, keeping things simple. However, it’s helpful to have a deeper understanding, as you’ll be paying extra for speakers with additional features. Knowing which are essential to you and which can be ignored can save you a lot of money without impacting how you use the speaker or how it sounds.

There’s a lot to discuss, so I’ve summarized key points to make this information easier to digest.

Lights Can Be Fun, But They Aren’t For Everyone

I’m a big proponent of built-in lights but only if they give you the option to toggle them on and off, which most do. However, you may not feel the same way. It’s common to associate flashy lights as an indication of a cheap product that’s putting their focus in the wrong area.

The truth is that a lot of budget Chinese manufacturers release speakers where they’ve put all their budget into making the speaker look flashy while neglecting the sound. However, lights have become a fairly standard feature in most party speakers, especially over the last 5 years. That’s mostly because battery capacity has improved while LED technology has become more efficient.

I’d suggest prioritizing lighting effects if you’re using the speaker for children’s parties or ones centered around dancing, where the lights add excitement and set the tone. For more professional, mature social gatherings lights may not fit the vibe. That’s why I think it’s important to go for a speaker that lets you toggle them on or off, as it makes a speaker suitable for either use.

There’s no single style of lighting either, each speaker has different lights, varying in brightness, movement, and cohesion. Some can sync to music and have their colors changed while budget variations may be more limited. However, even budget party speakers now have some pretty impressive lights.

Water Protection Increases Durability, But Do You Need It?

Water resistance is standard on most portable Bluetooth speakers these days, but less so on party speakers. Sure, IPX4-rated speakers are abundant, but is that enough protection? 

In short, it depends on how you use the speaker. An IPX4 rating means it can withstand accidental spills, splashes, and even some light rain. It’s a way of grading how effective the speaker is when exposed to water and ranges from IPX0 (no protection) to IPX7 (protected from sprays, splashes, and submergence). An IPX4 rating is enough for most indoor parties and even those held outdoors, as long as the weather is decent.

Partying in the rain may not be a common experience, but for most of us we want to be able to use the speaker for other purposes too, and having additional water protection is vital if you’re going to be using the speaker outdoors regularly or around bodies of water.

I recommend going for an IPX7 or IP67 speaker if you’re looking to maximize your durability. An IPX7 rating means the speaker is protected from pressurized sprays and submergence in water for up to 30 minutes (under 1 meter), an IP67 rating has the same protection from water but with the added benefit of dust protection too.

A high level of water protection also makes the speakers easier to clean, as a light to moderate pressure hose can quickly clear off dust and debris.

Multispeaker Pairing Has Become A Standard Feature

Whether you need it or not, you’re probably going to end up paying for multispeaker pairing, as it’s now a core feature of most larger Bluetooth speakers. It’s even becoming prevalent in smaller speakers, with JBL’s Go 4 and Clip 5 both supporting it.

The reality for most speaker owners though, is that this feature won’t be used. That’s not to say it’s not extremely powerful, as multiple speakers can enhance sound quality, volume, and coverage. However, most customers aren’t going to double their investment for casual use.

Instead, multispeaker pairing suits those who frequently or professionally host parties. Big house parties can often extend across more than one floor of a home meaning a second speaker becomes important. Having multispeaker pairing means you can establish a network of speakers and only need to connect your phone to one of them while the audio signal is synced across the rest.

Multispeaker pairing will only work with supported speakers and is usually limited to similar models by the same manufacturer. 

If you’ve seen multispeaker pairing and TWS used separately, that’s because while all TWS is multispeaker pairing, not all multispeaker pairing takes the form of TWS.

TWS stands for True Wireless Stereo, it’s a way to connect no more than two speakers where each speaker is assigned a channel, and plays sounds only in that channel. Think of traditional speakers that have a left and a right speaker, and sound can pan between them. That’s what TWS does, it lets you turn a Bluetooth speaker into a more traditional stereo speaker setup.

This is different from a general pairing where you can often pair more speakers together, but they won’t separate the channels and will instead play in mono (from a single source).

Do You Need Microphone and Guitar Inputs?

Microphone and guitar inputs can be useful, I’ve used the Turtlebox several times as a guitar amp, it doesn’t do as well as the real thing, but it does a decent enough job for casual get-togethers with friends around a fire while camping.

Microphone inputs are similar, some speakers may use a single port for the guitar and the mic, while others have different ports. The new PartyBox models have a single port but include a switch you can adjust to either guitar or mic.

Kids tend to love the microphone inputs, as slumber parties with friends can quickly turn into laughter-filled karaoke events with the use of modern mobile apps that display lyrics on their phones. But the trade-off is that they’ll constantly ask to borrow your speaker when friends are over.

Companion Apps May Give You More Flexibility

Nowadays it’s more common to make adjustments to your speaker using apps than to use the physical controls. While volume control and track skipping are usually performed on Spotify, Apple Music, etc. Changing lighting effects and EQ adjustments are more commonly done through these mobile apps.

For those adverse to technology, this can initially seem daunting, but these apps are often very intuitive and no matter how old, or young you are – you’ll pick up the process in no time.

Output Wattage Isn’t A Good Indicator For Volume Potential

• A speaker’s wattage isn’t a reliable way of gauging its volume, it’s just one piece of a larger puzzle.
• RMS is a better metric to gauge a speaker’s performance than its peak power.
• Watts indicate a speaker’s output, not its volume. Decibel readings are a more direct indication of its volume potential.

It’s quite common for the average customer to look at a speaker’s power output and think it represents how loud it can get. The truth is that output and volume are two separate metrics. Although output is a part of the equation, just because a speaker has high wattage doesn’t mean it will be louder than those with lower output wattage.

The speaker’s power output is useful to consider, but it’s only one part of the puzzle. It’s best referenced alongside the sensitivity of the speaker, as the sensitivity tells us how much volume the speaker can produce with 1 watt of power.

In other words, if two speakers have the same RMS power output, but different sensitivities the one with the higher sensitivity will typically be the louder speaker.

Remember that volume potential doesn’t take sound quality into consideration and speakers with bad dynamic range can quickly lose sound quality.

RMS vs Peak Power

RMS and peak power are both terms used to describe the power of a speaker, but which is the most accurate and how are they different?

• Peak power is the highest amount of power the speaker can produce, it doesn’t accurately capture a speaker’s performance.
• RMS gives a good indication of the speaker’s performance as the power output is stable, better reflecting how a speaker performs when used.

Think of it this way, two runners line up on the starting line. One of them runs an average of 6mph but peaks at 6.5mph while the other runs an average of 5mph but peaks at 7mph at one point in the race. The winner isn’t going to be the one who briefly peaks at a higher speed, it’s the one who can maintain a steady speed.

Speaker power is the same, some produce higher power peaks but don’t produce as much RMS. Focus on RMS power and not peak power when comparing speakers.

The Difference Between Watts and Decibels

When comparing the performance of different party speakers you may also see the term decibels (dB) used. Unlike power, which is just one part of what determines volume, dB shows how loud the speaker is when an SPL (Surface Pressure Level) test is done with a measuring microphone.

When we conduct our SPL tests, we set the speaker one meter from a measuring microphone and play pink noise through it at maximum volume at a distance of 1 meter.

Just be careful of lesser-known brands giving exaggerated claims on dB, as some will test their speakers closer than the industry standard 1-meter distance and use the higher number as a method of marketing. If you’re unsure of how loud a speaker is, I recommend using Rtings who have a comprehensive list of Bluetooth speakers and their measured dB in a controlled testing environment.

Everything You Need To Consider About The Sound of Party Speakers

• Strong bass is an essential feature of almost all party speakers, it’s what gets people dancing.
• The bass shouldn’t overpower other frequencies, resulting in a loss of detail.
• An equalizer is a powerful tool that shouldn’t be underestimated, it can completely change how a speaker sounds.
• Outdoor speakers have different tuning to those used indoors, to ensure details don’t get lost in the wind.

Features are important, but not as important as the sonic qualities of a speaker. For example, what is the best tuning for a party speaker? Is bass really that important? And how does indoor sound differ from outdoor sound? Let me explain…

It’s All About That Bass

Bass is a driving force in rhythm and that’s what party speakers are all about. We ran a poll on this article for years, gathering data on what features people look for in a party speaker, and bass was the number one response.

Bass is a little more complex than just being good or bad though, it has elevation and extension. Some speakers have an extended bass that produces deep lows, while other speakers have a tighter bass, but with more punch to it. The best-sounding party speakers have a bass that is both deep and elevated. However, there is an element of personal preference here.

A strong bass is especially important for dance music, where the pounding bass can change the party’s whole atmosphere. It’s also one of the key factors in what makes speakers sound good in a party environment. No matter how clean your vocals and instruments are, a lack of bass can make any party sound dull.

Why It’s Important To Balance Bass With Higher Frequencies

Although bass is the driving force in parties, that doesn’t mean that it’s the only thing that matters. In fact, many cheap speakers with powerful bass suffer from the same problem, where they sacrifice clarity and detail in the midrange for more of a thump.

Clarity and detail in the mids make music sound lifelike, meaning it’s essential for bass to be properly balanced with these higher frequencies. That doesn’t necessarily mean a flat sound signature like that preferred by audiophiles, but it does mean that if these higher frequencies aren’t present enough the bass can overpower them, leading to a lack of clarity and poor overall sound.

These higher frequencies are often where subtle details are placed by the producer, losing them to overpowered bass can leave songs sounding boring and static, lacking the movement essential in song production.

The Understated Power of EQ

EQ is a term you’re probably already familiar with, it stands for equalization and it refers to custom changes you make to the way a speaker sounds. Some speakers have EQ presets which can be toggled between while others are more comprehensive and feature custom EQs that can be precisely dialed in to get the speaker to sound more in line with your preferences.

I often find that people fall into the trap of thinking that a particular speaker sounds a certain way and that there’s no changing its sound. This is true to an extent, as EQ won’t fix inherent flaws in the performance, instead, it adjusts how prominent certain frequencies are, which can have a huge impact on how the speaker sounds.

For instance, if the bass is inherently too heavy and the vocals get drowned out by the low rumbles, tuning down the bass frequencies or increasing the high mids can fix that problem and make the speaker sound more accurately balanced.

It can even make your speaker sound louder, as our perception of volume is related to how dominant certain frequencies are. Increasing the midrange is often an effective way to create a clearer sound that is perceived as louder.

Compatible speakers will often rely on a companion app for these adjustments, but even if your speaker doesn’t come with one, there are third-party EQ apps that can achieve similar results.

How Outdoor Tuning Is Different and Why It’s Important

I’m often asked what the differences between an indoor and outdoor speaker are. Although water resistance is often thought of as the defining feature, it is more about how the speaker is tuned. Indoor party speakers tend to emphasize the bass, which works well when you’re indoors but when moved outdoors a lot of the brighter sounds (those in the higher frequencies) get lost in the wind.

Outdoor speakers like the Turtlebox tend to have an increase in these brighter frequencies which can sound a bit mediocre indoors, but when used outside are become more audible than their indoor counterparts.

This is another reason why having EQ is so useful, it lets you adjust the speaker’s sound profile so that it can be used effectively indoors or outdoors.

Conclusion & Feedback

In summary, party speakers are a relatively big investment with flagship models costing more than your average Bluetooth speaker. However, buying the right one can give you years of use and if taken care of properly can be resold without losing much of your investment. 

The key to buying the best party speaker is knowing what you need out of it. Each model is different and the value it provides comes down to how well it aligns with your needs.

If you have any questions please leave a comment below and I’ll try to further assist you.

Frequently Asked Questions