Last Sunday, I saw my best friend throwing his new portable Bluetooth speaker into the dustbin.
When asked, he told that he had recently purchased this wireless speaker online and was clearly disappointed by the music experience.
The sound quality is horrible. I can’t believe I wasted INR 2,000 on this junk.” These were his literal words.
This was a really bad situation for my friend. However, it could’ve been avoided if he had kept some simple yet important things in mind before purchasing this wireless speaker.
Here are these little yet important things:
Important factors for choosing the right portable Bluetooth speaker
- Easy portability
Always go for portable wireless speakers that are lightweight and compact. They can easily fit into your luggage and you can carry them anywhere. Some of these speakers are so small that you can move around carrying them in your pocket and listen to your favorite music anywhere, anytime.
However, also make sure your speakers are not too light because they can sway with the beats and fall off the table.
My personal suggestion is that your Bluetooth speaker shouldn’t measure more than 15 cm and should not weigh over 450 grams.
- Quick charging and long battery life
A portable Bluetooth speaker is truly portable only if it has good battery life. Otherwise, you’ll have to always keep it connected to the wall charger. Then what will be the purpose of buying it instead of a wired speaker?
So, choose a speaker that can charge faster and last longer. This will make sure the speaker doesn’t turn off in the middle of a party and you can charge it quickly in case the battery charging finishes.
Look for portable wireless speakers that offer at least 6 hours of playback and support fast charging.
- Seamless connectivity
Look for the portable Bluetooth speakers that you can easily pair with your phone. They should have multiple connectivity options like BT 4.x, AUX-in, SD card option, USB music, and FM radio. This will make sure you have easy access to the music you want to listen and you don’t just remain limited to the songs in your playlist.
- Compatibility with most devices
Another thing you have to keep in mind while choosing a portable wireless speaker is that it should be compatible with most devices.
Now, here’s the tricky part. Some speakers don’t support old Bluetooth versions. This creates a problem when your devices have an old Bluetooth and it doesn’t pair with the speakers.
So, make sure your portable Bluetooth speaker is also compatible with lower Bluetooth versions up to the A2DP and you can avoid disappointment. It will be even better if your speaker is also compatible with non-bluetooth devices like PC using aux cable.
- Excellent sound quality
All these factors are important for choosing a portable wireless speaker but none is as important as the sound quality itself. After all, it’s the music experience that matters in the end.
So, how to decide the sound quality of a portable wireless speaker?
Look for four factors in this case: output power, PMPO, frequency range, and impedance.
Output power defines if you can listen well to your speakers in outdoor environments. A speaker between 15-20 watts emits a sound of 89 dB which is perfect outdoor.
PMPO, on the other hand, is used to measure the sound quality indoors. It refers to the maximum power output achieved by a speaker under perfect conditions.
Range of Frequency decides if your speaker is capable of emitting sounds in audible spectrum. If it’s not, you wouldn’t be able to hear some sounds properly. The ideal range of frequency for a human ear is 20 Hz – 20,000 Hz.
Impedance is another sound quality deciding factor. It refers to the resistance offered to the electric current passing through your speaker. This resistance is inversely proportional to the sound quality. In simple words, lower the impedance, higher will be the sound quality.
Wrapping it up
Choosing the right portable Bluetooth speaker is not easy. You might get confused between many things and end up making a wrong purchasing decision.
Keeping these simple factors in your mind, you can narrow down your choices and choose the Bluetooth speakers that suit your needs. Rest it’s all about research. So, go ahead and look for some options.
