Any modern Bluetooth speaker can be a party speaker. Yes, even your Wi-Fi speaker in the living room. Of course, if you want loud enough volumes to fill the room with music and stronger deep bass sounds that can move a crowd in rhythm, a proper party speaker should make for a much more suitable piece of audio equipment to keep the festivities going. If you’re throwing a party at home, large wheeled speakers like Sony’s SRS XV-900 make perfect sense for the job. For taking the party on the road, though, a more portable party speaker is probably in order. Portable party speakers work much like their bigger counterparts. They play music at loud volumes with a thudding bass and multi-speaker pairing capabilities that let you use multiple speakers to produce a bigger sound. Majority of those we’ve seen produce 360-degree sound, ensuring everyone has the same listening experience, regardless of their physical position in the room relative to the speaker. Some portable party speakers will have built-in light effects to simulate the dynamic lighting they use at concerts and nightclubs. Others will integrate different DJ modes, so people in the party can take turns being in charge of the music. Some will even have onboard sound effects, samples, and loops to really round out the DJ experience. We’ve also seen speakers with inputs for microphones, so you can serve as party emcee as well as stage on-the-fly karaoke parties. The best portable party speakers should have most of those things in tow. Additionally, we prefer ours with good battery life, since no one likes having to cut a popping party short, as well as decent levels of water resistance, so we don’t have to worry about spills and splashes putting the speaker to a grinding halt. Portability is important, of course, but we’re willing to put up with a little more bulk and a little more heft compared to everyday portable speakers, so long as it can deliver on the more party-focused features. These are the best portable party speakers to bring the club vibe anywhere you go.
Soundcore Boom 2
Pros
- Compact, portable size
- Excellent price-to-features ratio
- 80W sound output
- Floats on water
Cons
- Plastic construction feels cheap
- No onboard light controls
Size: 11.7 x 7.3 x 4 inches (width x height x depth) Battery life: Up to 24 hours (at moderate volume) IP rating: IPX7 Want a loud, bass-heavy, and portable party speaker without breaking the bank? You might take a liking to this affordable option, which combines two 15W tweeters and a 50W subwoofer to deliver some seriously poppin’ 80W party sounds. It produces impressively loud audio and a punchy bass, along with excellent clarity even at the higher volumes. Heck, it’s even designed to float on water, making this safe to use around the pool during parties. They also threw in multicolor LEDs on the side, allowing it to put on colorful light effects (there are seven effects preinstalled) to add vibrant visuals to the stirring music. It can also be connected with up to 100 speakers via PartyCast 2.0 to synchronize audio output from just a single source. Truth be told, we don’t know if you can find anything else with this combination of quality and features at this price range. If you want something even louder, you can opt for the Boom 2 Plus, which beefs up the sound output to a whopping 140W, albeit at nearly $100 surcharge, so it’s not quite as good a value.
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LG XG8T Xboom Go
Pros
- Very loud party-filling sound
- Good portability
- Weather-resistant build
Cons
- No 3.5mm input or USB-C port
- Doesn’t reproduce sound details well
Size: 14.6 x 5.8 x 5.9 inches (width x height x depth) Battery life: Up to 15 hours (at moderate volume) IP rating: IP67 Another boombox-style portable party speaker, this one from LG brings 100W of output on battery power (120W when plugged in), allowing you to keep a pretty big party going with just a single speaker pumping out tunes. It lasts a good while, too, running for around 15 hours between charges, while IP67 dust- and water-resistance should allow it to withstand splashes and the occasional spills without trouble. This model prioritizes cranking out as loud a sound as possible with a booming bass to accompany it. Sadly, the sound doesn’t reproduce as much detail or nuance as more discerning listeners might like, even sounding a bit harsh once cranked up to the max. It’s good enough to keep a party humming, though, so we do appreciate everything it tries to bring to the table. Like many party speakers, there are multi-color LEDs in tow, which you can control from the accompanying app.
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JBL Xtreme 3
Pros
- Superb sound quality
- Plenty of volume
- 3.5mm port and power bank function
Cons
- No light effects
- Heavy
Size: 11.75 x 5.35 x 5.3 inches (width x height x depth) Battery life: Up to 15 hours (at moderate volume) IP rating: IP67 Measuring just a little more compact than LG’s boombox above, this portable party speaker delivers equally loud 100W sound output, allowing it to fill the air with sound big enough to get a big party going. It uses four drivers (two 2.8-inch woofers and two 0.8-inch tweeters) and dual passive radiators to deliver an impressively robust sound that’s not just loud and bass-heavy, but fuller and more well-rounded across the different genres of music we tried. Suffice to say, this thing brings excellent sound reproduction. It has an IP67 rating, so it should handle water and dust with aplomb, while JBL’s PartyBoost feature, which you can activate with an onboard button, lets you pair it with multiple JBL speakers for an even bigger sound. We also appreciate the physical connectors in the back, which are covered by a snap-on panel to keep water from getting in. The lack of speakerphone function is a bit disappointing, though it’s really not a must-have as far as party speakers go.
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UE Hyperboom
Pros
- Very loud yet detailed sound
- All-day battery life
- Aux and optical inputs
- Dual Bluetooth connections
Cons
- No hi-res codec support
- Inconvenient to carry
Size: 7.5 x 14.3 x 7.5 inches (width x height x depth) Battery life: Up to 24 hours (at moderate volume) IP rating: IPX4 Yes, this is bulkier and harder to carry than all the previous portable party speakers in the list. For the extra hassle, though, you get a crazy powerful 229W speaker that’s just outright louder than any of those previous entries. The sound is bass-heavy as you would expect from a party speaker, although it does that without overpowering the rest of the sound, so you can vocals, instruments, and other details pretty clearly even with the volume turned up. It even adjusts EQ in real-time via the outfit’s Adaptive EQ tech, which uses a microphone to listen to the sound coming out, then fine-tunes it for best results. It has a boxy profile that’s not the most convenient to carry, although they did throw in a handle on one of the upper corners to make moving it around convenient enough. They threw in not just your usual set of inputs for portable speakers, but even an optical input for those who want to use it at home. It also supports dual Bluetooth connections, so you don’t have to disconnect if someone else in the party asks to play some of their tunes. You can even switch among the different inputs from a dedicated button on top, which makes using the whole thing simple. Suffice to say, this is a thoughtfully-designed product with plenty of volume, a satisfying bass, and an overall excellent sound.
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Soundboks Go
Pros
- Excellent sound even at high volumes
- Superb battery life
- Sturdy build
Cons
- No hi-res codec support
- Expensive
Size: 12 x 18 x 10 inches (width x height x depth) Battery life: Up to 40 hours (at moderate volume) IP rating: IP65 We’ll be honest – we thought this portable party speaker was a guitar amp the first time we saw one. The darn thing just gives off that vibe. It is, however, a relatively portable speaker designed to be carried like a suitcase (a very thick suitcase) or hoisted on top of your shoulder, although some might prefer the optional shoulder strap. That boxy enclosure houses a 10-inch woofer and a one-inch domed tweeter, producing a listed 72W sound output. While that may not sound much for the category, it is impressively loud (it’s rated to produce 121dB). Even better, you can hear rich audio details even when cranking up the volume, which we can’t exactly say for many of the other portable party speakers we’ve tried. It can also be paired with up to five other compatible speakers to produce even bigger sound. We also appreciate the long battery life (up to 40 hours at mid-volume), as well as the swappable battery that lets you quickly pop in a fresh one to keep the party going. It’s shockproof, water-resistant, and built to take a beating as well (heck, it’s got a dent-proof steel grille), making it the perfect companion to rowdy parties of all sorts.
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