8 Great Portable Speakers for Your Next Road Trip

Do you travel frequently and dread coming back to a silent hotel room at the end of a work day? The availability of digitized music means that bringing your favorite tunes along isn’t a problem, though it’s understandable if you can’t stand for the tinny sound produced on your iPhone’s built-in speakers. We’ve put together a list of the top portable speakers for your road trips, suited for a range of budgets. These speakers aren’t all play, either—they will work well for a presentation, too.

The Soundfreaq Sound Kick is a lightweight, portable speaker that incorporates the company’s UQ3 sound enhancement technology within its compact form factor. A unique XKICK chamber expands for a bigger sound during music playback and slides closed for storage. Its rechargeable lithium ion battery offers seven hours of music playback and, with the built-in USB port, will juice your smartphone as well. The Sound Kick costs $99.99 and works via Bluetooth with A2DP-compatible devices or a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.

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The Creative D100 Portable Bluetooth Wireless Speaker is an affordable, portable wireless speaker that can completely fill a small room with sound. Dual 3-inch drivers reproduce low-end notes well considering their diminutive size. The D100 speaker is available in a range of colors—including blue, pink, green and black—and runs on four AA batteries for up to 25 hours of music playback when you’re on the go. It can also be connected the main power source back home or in the office. The Creative D100 costs $79.99.

The Logitech UE Mobile Boombox is designed to work with your smartphones and tablets for Bluetooth wireless audio playback. Two 1-inch, full-range drivers help generate an impressive 78dBA sound level despite the speaker’s weight of 298g (about 10.5 oz). The Mobile Boombox also supports Bluetooth Hands-Free Profile for phone calls and can connect with two Bluetooth devices at a time. The built-in battery is recharged via micro-USB and will keep the speaker powered for up to 10 hours. The Logitech UE Mobile Boombox is available in various color combinations and costs $99.99.

The Jawbone JAMBOX is a portable wireless speaker that produces unbelievably loud music playback from its diminutive size. A built-in microphone also allows the JAMBOX to be used as part of a conference call conducted via mobile phone or computer application such as Skype or Google Talk. Fully charged, the JAMBOX can be used for up to 10 hours of continuous music playback. It is available in four different color/designs combination: red, black, blue and grey. The Jawbone JAMBOX costs $199.99.

The best way to describe the Jawbone BIG JAMBOX is as the big brother to the original Jawbone JAMBOX. With its larger footprint, the BIG JAMBOX offers much louder music playback—enough to be heard at every corner of a mid-sized room. A 360-degree, omnidirectional microphone and echo-cancellation capabilities allow it to be used as a high-quality wireless speakerphone, while the device itself holds sufficient charge for up to 15 hours of music playback. Like its smaller cousin, the BIG JAMBOX is available in a variety of colors including black, white and red. It costs $299.99.

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The Geneva Sound System XS is an all-in-one Bluetooth speaker, FM radio and alarm clock. Touted as a portable audio system, it comes with a rechargeable lithium ion battery that offers more than five hours of play-time. An LED display shows information pertaining to volume, mode and current frequency of the FM radio. The device comes with a leather-like clamshell case and is small enough to slip into a briefcase. The Sound System XS is available in red, white and black and has a list price of $29.95 on Amazon.

The Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile is a Bluetooth speaker packed with proprietary speaker technologies to offer exceptional sound quality. Dual passive radiators are aligned to reduce the vibrations inherent to other small speakers and produce powerful bass. A cleverly positioned protective flap folds open to serve as an integrated stand, while various controls are lined along the top within easy reach. The Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile comes with a non-removable rechargeable lithium ion battery for up to eight hours of music playback. The entry-level model costs $299.95 and comes with a nylon cover.

The most expensive portable speaker in this lineup, the Bang & Olufsen Beolit 12, is also the only one that offers AirPlay support. Pushing the edge of portability at 2.8 kg (nearly 6.2 lb), the Beolit incorporates 120-watt class D amplifiers under the hood to drive a 4-inch woofer and two 2-inch tweeters. The Beolit 12 offers eight hours of battery life when used in wired mode, and 4 hours on AirPlay, while its built-in power supply and integrated compartment for the mains cable allows for convenient recharging. Available in four different color combinations, the Beolit 12 is priced at $799.