How we pick
The method behind every recommendation here — including an explicit account of what we do not do.
By Ryder M.Last updated
We shortlist speakers that are currently sold in the US, compare the manufacturer's own published figures side by side, read the independent labs that do measure, and weigh what each speaker gives up against the cheapest thing that would do the same job. We do not run a measurement lab and we publish no test figures of our own.
This page is the most important one on the site, because it tells you exactly how much weight to put on everything else here. It is deliberately specific about limitations — a method you cannot check is not a method, it is a claim.
What we do NOT do
Starting here, because it is the part most buying guides leave out and it is what makes the rest credible.
- We do not run a measurement lab. There is no anechoic chamber, no calibrated microphone, no test rig. We publish no decibel figures, no frequency-response graphs and no distortion measurements of our own.
- We do not claim hands-on testing we have not done. You will not find a sentence on this site beginning "in our testing" attached to a product we have not used. Phrases like that are the easiest thing in publishing to write and the hardest for a reader to verify, which is exactly why we avoid them.
- We do not invent credentials. No audio-engineering degree, no certification, no expert panel. About states the whole of what the author brings, which is judgment and a published method.
- We do not publish prices. Street pricing moves weekly, and a number written today misleads next month. Every pick links to its live retail listing instead, which is the only price worth quoting.
- We do not run star ratings, scores or testimonials. We hold no rating data. A score would imply a precision we do not have, and it would flatten the thing that matters most — which compromise each speaker makes — into a single digit.
- We do not accept payment for placement. No sponsored posts, no paid reviews, no link insertions. No brand has seen a page before it published.
What we do instead
1. Shortlist from what is actually on sale
Every speaker considered has to be currently sold in the US. That rules out discontinued models that review brilliantly and cannot be bought, and it includes last-generation models still in stock, which we treat as first-class candidates rather than as obsolete. A superseded speaker at a reduced price is frequently the best buy on the shelf, and it is the single most effective way to save money in this category.
2. Compare manufacturer figures, and cite them
Battery life, IP rating, driver configuration, weight and dimensions all come from the manufacturer's own listing, and every roundup carries a Sources section linking those listings. Where two brands quote the same figure under different conditions — which happens constantly with battery life — we say so rather than putting two incomparable numbers side by side.
3. Read the labs that do measure
Independent test houses publish comparable maximum-SPL and frequency-response measurements under consistent conditions. Where we reference one it is credited to them by name and linked. That is the only honest source of cross-brand measurement available to a publisher without a lab, and pretending otherwise is the failure mode this page exists to avoid.
4. Judge on the four specifications that predict satisfaction
| Criterion | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Physical cabinet size | The only honest predictor of outdoor loudness and bass. It is also free to assess. |
| IP rating | Decides where the speaker can go. Note that it has commoditized — see IPX7 and IP67 explained. |
| Realistic battery life | Quoted figures assume conditions you will not use. We translate them. |
| A strap, clip or handle | Decides whether the speaker actually gets taken anywhere. |
The three specifications we deliberately discount — wattage, frequency-response range and Bluetooth version — are explained in how to choose a Bluetooth speaker. The short version is that none of them is comparable between manufacturers.
5. Name the compromise, every time
"Where it cuts corners" is a required field on every product entry in our content system, not an optional section an editor can skip. If we cannot articulate what a speaker gives up, we do not understand it well enough to recommend it. This is the single rule that most shapes how these pages read.
6. Keep a premium benchmark in the list
Most roundups include an option we are not recommending on value, because you cannot tell whether a cheap speaker is good without something to measure it against. The Bose SoundLink Flex plays this role most often. When the expensive option genuinely wins, we say so — see is JBL worth it for the longest version of that argument.
About product photography
How often pages are updated
- Price-led roundups — revisited roughly every 60 days.
- Use-case roundups — roughly every 90 days.
- Comparisons — when either model is superseded.
- Reviews — when the model is superseded or its published specification changes.
- Year-stamped titles — always show the current year, never a stale one.
Every roundup carries a dated update log stating what changed, so you can see for yourself when a recommendation last moved rather than trusting a "last updated" stamp that only reflects a build.
Corrections
If a figure here is wrong, we want to know and we will fix it — and the fix gets a dated entry in the page's update log rather than a silent edit. The contact page has the form. Our full standards are on the editorial policy, and how the site is funded is on the affiliate disclosure.