Sound Decisions: A Comprehensive Guide to Choosing the Perfect Bluetooth Speaker
A portable bluetooth speaker for your laptop or smartphone is a valuable tool, but choosing one can sometimes be difficult, particularly with many different models available. It is recommended to sample potential speakers before selecting one since sound quality is subjective and cannot be determined by reading specs alone. However, unlike smartphones, even in large shopping malls, it is not always possible to trial before you purchase.
Life of a Battery
Your Bluetooth speaker’s battery life is crucial since it will likely always be used wirelessly. Try going for the most extended battery life you can find; however, if you anticipate using your speaker often without access to an outlet.
Response Frequency
Frequency response is expressed as a range from 100Hz to 20,000Hz and is measured in Hertz. Theoretically, a speaker’s capacity to reproduce sounds as intended should increase with range. But having a wide range won’t provide excellent sound—that may vary significantly from person to person—because good sound also relies on how your ear interprets it.
Since our capacity to hear specific frequencies deteriorates with age, other variables are also considered, such as the listener’s age. The bass in an audio file may be heard between 20 and 250 Hz. The mid-range, often defined as the frequency band between 250 Hz and 4000 Hz (or 4kHz), is where vocals and other instruments, such as a guitar and piano, usually dwell. The treble comprises the remaining frequencies, up to 20,000 Hz.
Version of Bluetooth
The Bluetooth version controls the audio quality and distance you may maintain between your phone and the speaker. The best version of Bluetooth to look for is version 4 since it offers compatibility with the Low Energy profile, which improves battery life and has a range of roughly 60 metres. Although speakers have a ways to go before implementing Bluetooth 5, the most recent specification significantly increases data transfer rate and range.
Resistance to Dust and Water
It is essential to confirm that a Bluetooth speaker is waterproof by looking at the characteristics section before purchasing. Several waterproof speakers use the “IP67” Ingress Protection Code designation. This implies that the speaker will not break if submerged for 30 minutes in water up to a depth of one metre. Dust resistance is also related to the IP67 classification, indicating that dust accumulation would not harm any device constructed with IP67-level protection.
Conclusion
The ability to combine additional speakers for a more giant sound is yet another helpful feature. It might be advantageous to pair two or more speakers of the same kind when one is not loud enough to fill an ample space or while you are outside.
Though it is doubtful you’ll ever need that many, most companies now provide this capability, and some, like JBL, allow you to couple more than 100 speakers together! Your audio experience will be much better if you link two speakers in stereo mode, a feature you are more likely to employ.