When getting ready to head to college you want to make sure you make the right choice when it comes to portable speakers. You might get overwhelmed when you start looking for one because there’s no shortage when it comes to portable speakers. JBL, Bose, Anker, Ultimate Ears, and so many more companies making seemingly similar Bluetooth, portable speakers. But many of them have different, distinguishing features and functions that if you figure out what you need you can find something that suits you. You just have to look at your budget as well as the size, battery life, sound quality, etc. of the portable speakers, especially as it would suit you in college! Here are 10 portable speakers perfect for college.
The JBL Clip 2 is a great choice when looking at portable speakers if you want a small, affordable, and pretty good-sounding speaker. It’s about the size of a hockey puck and is easily transported with its attached carabiner so you can throw it right on your hiking backpack! The Clip 2 is waterproof and even has an integrated 3.5mm audio cable for if you don’t want to mess with Bluetooth or are using a device without it. It also has a multi-device link so you can hook up multiple Clip 2s and boost the sound! In terms of small portable speakers, the Clip 2 is powerful and affordable giving you a great choice for your money!
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Although you may be hesitant to look at portable speakers from brands that aren’t famous like JBL, Anker, or Ultimate Ears, don’t overlook Tribit. This speaker is very affordable and is packed with great features and produces quality sound. The playtime on a charge is about 20 hours and has about 100 feet of Bluetooth range! It’s even got an IPX7 waterproof rating so is a great choice for pool parties or taking it out on river floats. It’s very durable so could handle those occasional drops that likely come with it being a portable speaker in college. It has “multi-directional sound” as well as “XBass technology” which gives it stronger bass frequencies with your music! When looking at portable speakers don’t forget to check out the less well-known brands because you might just find a speaker like this Tribit MaxSound Plus!
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If you’re looking more for affordable portable speakers then this Anker Soundcore flare could be a great choice. It’s very affordable and gives you a solid speaker with some cool LED lights as well! It should get about 12 hours of battery life and has speakers built for 360-degree sound. The speaker has a pretty good base setup and has multi-speaker connection capabilities. Basically, if you have two of these you can connect them together to boost your music! It’s also waterproof with an IP67 waterproof protection rating so you can use it out in the rain, in the shower, and even in the pool. A great choice when looking for portable speakers that are durable, affordable, and have great sound!
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This is another less well-known brand for portable speakers but this Urbanista Brisbane is actually a powerful speaker for the price. It should get up to about 10 hours of playtime on a charge and produces deep base with it’s “2x 8w driver power.” It has a sleek, maybe even arguably boring, design but that’s not always extremely important when looking at portable speakers. It’s not as waterproof as some of the other portable speakers mentioned here, it has an IPX5 waterproof rating so it’s “splash-resistant” but I wouldn’t recommend it around the shower or pool. You can also double up a connection with another speaker to really blast your music! For the price, you get a powerful speaker with great sound even if the design is a little simple and boring.
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If you’re really looking for waterproof portable speakers then the UE Wonderboom 2 is a great place to start! It has an IP67 waterproof (and dustproof) resistance which essentially means it can get in the pool with you. Of course, don’t keep it in there super long but it should be fine if accidentally dropped in. The battery life is about 13 hours and the sound on this little device is quite impressive. You wouldn’t think such a small speaker would be able to pump out such great and loud sound! It’s a very durable speaker so if it gets dropped or thrown around it’ll probably be okay. It also has a multi-speaker connection so you can pair two together to blast your music. The price is affordable if you’re looking for durable, waterproof, and powerful sounding portal speakers for college.
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This Denon Envaya speaker has amazing sound for an unimpressive design. It’s not ugly or anything but it’s just a standard, boring design for portable speakers. It’s known for having a really high-quality sound that it produces even if doesn’t get too loud. But that’s the great thing about being able to hook up another speaker to boost the volume! It’s waterproof with an IP67 rating and the battery should last for about 10 to 12 hours of playback. One flaw is a lack of a play/pause button on the device itself but to make up for it the speaker has a built-in microphone for taking calls!
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Another solid choice for portable speakers is the JBL Flip 5! It’s a small speaker with a sleek design perfect for college parties and such. The sound is powerful and high-quality with great mini sub-woofers on the ends for added bass. Unfortunately, the speaker doesn’t have a 3.5mm input for an aux cord. Although BlueTooth seems to be the ideal way to go these days so it’s not too big of a deal. The price is a little higher than other portable speakers but it’s durable and would probably last through college if treated right!
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If you’re looking for beefy portable speakers then the Megaboom3 is right for you. It’s almost nine inches tall with an unbelievably better sound than expected from a speaker that big. It has 360-degree sound with fantastic bass. It has full waterproof ratings and up to 20 hours of battery life for plenty of music blasting. When looking at portable speakers for college then consider the Megaboom 3 because everyone will be inviting you to their party, possibly just to use your amazing speaker.
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Can’t go wrong with Bose when looking for portable speakers. The Soundlink Mini II is a powerful speaker that’s extremely durable. Perfect for college when it’s being taken on hikes or tossed around at parties, or accidentally kicked around. It has some really high-quality sound for how small it is and it even gets pretty impressively loud. The only drawback is it’s not very water-resistant so you have to be careful of getting it wet or letting it get too dusty.
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If you’re not worried about the budget when looking for portable speakers then look no further than the Sonos Move! It’s so loud, and high-quality that you can even use this speaker for your in-home speakers! It’s engineered with quality audio-enhancing features that make it one of the best portable speakers out there. It’s a bit heavier than other portable speakers (about 6.6 pounds) so that just means it’s not ideal for hikes. But taking it around the house or to someone’s party is easily possible. If you want to be known for having the biggest, most powerful, and great-sounding of portable speakers then pick this up as a graduation, birthday, etc. present before heading off to college.
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