Gold-plated, oxygen-free and eye-wateringly costly cables be damned: this 12 months has seen the arrival of some good audio system that eschew wires, delivering scintillating sound from a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi sign.
This isn’t nearly fashion – though this 12 months’s greatest Bluetooth and wi-fi audio system are all fantastic-looking items of business design. And it’s not even about portability or comfort – though we’ll go on the report as saying we actually, actually recognize not having to path miles of wires round the home to get sound in any room (or the backyard).
No, what’s most notable concerning the audio system right here is that all of them ship improbable, partaking audio, filling the air with great sound regardless of the place you select to place them. With out additional ado, listed here are the winners.
Greatest wi-fi speaker of 2023: Sonos Period 300
The Period 300 makes no apologies for being a premium speaker with a price ticket to match – however 5 minutes after you first hear it in motion you’ll be on the blower to Natwest begging them to boost your overdraft restrict so you’ll be able to stick one in each room of the home. That is very true should you’re listening to spatial audio, the place the speaker’s high quality brings recent particulars and nuance to tracks you’ve heard tons of of occasions earlier than, but it surely impresses in terms of good old style stereo stuff too. A worthy award winner – in any Period.
Extremely counseled: Devialet Mania
Devialet deviates from its bread and butter (eccentric and never completely sensible audio merchandise) with its first ever moveable wi-fi speaker – and we discovered ourselves very a lot on board. Resembling a sci-fi kettle bell, the Mania is way bassier than its portability and measurement recommend, and whereas this fits sure kinds of music greater than others, it’s undeniably a formidable feat of sonic engineering.
Additionally shortlisted: Bluesound Pulse M
We additionally want to say the Pulse M for being Bluesound’s best-looking speaker thus far, including ‘aesthetics’ to a listing of abilities together with strong construct high quality and entertaining sound – significantly when given hi-res audio to work with.
Greatest Bluetooth Speaker of the Yr: Orange Amps Orange Field
It isn’t simply the vinyl, wooden, wicker and leather-based styling of this stage amp-inspired speaker that screams ‘retro throwback’: it additionally features a real analogue amplifier inside, permitting it to ship a splendidly heat and interesting sound that actually soars when enjoying dwell instrumentation and provides a subtlety of depth and tone you gained’t discover in lots of digital-only rivals. It does make some welcome concessions to modernity with a built-in battery and aptX streaming, although, and now we have no hesitation in giving it the nod as the most effective Bluetooth speaker of the 12 months.
Extremely counseled: Soundcore Movement X600
Compact, light-weight, reasonably priced and delightful to behold, the Movement X600 might be forgiven for serving up an audio efficiency that’s purposeful relatively than transportive. However this tiny speaker (which provides as much as 12 hours of battery life) can go loud and spatial when it must, imparting an enveloping and immersive sound that’s good for on a regular basis listeners.
Additionally shortlisted: Huawei Sound Pleasure, LG Xboom 360 XO3
We additionally need to present our appreciation to the diminutive Huawei Sound Pleasurea splendidly low cost, rugged and loud cylindrical speaker you can take just about anyplace. And the LG Xboom 360 XO3’s customisable LED lighting turns any listening session into a possible celebration.
