I found 5 early Prime Day Bluetooth speaker deals I’d actually buy

Amazon’s next big sale is still a little over a week away, with Prime Big Deal Days officially running on October 6 and 7. Even then, there are still plenty of Bluetooth speaker deals available for the early buyers, and a few of them are already considerably better than I expected.

I went through the early discounts and narrowed them down to five speakers I’d pay attention to right now. There’s a tiny JBL for less than $40, a Flip 7 sitting well below $100, and options from Bose, Ultimate Ears, and Marshall if you have a little more room in the budget.

Note: Amazon prices and discounts can change quickly and may differ between colors.

JBL Go 5 — $39.95 (27% off)

The JBL Go 5 is the easiest recommendation here if all you really want is a small speaker that can disappear into a backpack. Amazon has it at $39.95, which takes $15 off its $54.95 price. It is tiny at just 0.51 pounds, yet JBL still gives it an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. Battery life reaches eight hours, with Playtime Boost squeezing another two hours out of it, and the Go 5 also supports Auracast if you eventually want to connect compatible speakers together.

JBL even added ambient edge lighting this generation, which is one of the upgrades over its predecessors At under $40, this is the one I’d throw into a bag for a trip, keep around the bathroom, or take somewhere I wouldn’t necessarily want to risk a more expensive speaker.

Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 — $51.44 (49% off)

Spending another $11 gets you something bigger. The blue Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 has dropped to $51.44 on Amazon, which is one of the better discounts in this entire list. Amazon commonly sells it below its $99.99 MSRP, yet $51.44 remains an unusually low price and sits only a couple of dollars above its previous Prime Day low.

I also like how it’s built for outdoor use with an IP67 rating. It can even float if it falls into water and survive drops from up to five feet. You get up to 14 hours of audio playback on a single full charge. Its 360-degree design makes placement fairly painless, while Outdoor Boost changes the tuning for open spaces and Podcast Mode focuses more heavily on voices. For just over $50, there’s a lot going on here.

Marshall Emberton III — $144 (20% off)

Marshall goes in a different direction from the utilitarian JBL and Bose designs, and the Emberton III is easily the speaker I’d pick if I cared about how the thing looked sitting on a desk or shelf. The Black/Silver Amazon listing has recently hovered around $144, putting it roughly $36 below Marshall’s $179.99 price.

The bigger reason I’d spend the extra money is battery life. Marshall claims more than 32 hours from a charge, comfortably the longest figure among these five speakers, and a 20-minute quick charge can add another six hours. The Emberton III also has an IP67 rating, Bluetooth 5.3 LE, a built-in microphone for calls, and Marshall’s True Stereophonic multidirectional sound. Two 2-inch 10W full-range drivers sit inside, accompanied by passive radiators.

It is the most expensive pick here. Still, the combination of battery life, ruggedness, and that iconic Marshall design gives it a clear place in this list.

JBL Flip 7 — $119.95 (20% off)

For those looking for a bigger JBL portable speakers, the Flip 7 is the perfect pick. It’s compact enough to carry around without becoming luggage, while giving you considerably more speaker than the tiny Go 5. Amazon currently has the black model at $119.95. JBL rates the Flip 7 for up to 16 hours of playback with Playtime Boost, alongside an IP68 rating that covers water and dust resistance. It is also drop-proof from up to one meter. The newer PushLock system lets you attach interchangeable carrying accessories, and USB-C supports lossless audio when connected to a compatible source.

This makes the Flip 7 the safest all-rounder of these five for me. It has enough battery life and durability for travel, enough output to make sense outdoors, and still occupies very little room in a backpack. At around $120, it sits nicely between the cheaper compact speakers and the more style-driven Marshall.

Beats Pill — $99.95 (33% off)

The Beats Pill has been around in one form or another for years, and the 2024 revival is currently available for under $100. It is currently listed on Amazon as a limited-time deal, with the price sitting at $99.95. Beats claims up to 24 hours from a charge, placing the Pill well ahead of both JBL models above. The USB-C port is useful in both directions too. You can use it for high-resolution lossless audio with a compatible wired source or pull power from the speaker to charge your phone.

Beats also gave the Pill an IP67 rating, a removable lanyard, Apple and Android one-touch pairing, Find My support, and the ability to pair two speakers together in Amplify or Stereo modes. There’s even a microphone for calls and voice assistants. Beats also gave the Pill an IP67 rating, a removable lanyard, Apple and Android one-touch pairing, Find My support, and the ability to pair two speakers together in Amplify or Stereo modes. There’s even a microphone for calls and voice assistants.