5 of the best new speakers reviewed: from a bass-shaking Sony to a TV-trembling Sonos

IT’S time to cut the cords and stream music to your party, and we’ve rounded up five of the best streaming speakers to do it.

The Beoplay speaker offers 24 hours of music playback.

REMEMBER when parties were powered by a CD player or tape deck?

Speakers have come a long way since then, with wireless music-streaming the new normal.

We’ve rounded up five of the best new cord-free offerings, and they’re more powerful than you might expect.

Sonos Playbase

4.5/5 / $999 / sonos.com

Sonos Playbase is the latest member of the Sonos family and offers an audio solution for those who do not hang their TV on the wall.

Like all Sonos products, the PlayBase shows an Apple-like obsession with detail, down to the 43,000 individually drilled holes in its grill. Designed for the 70 per cent of us who don’t wall-mount TVs, it is easy to set up, pairs with other Sonos speakers for full surround-sound, and works with existing TV remote controls. A clever, well-designed product that is good as a stand-alone unit of part of a wider speaker family.

Sony Super Bass SRS-XB40

4/5 / $250 / sony.com.au

The Sony SRS-XB40 speaker is a portable speaker designed to deliver powerful bass.

Sony’s new speaker is a party machine. Lights around its grill can flash and strobe in time with the song you stream to it, it’s water-resistant for taking parties outdoors, and it’s big on bass, delivering more thump than most portable speakers, particularly speakers of its size. It feels a lot like a shrunken version of the giant party speakers making the rounds of electronic stores and backyard parties, but it’s more subtle and less likely to invite the police to your door.

Beoplay Beolit 17

4/5 / $749 / beoplay.com

Beoplay Beolit 17 portable wireless speaker has a 24-hour battery life.

This is a striking speaker, as you might expect from Beoplay, with a wraparound aluminium grill and elegant leather handle. More impressively, however, its battery boasts a 24-hour battery life from a single charge. Its sound quality, like its aesthetic, is top notch but it lacks weatherproofing for when you want to move the party.

Harman Kardon Go + Play

3.5/5 / $448 / harveynorman.com.au

With a stainless steel handle, the Harman Kardon GO + Play is a portable home speaker.

Despite a stainless-steel handle, its 3.5kg weight and five-hour battery life means this Harman Kardon unit can’t match other units for convenience. If you can keep the party near a power point, this Bluetooth speaker will entertain with great sound.

Bose Soundlink Revolve

4/5 / $299 / bose.com.au

The 15cm tall Bose Soundlink Revolve has a 12-hour battery life.

This 360-degree speaker is 15cm tall but produces a volume that defies its compact size. It delivers 12 hours of use on one charge and it’s splashproof for pool excursions. Small enough to be a desktop speaker but with a big enough sound to entertain more than just your colleagues.