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Sound and battery: 20 portable Bluetooth speakers

Music on the move

Harman Kardon Esquire Mini

RH Numbers

Not much bigger than a spectacles case, the Esquire Mini doubles as a speakerphone, but lacks NFC support. It can, however, charge your smartphone from its USB socket. And there's 3.5mm output jack, too.

There's a stand which flips out from the rear of the case, though I found I had to push quite hard to get it to do so. Battery life, at 10 hours is very reasonable. For such a small speaker, the Esquire Mini is remarkably loud, though push it to its highest volume and there's minor, but noticeable, distortion.

Harman Kardon Esquire Mini

As with most of the other small speakers, there's merely a nod to bass frequencies, though mids and trebles are detailed. Rock track testing wasn't handled very well at all, compared to say, the Jabra Clip. Acoustic and classical tracks fared better.

If being able to slip a speaker in your inside jacket pocket is key, or elegant good looks are more important than robust water resistance, the Esquire Mini is worth considering. It's significantly more expensive, however than other small speakers.

Price £130
More info Harman Kardon

Jabra Solemate

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The Jabra Solemate gets its name from the plimsoll-like sole which helps it adhere to even the slippiest surface. That base also rather neatly conceals a cable with a 3.5mm jack on the end, allowing you to plug the speaker into anything with a headphone jack.

The grippy base also makes it look rather like a short, fat ghost from Pac-Man. Feature-wise, the Solemate has a speakerphone and NFC support. It also has the friendliest voice prompts, accompanied by hi-energy backing music. It's a little odd, to be honest. Battery life, at 8 hours isn't as good as many of the others on test.

Jabra Solemate

The Solemate handled AC/DC tracks very well indeed, better than similarly-sized speakers like the Braven 705 or Divoom Voombox. It's loud too. Classical music came across as a little muddy, but it had no trouble picking out acoustic guitar strings.

At £130, it's more expensive than the Divoom and significantly pricier than the Braven. Fans of 1980s arcade games, however, will be charmed by its styling.

Price £130
More info Jabra
Next page: Jawbone Mini Jambox

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