Milwaukee - M12™ Bluetooth® Jobsite Speaker w/ PACKOUT™ Compatibility

Yeah, I got in on that deal too. I bought two, in the hopes that the "audio link" feature could make them work in proper stereo. However, that wasn't the case, so I returned one set. They accidentally refunded me for both. Oops. That said, I don't really have a use for the batteries, so I'll probably try and sell them locally. But, the speaker is quite good, and certainly better than you'd expect from a tool company. It's also built a lot better than your typical audio brand speakers, and would definitely survive a fall or other accident better.

Milwaukee's speakers can be hit or miss. Some good, some bad. It's obvious you've never actually given this one a chance, since your assessment simply isn't accurate for this one.

>I have heard it, as a matter of fact. It suffers from the same sound distortion and bass issues as all of the other Milwaukee speakers that I've heard, and produces far inferior sound quality to similarly sized speakers from UE or JBL. It sounds like the one you listened to was defective. Mine does not have those issues. It compares favorably to multiple JBL and UE speakers that I've listened to. >It's obvious that you don't give a shit about audio quality Interesting assumption. Wrong, but hey, you do you boo. >and like to make asinine assumptions about other people's points of view and experiences. Says the poster who just made an asinine assumption about my views and experiences.

Yes, that and longer runtime away from outlets, since you can have multiple batteries charged to swap. The M12 packout speaker is quite good.

Be careful, if you say that a Milwaukee speaker has the same or better audio quality than another brand like JBL, you're automatically labelled as deaf by certain people here. I had a brief discussion with another user here who told me I was just wrong and my hearing sucked when I dared say that the M12 packout speaker sounded just as good as JBL speakers I've heard. I say brief, because my different view offended them so much that they blocked me. I don't claim to be an audiophile, but I appreciate good sound, and I will give Milwaukee the credit they deserve for that speaker.

No, I understood your first comment. The M12 packout speaker supports volume sync with the phone. The volumes are one in the same. They are not 2 different volume controls. 

I have it, and it sounds just as good as the JBLs I've heard, which are considered very good amongst speakers this size. And, you don't have to worry about the batteries wearing out or going bad and turning the speaker into a paperweight. Those complaining about the lack of bass are simply expecting too much out of a speaker this size. The Bose speakers make it "sound bigger," but at a huge cost to actual sound quality. I'd rather have good sound, than fake, bloated bass.

Don't get me wrong; I love good bass. The key is **good** bass, not fake, bloated bass.

Well, for many of us, we already have way too many batteries. They'd just go unused and rot away.

I am one of the lucky ones that was picked to receive this as a promotional giveaway from u/MilwaukeeTool. A big thanks to r/packout and u/MilwaukeeTool for making this happen. I’m writing this from the perspective of a hobbyist woodworker and avid DIYer that also helps friends and family with all sorts of home projects and repairs. I got into the Milwaukee product line about 6 years ago when I was using a cordless hammer drill from a brand with a lower price point to drill some holes in concrete and I ended up overheating the drill and accidentally letting the magic smoke escape. I was super impressed with how much better the m18 fuel hammer drill I bought was and from then every cordless power tool I have purchased has been from Milwaukee. I got into packout about a year ago after building a built-in desk for a family member that required some assembly onsite and I struggled with quickly transporting and organizing the tools needed for the job. I’m probably going to only buy packout going forward and stop building my own storage solutions for anything I might want to take out of my home shop. On to the speaker: I’ve been able to use it for about 6 hours in total while sanding and finishing some cutting boards and coasters I recently made. I stuck an m12 cp 2.0 I had available and have not yet needed to charge it after 6 hours of continuous use. After using it, I can confidently say it has superior sound quality to my Anker soundcore and Amazon echo speakers that I have mostly used in the past. The usb-c charging port is also a huge plus for me and will get lots of use. I have to say, I’m pretty surprised at how good it sounds. I have thought about buying the Milwaukee earbuds but I have not been sure about the sound quality or level of hearing protection provided. It fits in well on my packout stacks, as well as on my work surfaces. Being able to attach it to various things will also help me keep track of it as I tend to misplace things when I’m in a hurry. I will say, it is substantially bigger and heavier than I expected. I don’t have a lot of m12 tools but do buy them when I need something lighter or smaller than the m18 offerings. The small light bar is also probably going to be useful. This doesn’t happen often, but sometimes my table saw trips the breaker when I’m cutting thicker materials. Having a light that is not my cellphone will be nice! It’s definitely worth considering for anyone who is already in the Milwaukee ecosystem and wants a portable speaker. Between this and a positive experience with another recent m12 purchase, I will be giving serious consideration to additional m12 tools in the future. This also makes me more interested in other Milwaukee electronics and portable lighting beyond the standard tool range. Ask away in the comments if you have any questions!

That’s too bad. It was the opposite for me. The speaker arrived last week and the battery is supposed to come today.

I’d say for use in a shop or work environment, it’s quite good given how much background noise there could be.

I hear you that it’s expensive. It’s listed at Ace and Home Depot for 129.99 right now. I get that it’s pricey, but it’s a comparable price to other consumer electronics on the market today. I bet it will go on sale later this year too.

It’s really sturdy. It feels like I can drop it over and over and be okay. It has several different options for mounts as well as being able to be placed vertically or horizontally too so that should help with stability. Congrats on the buy!

The new Milwaukee M12 pack out speaker that launched last year has insanely good sound quality. Definitely stepping up their game and in my opinion every bit as good as a JBL. Plus swappable batteries that JBL doesn’t have

I got the Packout M12 for the batteries. My local drug dealer (Do it Best), threw in two 5.0s. Speaker + Batts for $129.

https://preview.redd.it/kpsy1ypu3bof1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aeb717526519e0bcdcd5c35a064902f4200e1bbb My M12 Packout version has Treble/Bass controls settings under the cover. The larger speakers give a little better bass response. It’s not audiophile, but was a fun build.

I bought this on a HD glitched bundle that ended up being like $65 bare tool. I like it, but honestly, it doesn't really sound much different than the M12 Bluetooth radio. I like that it has packout compatability though. That was a very nice touch. But if you already have the m12 radio, imo I don't think it's really worth it.

Have you messed with the audio settings? My speaker already had the bass levels raised out of the box. After lowering it and playing the same song through both speaker and radio, I couldn't tell much of a difference. I would say though, the bass boost on the new speaker is noticeably better. But for the most part, they're very close imo.

I bought this on a HD glitched bundle that ended up being like $65 bare tool. I like it, but honestly, it doesn't really sound much different than the M12 Bluetooth radio. I like that it has packout compatability though. That was a very nice touch. But if you already have the m12 radio, imo I don't think it's really worth it.

Have you messed with the audio settings? My speaker already had the bass levels raised out of the box. After lowering it and playing the same song through both speaker and radio, I couldn't tell much of a difference. I would say though, the bass boost on the new speaker is noticeably better. But for the most part, they're very close imo.

I've been using the m12 packout speaker and I love it. It sounds great. I have a Marshall speaker of similar size, and I think the Marshall sounds better, but doesn't get as load as the m12. Also, the packout feature is really cool. It feels pretty premium and I've heard people say it's comparable to JBL speakers.

If all you will use it for is the Bluetooth speaker and not the radio the newer cylindrical m12 for its size is ok, my coworker has it and it’s significantly louder than mine- I have the older style m12 that’s rectangular and has a radio. I have to say I wasn’t blown away by the sound quality but it isn’t bad. If I were to choose between the two having neither I’d buy the newer one he has, as I really very rarely listen to radio. All that said I was working in a garage for months during the winter and wanted something that was gonna make some real noise and I have m18 and m12 batteries. I tried every m18 radio they make other than the flat packout one and returned all of them. Hooked up to my phone none of them seemed loud to me in the garage. I had recently been looking at JBL because I thought it might be a better value but never got around to pulling the trigger on one. Sadly I’ve just said fuck a radio lately (very unlike me) and have just been going AirPods all day. Pros and cons to that of course but I definitely prefer a radio experience all things considered if you can find one that’s a good fit for your work environment.

I own both the 2891-20 and the 2954-20. Both are great speakers that have their own strengths and weaknesses. The 2891 has great range and clear sound, even when it gets really loud (to a certain point). It's great for clear sound across a bigger room thanks to the drivers pointed in different directions. It's also got an AC plug and can be run off both M18 and M12 batteries. And it can get very loud.. the volume control on the source device can be adjusted separately from the speaker itself, which has it's own volume control. So you can max out your phone's bluetooth audio output, and still turn up the volume on the speaker itself. However, the speaker itself doesn't have any playback controls outside of Play/Pause, which means you can only change tracks on your source device. The bass on this speaker is also pretty weak, especially for how loud it gets. The 2954 sounds great. The standout is the bass, for sure. It thumps a lot harder than the 2891, but it doesn't get quite as loud because the volume is based off of the bluetooth audio output. Still plenty loud enough to fill a moderately sized ballroom or gym. Audio quality is great, but it doesn't cover the broad range that the 2891 does. Bass and treble can be adjusted on the 2954, which is very nice - I don't think you can do that on the 2891. The handle on the 2954 is also very useful if you don't want it to just sit on the floor. I haven't tried the Audio Link feature yet because I only have the one 2954, but I imagine that it works well. If I could only have one of these two speakers, I'd get the 2954 for sure. If it's going to stay on your stack, I'd absolutely go for the Packout speaker.

Nice! Really been thinking about getting one after watching all of "jagist reviews" on YT doing some side by side comparisons....then I won a big Milwaukee bluetooth speaker at work yesterday. It's...ok, and I'm grateful. Just makes it harder to justify spending money on a speaker when I got a serviceable one for free lol

Milwaukee hands down. No worries about the internal battery failing and turning the whole unit into a useless brick. I