Ultimate Ears - Roll 2

Another vote for Ultimate Ears. I have a UE Roll 2 and it’s great

Hi all, looking for a good portable speaker that can be connected via Bluetooth, but can also be connected via USB-C (for a PC with no Bluetooth). Bit of a backstory, I have a UE Roll 2 that I've been taking around. I normally have it hanging in the bathroom for a good old shower karaoke, but whenever I want to connect to my PC I've had to plug in both a microUSB (for keeping it charged) and an Aux cable (for audio). I'd like to get my hands on a good, small, portable speaker that can be used for both Bluetooth and wired connections, ideally with a single USB C cable to carry both power and audio (and show up in Windows as an audio device). I mostly listen to YouTube on my PC and music when in the shower, not much of an audiophile and couldn't tell you how the treble is vs the bass or whether something's lossy or lossless. Will be traveling around so battery powered is a need. My research so far has lead me to a few options: Soundcore Motion+, JBL Flip 7, Beats Pill Which would be the best bang for buck for me, or are there any alternatives I'm missing?

Anything by Ultimate Ears. I have the Megaboom and a discontinued model called the Roll, both excellent. If size isn't a concern (if you won't be traveling with it much, etc) I strongly suggest getting one size bigger than you think you'll need. Trust me on this! It's always better to have more power than you need for audio. It's not just about volume, it's about the quality of sound at lower volume, too. Bigger is better. And they sell refurbished units on their website which is great, that's what I did. Same warranty and everything so why not?

The UE Roll was great

The best I’ve had is the Sony SRS-X5. But I should also admit I haven’t needed to shop for Bluetooth speakers since I’ve bought it 8+ years ago, so I have no idea really. I do have a UE Roll and a JBL Go and Go 2, but they aren’t comparable. They are in a different class altogether.

For the small portable my affections are always with Bose. Some of my favorite speakers for sound stage, portability, and loud reaching well made BT speakers in super portable, easy to handle packages. I have three of their BT speakers and they really perform. As I get less portable, I stumbled into one not on your list — Logitech’s Ultimate Ears brand — which has some smaller BT speakers as well. They’re really well made and they double down on putting resources into the simple features I care about most (sync, app, weatherproofing etc).