It has been said that the single biggest danger on the road today is cell phone usage – people talking or texting on their phones, taking their hands off of the steering wheel and their eyes off of the road, contribute to probably more than a quarter of accidents in the United States, and lead to several deaths every day.
Luckily there is a simple, inexpensive, and very effective way to prevent so much of this – a new Bluetooth speaker for your car, which will allow you to make and take phone calls without using your hands and will make your driving more focused and safer.
So I’ve put together a list of the best Bluetooth speakers for cars in 2024, with my top 7 recommendations and a short description of each one.
If you’re in a hurry, and just want to click and go, here are some of my top picks:
- Best Bluetooth Speaker for Car Overall: VeoPulse B-PRO 2B Bluetooth Car Speaker with Automatic Connection
- Best Bluetooth Speaker for Car – Budget: Skybess Bluetooth Car Speaker for Cell Phone with Google Assistant & Siri
- The Best Sounding Bluetooth Car Speaker: Jabra Tour Bluetooth In-Car Bluetooth Speakerphone
Why Are Bluetooth Speakers for Cars So Important?
Everybody knows how dangerous it is to use a cell phone while driving, and yet the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) estimates that at any given moment over half a million people across the US are driving while talking or texting on their phones.
Honestly, the numbers are a little too grim to get into, but by some estimates distracted driving accounts for a quarter of accidents and at least ten percent of road deaths every year, and this is mainly due to using a phone while driving – again, especially taking your hands off the wheel and looking away from the road, even for a moment.
We need to be aware that talking on the road at all is a bit distracting, as we are not so completely concentrated on our driving and what is happening around us, but hands-free talking can significantly increase your focus, decrease danger and reduce accidents – and this is why a Bluetooth speaker can be such a blessing!
Indeed, if you have an older car or any vehicle that doesn’t have a built-in Bluetooth receiver, it will be a real game-changer.
It’s important to note that there is some physical interaction with even the best Bluetooth speaker for cars, in that there are buttons for taking calls, for muting audio and microphone, and often for activating assistant features, but these are always very well-designed and intuitively placed, and often oversized, so they can be accessed with as little effort or distraction as possible.
What Should You Look For in the Best Bluetooth Speakers for Cars?
I intentionally focus on safety benefits first, because that is the most important reason to get a Bluetooth car speaker, but some of them have pretty decent sound and can be used to stream music from your phone and have a pretty satisfying listening experience.
A good Bluetooth speaker will also offer excellent sound for telephone calls, and an excellent microphone as well, and will allow you to talk to people with your hands and eyes fully on task, and with a minimum of distraction.
It should have the latest generation Bluetooth circuitry, good battery life, excellent material and build quality, and even some niceties like a motion detector that allows for auto-on and auto-pairing when you enter the car, and a multi-point connection for pairing two phones at the same time.
Another nifty feature is an FM transmitter, which can take that same music stream from your phone, and rather than playing it on your new Bluetooth car speaker’s small built-in speaker, sends it to your car stereo’s FM radio for much better sound quality through the car speakers.
Though this is great functionality to have, surprisingly only one of my picks includes it – the Avantree Roadtrip – but luckily it is a great choice overall, and so if you want and need an FM transmitter you’re well covered.
But again, entertainment and technology are all good and fine, but safety, and the security you will feel, are the best reasons to get one – and this also makes a new Bluetooth speaker for cars a brilliant gift for somebody you love.
So let’s get into my list of the 7 best Bluetooth speakers for cars (not to mention the best Bluetooth speakers for trucks, the best Bluetooth speakers for SUVs, and so forth) in 2024!
The Best Bluetooth Car Speakers: A Complete Buyer’s Guide
Best Bluetooth Speaker for Cars – Budget
What I Love:
- Great Sound for Calls
- Noise Reduction Technology
- Assistant Compatibility
- SD Card Slot
- Smart Oversized Buttons
Downsides?
- No Automatic Power On
- No FM Transmitter
The Skybess car speaker may be a very inexpensive unit, but it is actually quite sophisticated, with not just a very good speaker and microphone but noise reduction and echo cancellation technologies that will make every call much more clear and pleasant.
In addition, the Skybess Bluetooth speaker is compatible with Siri and Google Assistant, so with a single push of a prominently placed and oversized button you can take care of so many things while still remaining alert and focused.
The Skybess will receive and play navigation instructions from your phone, as well as music or other audio, and the built in 3 watt speaker is actually pretty good – fantastic for phone calls, but with enough clarity and energy to sound good with music. There is even a slot for a memory card, if you want to load up your favorite digital music files.
With a useful visor mount and an intelligent overall design, the Skybess is easily the best super-cheap Bluetooth speaker for your car, and a fantastic affordable gift for those you care about.
Next Level Sound – But Still Cheap!
What I Love:
- Superior Sound Quality for Calls and Music
- Auto-On Sensor
- Multi-Point 2 Phone Connection
- Smart Multi-Function Button
- Great Battery Life
Downsides?
- Buttons and Controls Could Be Bigger
- No FM Transmitter
For about ten dollars more, but still quite inexpensive, this 1Mii MK02 Bluetooth speaker for automobiles has significantly better sound than the Skybess just above, with a bigger and better amplifier and nice stereo speakers.
The microphone is also very good, and phone calls are crystal clear and plenty loud on both ends. Music, audio books and any other audio sources sound fantastic, and feeds from navigation programs are easy to understand, making your driving even safer and less distracted.
Another great feature of the 1Mii Bluetooth speaker is the auto-on function, which uses a motion detector to determine that you’ve gotten into the car and automatically powers up and pairs with your phone, so you’re good to go!
There is also multi-point technology, which is a fancy way of saying that the 1Mii can connect with two phones at the same time. A nice multi-function button that is easy to use and very effective, Google Assistant and Siri compatibility and great battery life round out the package, and make this a very advanced and useful device.
And cheap! For about 10 dollars more than our first choice, the 1Mii MK02 is a better product and a better value, and an easy recommendation.
Before we move on to the next pick, I want to briefly mention another very popular product that’s the same price as this 1Mii – the Besign BK06 Bluetooth Car Speaker. The Besign has all the same features and functionality as the 1Mii, and a cooler brand name, but for me the buttons are spread a bit too far apart, and not as easy or intuitive to use. And while it too has two speakers, it doesn’t seem to have the oomph or clarity of the 1Mii. Still, worth at least checking out…
Best Value Bluetooth Car Speaker
What I Love:
- The Best Sound at This Level
- Auto-On Sensor
- Multi-Point 2 Phone Connection
- Excellent Fit and Finish and Overall Quality
- Great Battery Life
- Excellent Company and Customer Support
Downsides?
- No FM Transmitter
None of the choices on my list of best Bluetooth speakers for cars are very expensive, and this really excellent Avantree CK11 speaker is still clearly in the budget price range, but it looks and feels – and sounds – decidedly premium.
All of the best features are here – Google Assistant and Siri compatibility, multi-point for pairing with 2 phones at once, motion detectors to automatically power up and pair with your phone when you get into the car, a nice, oversized multi-function button, great battery life with hundreds of hours of standby time, on and on.
I’m a music lover, and to me a big plus for this Avantree over the lower priced picks – which, to be fair, have most or all of the same functionality – is the sound. Even though the 1Mii speaker just above has two speakers, and this Avantee has but one, the Avantee has noticeably clearer and smoother sound, with more detail, good musical energy and even a bit of bass.
The microphone is also excellent, and superior noise reduction technologies make phone calls clean and clear on both ends. I also really like the good battery life and the fact that the rechargeable battery is actually removable and replaceable – quite rare these days, and especially nice since the Avantree CK11 seems like it could last for years and years.
I guess the Avantree CK11 is not really groundbreaking – it doesn’t do anything, really, that the less expensive choices don’t – but everything it does it does very well, with excellent fit and finish, a very good and smart design and layout, clear, strong audio and great call quality. In fact, given the overall quality, I am happy to call the Avantree CK11 the best value Bluetooth car speaker on the market today.
Easiest Bluetooth Car Speaker to Use
What I Love:
- The Smartest and Safest User Interface
- Great Sound Quality for Calls and Music
- Auto-On Sensor
- Multi-Point 2 Phone Connection
- Great Battery Life
Downsides?
- No FM Transmitter
I don’t really need to spend a lot of time talking about my next recommendation for best Bluetooth speaker for cars – the Sunitec BC980P – because it is very similar to the other products we’ve seen so far.
And that’s all to its advantage, since it has great features and functionality, especially for its still very low price – great audio quality and a great microphone, advanced noise cancellation circuitry, long battery life, multi-point pairing so it will work with two phones at once, and automatic power up and Bluetooth pairing when you enter your car.
But though it is the same price as the excellent Avantree above (which, IMHO, has marginally better sound – though this Sunitec sounds fantastic too), the Sunitex BC980P has one enormous advantage – the best layout of any of the Bluetooth speakers on this list.
Big, oversized buttons with a nice positive feel are layed out just right, with the phone button especially prominent, the mute button right there, and the big volume controls smartly set slightly apart.
You can tell just by looking at the Sunitec that it is well designed, and in actual use it proves to be an incredibly easy and intuitive speaker to work with, and provides quite possibly not just the easiest, but the safest and most undistracting, user interface.
Well, I guess after all I’ve spent just as much time talking about the Sunitech BC980P as any product on this list, but in my defense I am pretty excited about it. A very well made and well designed product, it may well be the best choice for safe and focused driving – and really, that’s the main reason we’re here.
FM Transmitter!
What I Love:
- FM Transmitter
- Superb Overall Quality
- 2 Microphones and Great Noise Reduction
- Great Battery Life
- Excellent Company and Customer Support
Downsides?
- Not the Most Intuitive Controls
In the ‘Downsides’ bullet list of every single car speaker I’ve included so far I have cited the lack of a FM transmitter, and while this is definitely not a deal-breaker, a good quality transmitter for playing audio through your car’s stereo system is an incredibly nice thing to have.
And this Avantree Roadtrip Bluetooth car speaker does just that – whether you are on the phone or listening to music, audio books or anything else, the Roadtrip sends that audio signal over FM frequencies, and all you have to do is tune your car radio to the same frequency and you’ll get the audio in rich, full stereo sound.
Any frequency will work, as long as it isn’t being used, and you can also choose to use the excellent built-in speaker instead.
Speaking of that speaker, I guess it is a bit ironic that this is the only Bluetooth speaker on this list – and the only decent one I’ve found period – that has an FM transmitter, because the Avantree Roadtrip has fantastic sound on its own. Not as good as most people’s car stereos, maybe, but really rich, clear, detailed, energetic and musical sound – and quite loud, if you want!
The Roadtip ticks all the boxes in terms of features and functions, with multi-point 2 phone pairing, great battery life, auto-on/auto-pairing motion detectors, great noise reduction and a superior 2 microphone system for the best call quality.
If I were to mention anything negative, it might be the controls, which seem a bit less intuitive, a bit too complex, and at a bit of a strange angle – I suppose, though, that after a couple of tries you would totally get used to them, and operation would become second nature.
A truly premium product, with fantastic material and build quality and really fine fit and finish, the Avantree Roadtrip is an exceptionally nice Bluetooth speaker for cars, and highly recommended. And if you want an FM transmitter, it’s the only game in town!
The Best Sounding Bluetooth Car Speaker
What I Love:
- The Best Sound Quality – Music, Calls and Everything Else
- All the Other Stuff Too
- The Sound
Downsides?
- With Sound Like This, Who Cares?
I’m tempted to say there is only one thing to talk about with this Jabra Tour Bluetooth automobile speaker – the great sound.
And there is no question that the Tour has the very best sound of any Bluetooth car speaker on the list, or any I’ve ever heard, with a clean and powerful amplifier and a speaker that is not just big, but the finest quality possible at this price point. Music comes through with incredible detail and dynamic energy, a good bit of bass and a sweet, musical sound overall, and calls sound just great – in fact, the mic seems to be just as good as the speaker, and the calls sound great on both ends.
But there is actually a lot more to the Jabra Tour – each and every one of the features we would really want to see is here, including motion detection and automatic pairing, great battery life and an especially simple and intuitive user interface – I personally like the buttons a little closer together, but the Jabra controls just work, and I’m sure it would allow for totally undistracted use when you’re driving.
If anything is missing, it is an FM transmitter, but as we saw above the Avantree Roadtrip is the only decent quality wireless car speaker that includes FM broadcast. And anyway, with sound this good the omission of that feature seems less of an issue here.
There may be better wireless speakers for your car overall, like the brilliant VeoPulse just below, and there may be better values, like the Avantree CK11 further up on the list. But for a fantastic Bluetooth speaker for cars, that’s really great in pretty much every way, and with just awesome sound, the Jabra Tour is the answer, and (I being the audio nerd that I am) my overall favorite!
Best Bluetooth Car Speaker Overall
What I Love:
- The Best Features, Performance, Design and Layout Overall
- Great Sound Quality
- Superb Call Quality
- Excellent Material and Build Quality
- Premium Fit and Finish
Downsides?
- Not Really…
You may well wonder why I would choose this VeoPulse car speaker as my top pick, when it doesn’t do anything more than any of the others, and doesn’t even have FM wireless transmission like the Avantree Roadtrip above – especially since it’s about twenty bucks more than the Avantree.
The answer is simple – the VeoPulse B-Pro 2B is the best! Of course you knew I’d say that, since, well, I already have…
Let me just say that in overall balance, the VeoPulse does all things at the highest levels. It has fantastic sound quality for calls and music, and the best microphone and noise reduction, and definitely provides the best phone call experience of any unit here.
The B-PRO 2B also has the best layout, which I figure heavily in my assessments – big, simple buttons that are ideally placed, feel great and have perfect functionality.
Everything else is in place too, including latest generation Bluetooth wireless, auto-on and auto-pairing when it senses you’ve gotten into the car, compatibility with all the major assistants, and fantastic overall quality, including the materials and construction and the fit and finish.
The VeoPulse B-Pro 2B is a truly premium product in look, feel, sound, operation and overall performance, and is the best Bluetooth car speaker I’ve ever used. Yes, the Jabra Tour, just above, has better sound, and the Sunitec has a layout and user interface that’s just as good and undistracting, but for the highest levels of all things that matter the VeoPulse is the clear winner.
Before I close this article on the best Bluetooth speakers for vehicles, I should mention that this VeoPulse is actually available in two versions. The one I’ve provided a link for above, the B-PRO 2B (with a B for, I guess, beep) is the “discreet” model, which will beep when it connects and ring when there’s a call. The B-PRO 2 (no B), on the other hand, uses voice prompts when connecting, and will actually announce the caller when a call comes in.