Sound and battery: 20 portable Bluetooth speakers

Pure Voca

If the Pioneer FreeMe is a case of style over substance, Pure's Voca proves that you can do both and still have change from £100. There's no NFC, but the Voca has 10 hours of battery life, can be used as a speakerphone, and has an auxiliary input.

The curved brushed aluminium chassis looks great and feels robust. And the recessed rubberised control buttons don't need too much pressure to press them. The two 1.5in speakers are only a few inches apart, so like the other speakers here, there's no real impression of stereo sound.

Nevertheless, the Voca impressed with output that was closer to the Bose than any of the other smaller speakers. Audio was well-balanced, and my only criticism is that the cello strings on the classical test track were a little muddy. At this price, unless you want to rugged outdoor protection of the Braven, or want to hook two speakers up for stereo output, the Voca is the one to choose.

Sony SRS-X3

The styling of the SRS-X3 is classic Sony and will be familiar to anyone who's seen or owned pretty much any Sony consumer electronics product over the last 30 years or so. If you're a fan of no-frills simplicity, it will appeal.

Still, I can't help but feel that the design is somewhat uninspired. Nevertheless, there's plenty here to encourage you to part with your £99; NFC support, speakerphone, and controls which are clearly labelled and easily accessible are welcome.

The seven-hour battery life is on the low side, however, and there's no auxiliary input. The two 10W speakers are only inches apart so the stereo soundstage is narrow, but the speakers themselves do a decent job.

There was plenty of detail in acoustic tracks, and the two passive bass radiators made a noticeable difference to lower-frequency output compared to other speakers. It did, however, struggle a little with the rock track test and some distortion was noticeable at high volumes. If you don't need the NFC, go for the Pure Voca instead.