Smart Home Pick Pro

Best Portable Smart Speakers With Alexa or Google Assistant Built In

By the Smart Home Pick Pro Editorial Team · How we test & rank

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Most smart speaker advice assumes the speaker never leaves its shelf, but a lot of the appeal of voice control — timers while you're grilling, music by the pool, weather and reminders on a patio — happens somewhere without a nearby outlet. That calls for a different shortlist than our main smart speakers roundup: a rechargeable battery, some real resistance to water and dust, and a voice assistant that still works the same as it does indoors.

It also rules out a lot of speakers that market themselves as 'works with Alexa.' Plenty of rugged Bluetooth speakers can receive Alexa-cast multi-room music from another Echo, but that's not the same as having a microphone and a wake word built into the speaker itself — we only picked models that do the latter.

New to this category? Start with our smart speaker buying guide before diving into the picks below.

How we picked: We only included speakers with a genuine built-in microphone and on-device wake word for Alexa or Google Assistant, not Bluetooth speakers that merely support Alexa-cast multi-room music from another device. Every pick also needed a rechargeable internal battery (not a bolt-on power bank mode) and at least a basic IP rating for splash or dust resistance, since 'portable' only matters if the speaker can actually handle being outside.

At a glance

#PickWhy it stands outPrice
Sonos Roam 2Top Picktruly pocketable pick - Small enough to toss in a bag, with a grippy, drop-resistant shellCheck Amazon
Sonos Move 2Runner-upbackyard and patio gatherings - Noticeably louder and fuller sound than the Roam 2, with true stereo pairing between two unitsCheck Amazon
Sonos Move (1st Gen)Best Valuevalue if you don't need the Move 2's upgrades - Same rugged, IP56-rated outdoor build and full-room sound as the newer Move 2Check Amazon
Bose Portable Smart SpeakerAlso greatnon-Sonos pick with both assistants built in - Built-in microphone supports both Alexa and Google Assistant out of the boxCheck Amazon

The picks in detail

Sonos Roam 2

Top Pick

9.6/10Editor’s score

Best truly pocketable pick

  • Battery life: ~10 hours
  • Water/dust resistance: IP67
  • Voice assistant: Alexa or Google Assistant (built-in)
  • Small enough to toss in a bag, with a grippy, drop-resistant shell
  • IP67-rated — fully dust-tight and able to survive being submerged briefly, not just splashed
  • Switches automatically between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth depending on what's in range
  • Built-in Alexa and Google Assistant (pick one at setup), plus works inside a larger Sonos system at home

Watch out Sound is good for its size but noticeably smaller and less bassy than the Move 2 — fine for one person on a patio, not for filling a backyard.

Check price on Amazon

Sonos Move 2

Runner-up

9.3/10Editor’s score

Best for backyard and patio gatherings

  • Battery life: ~24 hours
  • Water/dust resistance: IP56
  • Voice assistant: Alexa or Google Assistant (built-in)
  • Noticeably louder and fuller sound than the Roam 2, with true stereo pairing between two units
  • Up to 24 hours of battery life, more than double the original Move's rating
  • IP56-rated against dust and heavy rain, built for sitting outside for a whole afternoon
  • Automatic Trueplay tuning adjusts the sound to wherever you set it down

Watch out Much bigger and heavier than the Roam 2 — this is a 'carry it to the patio and leave it there' speaker, not a pocketable one.

Check price on Amazon

Sonos Move (1st Gen)

Best Value

9.0/10Editor’s score

Best value if you don't need the Move 2's upgrades

  • Battery life: ~11 hours
  • Water/dust resistance: IP56
  • Voice assistant: Alexa or Google Assistant (built-in)
  • Same rugged, IP56-rated outdoor build and full-room sound as the newer Move 2
  • Regularly discounted now that the Move 2 is Sonos's current flagship portable
  • Built-in Alexa and Google Assistant, same as the rest of this lineup

Watch out Roughly 11 hours of battery life versus the Move 2's 24, and it lacks the Move 2's stereo-pairing and Sound Swap features.

Check price on Amazon

Bose Portable Smart Speaker

Also great

8.7/10Editor’s score

Best non-Sonos pick with both assistants built in

  • Battery life: ~12 hours
  • Water/dust resistance: IPX4
  • Voice assistant: Alexa or Google Assistant (built-in)
  • Built-in microphone supports both Alexa and Google Assistant out of the box
  • 360-degree sound fills a room or patio corner evenly rather than beaming in one direction
  • SimpleSync pairing links it with compatible Bose soundbars for synced audio

Watch out Only IPX4-rated (splash-resistant, not submersible) and its battery and software updates have aged compared to Sonos's newer Roam and Move models.

Check price on Amazon

Frequently Asked Questions

Do these need Wi-Fi to use Alexa or Google Assistant outside?
Yes — voice assistant features (and streaming music from a service rather than your phone) need an internet connection, so the assistant works over Wi-Fi at home or wherever you've connected it. Away from Wi-Fi, these speakers fall back to Bluetooth for music playback, but 'Hey Google' and 'Alexa' stop responding until they're back on a network.
What's the difference between a speaker that 'works with Alexa' and one with Alexa built in?
A speaker with Alexa built in has its own microphone and wake word, so you can talk to it directly. Many rugged Bluetooth speakers are only Alexa-cast compatible, meaning a separate Echo can send multi-room music to them — there's no microphone listening on the speaker itself, so you can't actually talk to it.
Are these speakers OK to leave outside permanently?
No. Even the IP56/IP67-rated models here are built to survive rain, splashes, and dust during use, not a permanent outdoor install exposed to all-season weather and direct sun. Bring them in after use, the same as you would any battery-powered electronics.
Can I use one of these as part of a Sonos multi-room system at home?
The Sonos Roam 2, Move 2, and original Move all join a home Sonos system over Wi-Fi when they're in range, so you can group them with other Sonos speakers for whole-home audio, then take the same speaker outside on battery power when you want it portable. The Bose Portable Smart Speaker uses Bose's own SimpleSync system instead and doesn't join a Sonos group.

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