I’m trying to find a sustainably built Bluetooth speaker for in the kitchen. What does that mean?
Using either exclusively an AC connection (preferably USB-C) or has replaceable (AAA or other standardized format) batteries. I won’t use it as a portable device, so it may as well be without batteries, but that’s hard to find.
Made of wood or other easy recyclable materials.
Max 40cm wide and 20cm tall and a minimum size of 30cm wide.
Support for AAC and a minimum of Bluetooth 4.2.
I found only 2 options. An IKEA speaker:
Downside is that it’s using Bluetooth 4.1, so it does have BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), but not the speed and privacy improments. But also the size doesn’t promise clear sound.
House of Marley looks promising since they claim the term sustainable. However, no replaceable batteries…
Don’t know if it fits your use case and is “better” than your suggestions, but the Gomi speaker (https://www.gomi.design/) might qualify for at least some of your criteria for a sustainable speaker:
Try to separate the procurement of the Bluetooth receiver and the speaker. I believe the Bluetooth requirement is hard to combine with the sustainability requirement. Speaker alone could be easier.
And if you want better control over the materials, you may want to consider DIY, either with a complete kit or with only instructions, selecting the parts yourself.
Maybe a rather unusual suggestion, because it’s basically a music player for kids (playlists on an SD card), but it also works as a Bluetooth speaker. Somewhere on the site it says “Bluetooth LE and Classic”, for the exact version I guess you have to ask.
It uses 4 AA batteries, but I believe there is supposed to be a senior version with power as well. But also there you could ask if necessary. Made of wood, and I saw that you can even download the schematics.
With your size specification, I’m honestly not sure.have honestly not sure.
He sounds (we have the previous version) of course not quite comparable to a Bluetooth box of the normal consumer industry.
I tried one already, and I really like the idea. But often the screen is not visible anymore (to watch a video). Also portrait or landscape position isn’t possible, only one of the 2. And the one I tried didn’t work with my thick FP4
And also because the speakers of the FP4 don’t have a broad range. No lows, mostly highs, it becomes painful in my ears with that wooden thing. The sound is much better when I use my Pixel 3. But that phone doesn’t need Bluetooth speakers or enhancements to begin with. It’s powerful enough of itself. So sad that the P3 isn’t supported anymore and the battery cannot be replaced. The P3 is so much better than the FP4 and I can do more with less with that device. So in a way it was/is more sustainable.
About the House of Marley speakers, I asked if the speaker could be plugged in without battery wear. In other words, just using the power source from a power socket when the battery is 100%.
Hello,
Thank you for your email.
The speaker contains a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that works much like a cell phone battery. Leaving the speaker plugged in can diminish the lifespan of the battery. We recommend fully charging the speaker, then using the speaker until the battery is depleted then recharging.
Thank You,
Consumer Relations
I have one, or two. The older one’s (6 years old) can be run from a plugged in power source but the newer one (3 years old) keeps saying ’ The battery is full, please unplug’
I use the Teufel one M for over a year now as main station in living room.
Perfect for me because of Spotify connect
And it use TuneIn for internet radio. What I think that is one of the big players and will be alive in the next years.
That’s one of the big problems of internet radios, that they are using a distributor which is no longer available after short time and the device is pure electronical garbage
