Lifestyle
Review: Choosing a Portable Bluetooth Speaker
JBL Flip 3 Portable Bluetooth Speaker
These days, everyone seems to have a portable Bluetooth speaker at home. Since Christmas, my father-in-law has been one of those people. It sits nicely on top of the wooden and glass enclosure for the 30+ year old stereo system he will never part with. Considering that we purchased it for him to pair with the iPad we forced upon he and mom last Christmas, my husband and I started to wonder why we didn’t have one ourselves. We already own a not-so-portable computer speaker set that we lug back and forth outside during pool season and a cute but poor quality floating speaker from Brookstone, which is nearly unusable in our pool. Those things in mind, I debated the need for another speaker but was really drawn to the ease of use and quality of the speaker we purchased for Dad. It is made by Best Buy’s own Insignia brand and was purchased on sale for $25. It is easy enough for my self-proclaimed tech unsavvy in-laws to use.
Decisions, Decisions
As is the modern world we live in, both my husband and I started comparison shopping online. The options were staggering. You can spend $15 on a small clip or $400 on a big name device. Then came the features. Some can charge your mobile device while others can be linked to a partner speaker for surround sound. Some are water proof, others shock and drop proof. Ideally, you should know which features you desire before you dive into comparing the dizzying amount of options. The Insignia speaker we had purchased for dad came with the ability to act as a power bank to charge a mobile device. Ultimately, we decided that was nifty but not a requirement. Similarly, have a price range in mind. Not having one is what made our choice so hard, since it didn’t narrow down anything. We had been willing to pay more if something really impressed us.
After some back and forth we thought hard about where and how we would use this speaker. For general use in the house, almost any option would do so we set out to our local Best Buy to have a listen. This small $40 jam plus speaker packed in generous volume. Bose and Beats options both proved to have unsurprising and undeniable sound quality, but we got the feeling early on that a good portion of their high price tag was related to the brand name. The Harman Kardon Esquire Mini was practically a fashion statement in its metallic casing, as were the various Kate Spade speakers that come with their own purse-like carrying case. The UE Boom 2 seemed like the speaker to beat for what ultimately ended up as our preference: A medium sized, portable but loud speaker with a price point somewhere in the middle of the pack. Something about the look of this speaker bothered me, so I was noncommittal. My husband already knew he wanted to hear the JBL Flip 3 but was disappointed to find that Best Buy did not have it on display. That being said, our mission to listen to all possible options to buy the speaker that offered the best combination of price and sound hadn’t been a full success. We walked out of Best Buy empty handed but knowing at least that we ruled out some speakers on the highest and lowest end of the price spectrum.
Just Do It
Indecision gets old quickly, especially when you’re seeking to buy a new gadget to play with. After pouring over more reviews and comparisons, it came down to the JBL Flip 3 and the UE Boom. The latter option costs nearly double but is water, dirt and shock proof. It clams a 15 hour battery life compared to the Flip 3’s 10 hour life. Again I went back to the look of the thing (how the buttons make what looks like a cross) and how much this speaker was worth to me. We both decided that for $100 cheaper, the JBL Flip 3 was our winner. We purchased it on Amazon, sound unheard, and hoped for the best.
Double Time
Long story short, it only took a matter of days for us to order a second speaker. The JBL Up 3 sounded great and offered the ability to connect two speakers to one source, providing multi-room or surround sound use. Since we were to be having a party soon that we knew would bring guests to both the main floor and basement, the decision was quick.
Set up and Use
Like most other bluetooth devices on the market, pairing the speaker to an iPhone or iPad was easy and only took a few moments. I did not need to read any instructions. Simply turn on the speaker and navigate to your device’s Bluetooth screen. Press the bluetooth button on the speaker (noted by its symbol) to make it discoverable and watch it pop up on your screen. Press it and within 15 seconds, you’ll hear a pleasant chime on the speaker to let you know it worked. The speaker comes with a generously long charge cable and a series of 5 small lights show you your charge level, so you should be able to start use right out of the box or after a very short charge.
Features
This speaker has some of the common features we saw when comparison shopping. It can be used as microphone for calls, can be paired with another speaker and is splash proof. Using it for calls sounded appealing for the thought of my husband taking a conference call on the rare days he works from home but it wasn’t a required feature. A note of caution for phone pairing – the speaker will play your other sounds. I quickly learned that listening to music from my iPhone meant interruptions for the sound of my typing clicks or unlock sound. I also inadvertently hijacked the sound with a quick social media scroll that led me to a video. Being at least splash proof was important to us. We plan on using it outside near our pool and while we don’t run much a risk of the speaker being submerged, we envision using the controls with wet hands or walking near it with wet legs.
Sound
One part of this speaker that I like it its funky sounds it makes to let you know it’s turned on or off.
But that’s not what’s important. What you really need to know is how it sounds. Keep in mind our ears probably hear it better than the iPhone I used to take this video and the air in our home transmits better than whatever you are using to listen right now. That being said, I’m still pretty impressed at even the sound in this video.
The Starting Line. “Anyways.” 2016
I’ve found the sound to be clear and generously loud no matter what type of music is playing. I’m no pro and those out there who are may beg to differ but for a $100 portable bluetooth speaker for casual in-home use, the JBL Flip 3 is a winner.
Verdict
This is a recommended buy for a solid portable Bluetooth speaker with a moderate price. It is missing a few features compared to competitors but provides an excellent overall value.
Lifestyle
Tesla Semi hauls fresh Cybercab batch as Robotaxi era takes hold
A Tesla Semi was filmed hauling Cybercab units out of Giga Texas for the first time.
A Tesla Semi loaded with Cybercab units was recently filmed leaving Gigafactory Texas, marking what appears to be the first documented delivery run of Tesla’s autonomous two-seater. The footage shows multiple Cybercabs secured on a flatbed trailer being hauled by a production Tesla Semi, a truck rated for a gross combination weight of 82,000 lbs. The location is consistent with Giga Texas in Austin, where Cybercab production has been ramping since February 2026.
The sighting follows a wave of Cybercab activity at the Austin facility. In late April, drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer spotted approximately 60 Cybercabs parked in two organized groups in the factory’s outbound lot, the largest concentration observed to date. Units being staged in an outbound lot is a standard pre-delivery step, and the Semi footage is the logical next frame in that sequence.
En route with @tesla_semi pic.twitter.com/ZfuOjaeLH1
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) May 7, 2026
This is not the first time Tesla has used its own Semi to move Tesla products. When the Semi was unveiled in 2017, Musk noted it would be used for Tesla’s own operations, and over the years Semi prototypes were spotted carrying cargo ranging from concrete weights to Tesla vehicles being delivered to consumers. In 2023, a Semi was photographed transporting a Cybertruck on a trailer ahead of that vehicle’s delivery launch.
The Cybercab itself was first revealed publicly at Tesla’s “We, Robot” event on October 10, 2024, at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, where 20 pre-production units gave attendees rides around the studio lot. Musk stated at the event that Tesla intends to produce the Cybercab before 2027. The first production unit rolled off the Giga Texas line on February 17, 2026, with Musk posting on X: “Congratulations to the Tesla team on making the first production Cybercab.”
Tesla’s annual production goal is 2 million Cybercabs per year once multiple factories reach full design capacity, with the company targeting a price under $30,000 per unit. Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its robotaxi service to seven cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, building on the unsupervised service already running in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year.
Tesla has taken home the “Overall Loyalty to Make” award from S&P Global Mobility for the fourth consecutive year, reinforcing Tesla owners’ willingness to come back. The 2025 awards are based on S&P Global Mobility’s analysis of 13.6 million new retail vehicle registrations in the U.S. from October 2024 through September 2025. The complete list of 2025 winners includes General Motors for Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer, Tesla for Overall Loyalty to Make, Chevrolet Equinox for Overall Loyalty to Model, Mini for Most Improved Make Loyalty, Subaru for Overall Loyalty to Dealer, and Tesla again for both Ethnic Market Loyalty to Make and Highest Conquest Percentage.
Tesla’s streak in this category started in 2022, and the brand has now won the Highest Conquest Percentage award for six straight years, meaning it keeps pulling buyers away from other brands at a rate no competitor has matched. Tesla’s retention among Asian households reached 63.6% and among Hispanic households 61.9%, rates that significantly outpace national averages for those groups. That breadth of appeal across demographics adds a layer of significance to a win that some might dismiss as routine.
The timing matters too. After several consecutive quarters of decline, Tesla’s share of U.S. EV sales jumped to 59% in Q4 2025. That rebound, arriving just as competitors were flooding the market with new models and incentives, suggests Tesla’s loyalty numbers are not simply the result of limited alternatives. Buyers are still choosing it when they have plenty of other options.
What keeps Tesla owners coming back has a lot to do with the and convenience of charging. The Supercharger network is the most straightforward example. With over 65,000 Superchargers globally, it remains the largest and most reliable fast-charging network in the world, and owners who have built their routines around it face a real practical cost when considering a switch. Competitors have made progress, but the consistency, speed, and availability of Tesla’s network is still the benchmark the rest of the industry is chasing. Then there is the software side. Tesla has built a model where the car you own today is functionally different from the car you bought two years ago, through over-the-air updates that add continuous game-changing improvements such as Full Self-Driving that has moved from a driver-assist feature to an increasingly capable autonomous system. For many Tesla owners, leaving the brand means starting over with a car that will not get meaningfully better over time, and that is a trade-off fewer and fewer are willing to make.
Cybertruck
Tesla Cybercab just rolled through Miami inside a glass box
Tesla paraded a Cybercab in a glass display at Miami’s F1 Grand Prix event this week.
Tesla set up an “Autonomy Pop-Up” at Lummus Park in Miami Beach from April 29 through May 3, 2026, embedded within the official F1 Miami Grand Prix Fan Fest. The centerpiece was a Cybertruck towing the Cybercab inside a glass display case marked “Future is Autonomous,” rolling through the beachfront crowd.
Miami is on Tesla’s confirmed list of cities for robotaxi expansion in the first half of 2026, making the promotion a strategic promotion that lays groundwork in a target market.
This was not Tesla’s first time using Miami as a showcase city. In December 2025, Tesla hosted “The Future of Autonomy Visualized” at its Miami Design District showroom, coinciding with Art Basel Miami Beach. That event featured the Cybercab prototype and Optimus robots interacting with attendees. The F1 pop-up this week marks Tesla’s return to Miami and follows a pattern Tesla has been running since early 2026. Just two weeks before Miami, Tesla stationed Optimus at the Tesla Boston Boylston Street showroom on April 19 and 20, directly on the final stretch of the Boston Marathon, letting tens of thousands of runners and spectators meet the robot for free, generating massive earned media at zero advertising cost.
Tesla is sending its humanoid Optimus robot to the Boston Marathon
Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its robotaxi service to seven cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, building on the unsupervised service already running in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year. On the production side, Musk told shareholders that the Cybercab manufacturing process could eventually produce up to 5 million vehicles per year, targeting a cycle time of one unit every ten seconds. Scaling robotaxis to 10 million operational units over the next ten years is a key condition of his compensation package, alongside selling 20 million passenger vehicles.
As for the Cybercab’s price, Musk has said buyers will be able to purchase one for under $30,000, with an average operating cost around $0.20 per mile. Whether those numbers hold through full production remains to be seen.
Cybercab at F1 Fan Fest in Miami
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teslamotors
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