Portable Bluetooth speakers with Alexa built-in that will allow voiceover to be routed to the phone

By Brennen, 10 March, 2021

Forum
Apple Hardware and Compatible Accessories

Hi everyone so I’m not sure if this is the right part of the forum to post to soon so if it’s not I’m sorry but does anybody know of a good Bluetooth speaker that’s portable that has Alexa built into it and where you can route voiceover to the phone instead of the speaker itself
I’d like to find some thing like I said that has alexa Built into it but is very portable so that I can take it outside with me on the nice days and is a Bluetooth speaker so I can connect other devices to it including my phone and that I can make sure that voiceover routes to the phone and not the speaker
I understand that the tap is available but it is also no longer sold by Amazon so I would rather not deal with that end it would be nice to be able to connect my phone directly to the Bluetooth without having to go through Alexa meaning that I could either Bluetooth it with Alexa or I could do it just through the speaker itself that way I can switch back-and-forth between Alexa and Bluetooth
I hope that everything I’ve said makes sense and that you guys are able to help me thank you so very much and I hope everybody’s having a good day

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Comments

By Carlos Alonso on Friday, March 5, 2021 - 23:40

Sonos just announced a new portable wifi/bluetooth speaker called the Sonos Roam - actually they already had a portable speaker on the market but it's bulky and expensive, but the new Roam sounds like it's similar in size to the Bose Soundlink mini which is bluetooth only and doesn't have Alexa, the Roam is $169 which is $20 more than the Bose. If you're not familiar with Sonos speakers, they are very popular premium speakers and they have an IOS app that is fully accessible and where you can access most popular music services such as Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, SiriusXM, etc., etc., You can check them out at Sonos.com

By peter on Friday, March 5, 2021 - 23:40

If you already have an echo device, I heard that someone makes a base for the device that has a built in battery and can be easily removed with the echo device connected so that you can haul it around anywhere, disconnected from A.C.

I don't know what the device is called, but our kids wanted to get us one so that we could take our echo device outside on the deck during the good weather.

they never did get us the device, but if you do find something like this, let us know!

--Pete

By Jessica Brown on Friday, March 5, 2021 - 23:40

Keep in mind keeping vo on the phone only works on airplay not bluetooth. Airplay needs wifi, so when you are out of wifi range and using bluetooth vo will be on the speaker.

By Brennen on Friday, March 5, 2021 - 23:40

Hi everyone so I read all the comments that people put here and I actually have one of those bases already but it’s very clunky and bulky and just kind of hard to move around with so I’m looking for something different and that’s why I’m looking for specific specific thing which is a Bluetooth speaker with Alexa already built into it I like the first comment that someone put up about the Sonos speaker I think that’s probably what I’m going to end up buying
Also does the echo support airplay because I didn’t think it did I thought it was just Bluetooth and that’s what I connect my phone with and it works fairly well with the voiceover coming to the phone but also I’m going to be using it primarily at home where I should be in good range of the Wi-Fi so I’m not too worried about that

By Carlos Alonso on Monday, April 5, 2021 - 23:40

Yes, the
new Sonos Roam will do what you need. It can be pre-ordered now but won't be available until sometime in April.
From what I've read it can work on both bluetooth and wifi at the same time and has a feature where, if you also have a wired Sonos speaker, you can transfer audio from the portable to the wired speaker by pressing a button on the portable for a few seconds. I have several Sonos speakers around the house and they sound great, if the new portable sounds anywhere near their wired speakers it should be a great choice. BTW, someone posted that you need airplay to route sound only without voiceover speech but there are several bluetooth only speakers that let you do this. I don't believe the Amazon Echo devices are airplay capable but the Sonos are, and they can also be switched back and forth between Alexa and Google voice assistants.

By Jessica Brown on Monday, April 5, 2021 - 23:40

Sorry. I didn’t know that. VoiceOver has never stayed on the phone when a bluetooth speaker was connected. Basically from the first iPhone to the 8+ I have now. What speakers do this?

By Carlos Alonso on Monday, April 5, 2021 - 23:40

I've done this with the
Bose Soundlink mini, I thought this was based on the bluetooth version on the speaker but I've also been able to do this using a pretty old speaker while not on others, so don't know if the feature is buggy or if it works based on hardware/settings

I have that speaker. How do you make VO stay on the phone? Whenever I try to change the audio destination in the rotor, the music just stops.

By Rob on Monday, April 5, 2021 - 23:40

I have the Sonos Move and use its bluetooth feature with my iPad Mini 5 and VO remains on the iPad. To do this, I first start playing the audio I want to hear on the iPad and then I put the Sonos Move into bluetooth mode and the audio is then automatically switched from iPad to speaker but VO still remains on the iPad. If I start the audio straight away on the bluetooth speaker, VO also goes to the speaker. You can then either lock the iPad or look at other things on it whilst enjoying the audio. These tips assume that you have already paired your bluetooth speaker with your iPhone or iPad. Hope this helps.