The speaker market is always one of the most competitive spaces we assess for our annual awards, and that was very much the case this past year.
Some big names released new and revamped speakers, with the average level of sound quality you could expect getting ever higher over time.
However, there can only be one winner, and after our judges had their say we were left with our speaker of the year for the EE Pocket-lint Awards 2022.
Best speaker: Audio Pro C10 MkII
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Audio Pro’s pedigree is only increasing over time – its mastery of audio is right there in its name, but the recent refresh of its core speakers shows that it also understands what connectivity people want from their tech.
Bringing Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect to the party means that the frankly awesome sound you get from the C10 MkII is incredibly, trivially easy to set up.
That’s a winning combination this year, and it’s only added to by the lovely design notes that make most of Audio Pro’s speakers so tasteful and downright classy.
Read our review of the Audio Pro C10 MkII
Highly commended: Sonos Five
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Another powerhouse of connectivity, Sonos is still one of the very best choices for anyone setting up a new multi-room sound system in their home. The Five is a unit of a speaker, but one that’s carefully designed to be soft on the eye, and the room-filling sound it delivers is absolutely superb.
Read our review of the Sonos Five
The best of the rest
There weren’t just two good speakers this year, though – we tested a bunch that left us with extremely positive lasting impressions. Ultimate Ears updated the Wonderboom to great effect with the small but mighty Wonderboom 3. The JBL Flip 6 is one of the best portable and outdoor speakers of recent times. Devialet created a speaker that sounds great but also looks like absolutely nothing else on the market in the Mania. Finally, Marshall continued to put out great, retro-looking speakers and we really enjoyed the Emberton II‘s tiny power.
What are the Pocket-lint Awards?
The EE Pocket-lint Awards take place annually to celebrate the best of tech from the previous 12 months. Products need to be fully reviewed by the Pocket-lint team to be considered for the Awards, with judging taking place towards the end of the year. Through a process of longlisting and shortlisting, the panel of expert judges scores the devices to result in the overall winner and a Highly Commended runner-up.
The Pocket-lint Awards were run for the 19th time in 2022.