Milwaukee has added a new M18/M12 Bluetooth jobsite speaker to their cordless lineup, model 2891-20.
The new Milwaukee Bluetooth speaker features 6 full-range speakers for “unmatched premium quality sound”, and it’s quite durable too, with an IP54 water and dust resistant rating with an M18 pack plugged in.
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It’s fairly compact, at 14″ long, and weighing 5.25 lbs.
Features & Specs
- 2x 20W channels (40W total)
- Total harmonic distortion of 0.28%
- 2 mid-woofers
- 2 tweeters
- 2 passive radiators
- Runtime: up to 16 hours with M18 5.0Ah battery, 8.5 hours with M12 4.0Ah battery
- 2.1A USB charging port
- AC adapter included
- Aux input port (cable not included)
Milwaukee designed the speaker with a reinforced honeycomb grid, impact-resistant side caps, and a roll cage, to protect the internal components from drops, impacts, and the usual rough handling that a jobsite or portable speaker might encounter.
Price: $149
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Getting Started
Plug in a power source, turn it on, press and hold the Bluetooth button, and reach for your smartphone or other device.
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It took my Android phone 2 scans to find the radio for syncing.
It took maybe 2 minutes to unbox the speaker and start streaming music, and that includes plugging in a power source.
So How Does it Sound?
Milwaukee claims “high definition music,” “unmatched clarity of sound,” and “booming bass to sharp high frequencies.”
To my ears, the sound is indeed very clear.
Back in 2006 I had purchased a portable and wireless 2.1 speaker for my laptop. It worked with a special USB dongle, and the music was pretty clear but sometimes choppy. I ended up giving it to a colleague a few years later.
Fast forward to 2017, and clean and clear wireless sound is pretty much taken for granted. I’m pleased to say that this is a very good-sounding Bluetooth speaker.
But booming bass? Nope. It’s just not possible to get strong bass from small speakers. I’d consider the bass output to be adequate, which is actually pretty good when compared to some of the other small all-in one Bluetooth and cordless radios and speakers I’ve listened to.
Listening to it more, the bass seems to be sounding better. It’s still not booming, but the sounds are rich and full. Maybe the speakers have been breaking in?
The bass is only noticeably underwhelming with certain bass-rich songs. It’s more noticeable when I have an expectation of how a song should specifically sound.
These are observations, not complaints. It’s hard to describe the bass output, but if I had to, I’d say the lower bass frequency delivery is smooth and inoffensive. It’s clear, but simply lacks the punch of a subwoofer or larger full-range speakers. As expected.
Overall, I’d say that the new Milwaukee M18/M12 cordless speaker delivers very pleasing sound, especially for a cordless and wireless speaker.
Overall
I feel that Milwaukee hit the nail on the head with this system. It looks good, sounds good, the controls are simple, connectivity quick and easy, and you have 3 power options: an M12 battery, M18 battery, or included AC adapter.
It also has an aux input, in case you cannot or don’t want to use Bluetooth, and a USB charging port.
There’s a recessed carry handle on one end, and the speaker can be placed horizontally or vertically, which gives you some options. You might even be able to hang it from the handle if you were so inclined.
The AC power adapter jack, aux input port, and USB port are protected by a strong door that’s lined with rubber and retained by a thick rubber hinge strap.
It seems like a lot of careful thought went into the design and engineering.
This isn’t a no-frills Bluetooth jobsite speaker, but its compact size does mean there’s no enclosed media bay for stashing your smartphone or MP3 player. But, if you stand the speaker up, you can stick your phone into the recessed handle. It won’t be very secure, but it’s secure enough to keep my phone off the floor.
There’s no radio tuner, but you might be able to stream your favorite stations from your phone.
The $149 price might seem a little steep, but would I have preferred for some of the features to have been cut? Would I have wanted a stick-out handle? No USB charging? No dual-battery compatibility? A less durable design? Fewer or lesser speakers? Nope. It’s pretty perfect the way it is.
Buy Now(via Acme Tool)
Buy Now(via Home Depot)
Questions? What would you have me look at over time? And no, I’m not going to throw it off a roof.
Thank you to Milwaukee for providing the review sample unconditionally.
NoDeuces
Just before this was announced, I bought the Makita XRM07. The Bluetooth range is terrible but it’s an otherwise incredible speaker. Example, if my phone is in my pocket and I walk 10 feet away, the audio gets choppy. Other than this I love it.
I’d be curious if Milwaukee improves on that capability…or inability.
Stuart
I can’t detect any distortion or signal losses at 20-25 feet indoors, across 3 rooms. I can try to test the limits further, but imagine most users will have a smartphone in the same room as the speaker.
BonPacific
Worth trying different phones as well, I’ve found the BT radio’s vary a lot depending on the make and model.
KL
Agreed. Some of our iPhones play better w certain speakers than others. My Milwaukee stereo 2792 can generally pull off 25-30′ (unobstructed) pretty easily
Drew M
You should compare this to a JBL Flip3 which in my opinion is one of, if not the best sounding bluetooth speakers that doesn’t cost a mint. The Flip3’s highs are a little muddy which is disappointing but I happen to know that really good tweeters are quite expensive.
MichaelHammer
I would love to have high quality sound in a durable package at work. Your review has me intrigued. The THD is listed at 0.28%. Unfortunately, the number doesn’t mean very much without more information. Do you know at what hertz and what decibels this THD value comes from?
mikedt
$150 and no battery seems pretty damn expensive given the very nice BT speakers put out by consumer electronic companies – many of those with similar dust and water ratings.
Dean
I agree. $150 and no battery nor does it charge a battery when plugged in on AC is too steep. Throw in the fact that there is no tuner and its a no sale to me. Don’t get me wrong. Im a Milwaukee guy. If this shows up in the sub $100 I’d consider it as I do need new shop speakers. Its too overpriced for what it is.
Brent
One other knock on this is that apparently, you have to use an external A/C adapter with a “brick” on the end to power the unit. I would have thought that, in keeping with Milwaukee’s “nothing but professional grade” tag line, they would have used a standard-weight cord that plugs directly into the unit with a transformer inside the cabinet, rather than a cheap and easily broken external adapter. It probably would have added only a buck or two to the cost, which I’m sure they could afford on what’s likely to be a high-margin product.
And if they did what I’m suggesting above, they could have easily added a charger circuit into the speaker so that if you are running on A/C power, it would charge whatever battery is in the unit. That would help justify the relatively premium price of the unit — a non-ruggedized speaker like the Harmon Kardon Onyx has really great sound and frequently is on sale for $99, so the only reason to buy a Milwaukee speaker is the large variety of jobsite-friendly features, which go a ways beyond ruggedness. These days, there’s no such thing as being too rich or having too many battery chargers.
Stuart
I believe the adapter outputs 18V DC.
Incorporating the adapter within the speaker would add to the complexity and cost. Oh, a charger too? That would add greatly to the complexity and cost as well.
Heat generation becomes a bigger issue to take I to account.
Milwaukee makes a larger Bluetooth radio.
I don’t love wall wart AC adapters, but they probably figure these will be battery powered on site, and AC powered in a stationary setting, like a garage or workshop, where a small cord would be preferable.
I like standard AC plugs on some corded tools, but it wouldn’t be appropriate or welcome on this one, at least speaking from my own preferences and opinion.
Bremon
It doesn’t justify the crappy cord, but for what it’s worth my M18 fan and Dewalt ToughSystem radio both use junky wall wart cords too. “Nothing but heavy duty” and “guaranteed tough” don’t apply to power cords apparently.
Wayne
I want to like these, but given that I mostly work out of my garage I have no real use. It makes more sense for me to just use a regular speaker, that costs a lot less. Still I’m tempted by the cool factor.
RC WARD
I’ll take a cheap receiver and set of speakers in the garage any day of the week These blue tooth job site speakers are just that. Good for on the job portable. In a garage go with a real music set up.
Koko the Talking Ape
This might be a weird question, but how is the dispersion? I.e., does the sound change very much as you move around it? Is it like a spotlight, or is it like a floodlight?
Also, is there some way to mount it on a pole stand? The reason I ask these questions is that I am looking for a durable, compact, battery-powered public address system for outdoor events.
Thanks!
Stuart
Pretty good. I can’t find a sweet spot or any dull spots.
The speaker is hexagonal-shaped. When set down horizontally, one set of speakers emits upwards, the other outwards at a 60 degree upwards angle. With the speaker on the floor, it sounds good in front or behind it, but I would expect for some volume drop off behind it.
I’m not sure this would have the volume or reach as a public address system. I suppose you could prop it up vertically so that volume isn’t lost to the sky.
What about using the Dewalt Portable Power Station with a corded unit? Or a larger unit like the Milwaukee radio charger or Bosch Power Box?
Koko the Talking Ape
Thanks!
You mean use a battery power supply like the Dewalt Power Station to power ordinary speakers? Well, the issue is that speakers need amplifiers. I would also need an amplifier to go between the Power Station and the speakers. Further, the amp would have to accept 18 v DC or whatever the Power Station produces, which is hard to find. An unit like this Milwaukee Bluetooth Speaker has everything in one unit, except for the music source (which is acceptable.)
There are portable, battery-powered PA systems out there, but they start at about the same price as this Milwaukee, and I don’t know about their durability. And absolute volume isn’t as important for me as sound quality, which affects intelligibility. Anyway, it was just an idea. Thanks again!
Joe Hanson
Does Milwaukee or DeWalt have a device that uses a tool battery to jumpstart a dead car or truck battery?
The yeti
That’s a good product . There would be a market .
Joe Hanson
I dont see why it couldnt be incoporated into a radio or tire inflator or device charger.
Cr8ondt
Well I can’t exactly recomend it….. but…… I’ve jumped my truck more than I care to admit with my DeWalt batteries. (have also used 18v nicads in the past too)
The yeti
I guess u could probably make one .. take a charger for the slide and contacts . Gut the rest . Get a transformer that would work with some heavy windings in it . Wire it up to alligator clips on the other side . And try er out . I’m sure I’m missing a part or two . But u might get the idea . Seems it would be a product they could make easily . Especially bosch who already builds car parts
Joe Hanson
It just seems odd that the major power tool companies don’t already have one by now considering how many multi use things companies have been pushing lately powered by battery packs.
Ryan Price
How does the sound compare to its big brother the jobsite radio/charger? (2792-20)
Stuart
It’ll take me time to dig out the larger radio/charger for comparison.
Generally, bigger = boomier. The 2792-20 sounds great, and I would expect it to have slightly better lower frequencies due to what I believe are larger speakers.
glenn
Way to go Milwaukee. Just what we need, another overpriced, underspecce’d speaker/radio.
Perhaps release a few tools that we want rather than another radio or another light. Then again I suppose there is more profit with less R&D effort in producing an led light or a a speaker/radio completely lacking in the basic features.
Really, it costs stuff all and takes up very little space to include a bluetooth chip and an FM/DAB tuner, let alone a separate woofer ant tweeter.
Guessing this speaker is 10x better, 25% louder and has 50% less THD than the opposition speakers do.
Where is the DC charger outside of the USA ac/dc version? Pretty sure that would be very profitable with little effort. Or perhaps the inflator that people keep asking for?
Adam
And a new oscillating multi tool! For Christ sake already. I love the lights and all but Milwaukee has soooo many other things that could actually advance their product line up than another freakin radio. Personally, this thing seems like garbage at twice the price of their previous Bluetooth speaker. (Which is actually kind of decent)
Cr8ondt
Forgive me for pointing this out……
“The new Milwaukee Bluetooth speaker features 6 full-range speakers ”
“2 mid-woofers
2 tweeters
2 passive radiators”
At best they could call it 4 speakers(2 drivers per channel) as PASSIVE radiators are not speakers at all. And while some thought and tuning is involved with using them, they are the lazy engineer’s way of skipping out on designing a proper transmission port.
Sorry I’ve spent too much time(25 years, 10 years installing) in the world of professional, commercial, and home audio making me a bit of a snob about sound.
Koko the Talking Ape
Lazy? Passive radiators are a choice, like any other. For one thing, they don’t create port turbulence. For another, they don’t take up space in the enclosure, unlike a tubular port. They also allow a sealed box, which might be handy in a dusty work environment. They are certainly more expensive than ports.
And if it sounds good at a reasonable price, who cares?
(What is a “transmission port” I know of “transmission line” speakers, and “ported,” aka “vented” or “reflex,” speakers but no “transmission ports.”)
Aaron
$149 without a radio tuner? What a joke.
If you want a jobsite BT radio that doesn’t have a lot of bass but sounds phenomenal, clear, and crisp (and doesn’t eat up space), I’d highly recommend Hitachi’s BT radio that came out last year. It’s also IP rated and actually has a terrific port to store your device with adjustable holders, and $50 cheaper than this.
Aaron
^It also has an AM/FM tuner, unlike this Milwaukee.
john
I will definitely be buying this once it is available for sub$100. I would take bluetooth over AM/FM any day of the week (Spotify or Google Music is so much better).
I plan on mounting an amazon echo dot to this for sure (usb and 3.5mm).
Doneright
This will work great for me. I currently use the M12 speaker and it’s barely loud enough for the jobsite. I thought about buying the full size M18 radio but it’s just too bulky for me. Having multiple chargers already, don’t really need another.
The only time I listen to the radio is occasionally in my truck (don’t like commercials). I guess if I just had to listen to the radio at work, I would just go to Goodwill and pick one up for $5 and consider it disposable.
Looking forward to buying this….
Chris P.
Can you link two or more speakers together?
dcb
Once again Milwaukee completely blew it with another poorly researched and out of date new tool roll out. Another radio that doesn’t charge batteries, only has one usb port, no built in cord and doesn’t have a tuner? Why bother? Anyone i work with needs those features and how hard can they be to incorporate? Dewalt has half a dozen radios with all of them, and power outlets too. Starting to wonder why i have a van full of red and black instead of yellow and black. If i wanted a battery powered bluetooth speaker i could get one that doesn’t say milwaukee from best buy for a tenth of the price.
A collated screw gun, 7 1/4″ sliding chop saw, table saw, pony router, decent oscillating tool, and orbital sander would be nice too. Almost all of which Dewalt or some other company introduced last year. Come on guys.
Ryan Price
Agreed. I would also add modular storage boxes to that list.
Tom
I have the M12 bluetooth speaker (3ish years old now) and the old M12 radio with/aux input (6 years old). I use the bluetooth speaker around the house when I am listening to audiobooks. I like that I can carry it around with me from room to room. The range is pretty good.
I won both of these from websites and have used them more than I thought I would. I don’t think I would pay money for them though.
Chance
Volume wont go past a certain point then starts to skip??
Matthew
Have had for a week. I own several Bluetooth speakers and this is the best one. Rugged and sounds great. Even the m12 battery lasts for 10 hours easy. I need music in several different locations daily and this speaker does the job. Place in a corner for more bass. Plenty of volume and good sound. Well worth the $140.
Rob Garland
I just bought one. Audio cuts out every 5 to 30 seconds (I’ve tried 3 different phones.
It’s not the phone, it’s the speaker). Incredibly annoying. I should have known better than to buy a bluetooth radio from a power tools company, just like I wouldn’t buy an impact wrench from Kenwood. Lesson learned.
Mike Tatham
I am looking for the ability to answer phone calls with an external mic on the speaker. Guess I could live without it as long as it would be easy to answer calls without having to disconnect the bluetooth. I havent had enough bluetooth speakers to know if this is even an issue. Do you know what happens on this speaker when a call comes in?
Dimitri
The problem I have with it is that there are no media controls on the speaker – no SKIP/NEXT/PLAY/PAUSE. You have to do it on your phone.