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There are some really good Black Friday Bluetooth speaker deals out there, delivering massive savings – such as 41% off the most recent version of the Beats Pill speaker, down from £149.99 to £89 on Amazon UK, or 45% off the JBL Flip 6, down from £129 to £72. But there’s an even better deal on the Bluetooth speaker I’d actually buy: Amazon UK is currently offering the JBL Flip 7 for £79.99, down from £129.99.

• Shop all Amazon’s Black Friday deals

Today’s best Black Friday JBL Flip 7 deals

Why I’d buy the JBL Flip 7 over the Beats Pill

The JBL and the Beats are very similar speakers, and they’re both good buys – especially at Black Friday deal prices.

But I think the JBL has the edge in some areas that really matter to me, and the most important of those areas is its EQ: with the Beats Pill you’re stuck with its default sound, but the JBL’s EQ is customisable via the app.

That’s useful for everything, of course, but I think it’s particularly handy for podcasts and audiobooks: some male voices are so deep that rolling off some of the low end makes them much more listenable. And it’s handy to go the other way if you’re listening to tinny lo-fi music or older music.

There are other differences too. The Flip is marginally smaller and a little bit lighter, and I prefer its carrying attachment to the long lanyard of the Beats speaker. It’s more water resistant – IP68 to the Pill’s IP67 – and I like its buttons better. It has Auracast for speaker sociability, and until it sells out, it’s £10 cheaper. Taking all these things together I think JBL has the Beats… beat.

Today’s best deals on the other speakers here

Shop more of today’s best Black Friday sales

• Amazon: up to 66% off tech & essentials
• AO: up to £500 off Dyson, Bosch & Hisense
• Argos: up to 50% off appliances, tech & toys
• Boots: save on 1,000s of beauty products
• Currys: deals on Ninja, Shark & Lenovo
• Dell: laptops from £279
• Dyson: up to £550 off vacuums
• EE: Switch 2 bundles from £20/month
• John Lewis: up to 50% off tech & fashion
• Lego: sets & accessories from £2.99
• Samsung: deals on appliances & phones
• Very: up to 40% off tech, toys & fashion

Contributor

Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than twenty books. Her latest, a love letter to music titled Small Town Joy, is on sale now. She is the singer in spectacularly obscure Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.