How to Find a Lost Bluetooth Speaker

What you’re dealing with

They also have the best battery life of anything in this list, which buys you days rather than hours.

Broadcasts as	JBL Flip 6, JBL Charge 5, Soundcore, Sonos Roam, Marshall Emberton
Typical battery	12 to 20 hours typical, days on standby
Findable by scan	Yes, while powered on
Search window	Days to weeks

Once the battery is gone: Portable speakers have big batteries and long standby, so a speaker lost last weekend is often still discoverable.

Taken out, rained on, still there under a chair.

The most common permanent loss. A pin on the map settles the argument.

Packed for the trip, never unpacked.

Left in the bag that got put in the garage.

Check the last-seen map firstBefore you search a room, find out which building. A pin saves you from searching the right way in the wrong place.
Scan from the middle of the roomNote everything that appears, then select the device you want so the rest of the list drops away.
Walk and watch the signalSweep in a straight line, give each position a few seconds, and turn 90 degrees when the reading stops rising.
Search inside things, not across themA strong signal with nothing visible means it is underneath or inside something. Fabric and metal block Bluetooth badly.

Outdoors, Bluetooth range is much better than indoors, you can often pick up a speaker across an entire garden or car park.
Speakers advertise the model in their name, so JBL Flip 6 in a scan is unambiguous even in a busy area.

The same method applies to these, with different battery windows and different hiding places.

Outdoors with a clear line of sight, often 50 metres or more. Indoors through walls, expect 10 to 20.