6 Ways to Repurpose an Old Bluetooth Speaker

Bluetooth speakers come and go, and you might be about to throw out an old one so that you can unwrap the latest, shiniest model to take to the beach or install in your study.

But wait! Before you get rid of that speaker, here are some other options than turning in into e-waste for your consideration.

Use It as a Bathroom Speaker or in The Kitchen

Woman in a kitchen using voice commands to control a smart speaker.

My wife and I have been keeping a nice JBL Bluetooth speaker permanently in our bathroom for years now. We use it to listen to music while in the shower or bath, or for a really long soak, maybe an audiobook or podcast. It doesn’t have to be one of those waterproof speakers designed for use inside your shower either. As long as it’s not under direct water, it should be fine.

The kitchen is another place these speakers come in handy. I love to watch YouTube videos while I cook, but my poor iPad’s speakers don’t have the oomph to overcome the noise of the extractor fan or sizzling pots and pans. Even a small basic Bluetooth speaker offers much more grunt, especially if you just want to hear someone’s spoken voice over the noise.

Make It a Permanent PC or Gaming Console Speaker

So, this sounds like a bad idea because Bluetooth tends to have latency, and you don’t necessarily want to have that with applications like games or for watching YouTube videos. However, some newer Bluetooth speakers, paired with the right Bluetooth chipset on your device, have little to no latency that you can notice.

That aside, if your Bluetooth speaker happens to have an “aux” input, that’s actually perfect. No lag, no loss of quality. However, this advice is mostly useful for stereo Bluetooth speakers. While you can use a mono speaker just fine, you’re losing out on too much in my opinion.

Use It for Outdoor or Workshop Tunes

If you like to work in your garage, or have a shed out in the back of the garden, then keeping a Bluetooth speaker there is perfect for some music or podcasts whenever you find yourself in the mood to work on your hobbies, or you have some chores to do. It’s more comfortable than wearing headphones or buds while you work, and since you presumably have your phone with you, it takes seconds to get your content playing.

If the speaker is one of those rugged models, even better.

Turn It Into a White-Noise or Sleep-Sound Machine

A woman sleeps on a couch next to a speaker making white noise.

Like a lot of people, I sleep a lot better with some white noise in the room. In my case, I just use a fan, but that’s not always possible, suitable, or convenient. That’s where a good white noise generator app comes into the picture, but unless you like sleeping with headphones on, you’ll need a speaker. Just about any old Bluetooth speaker will do. Just be mindful of your alarm also playing through it in the morning.

Add It to a Raspberry Pi or Retro Tech Project

Credit: Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek

People just love to use SBCs (Single-Board Computers) like the Raspberry Pi, and there are plenty of great projects using these devices. Whether you’re building a retro arcade machine, or some bespoke device that I couldn’t even imagine on my best day. A lot of the time, these projects benefit from having some sort of speaker, and an old Bluetooth speaker might be just the ticket.

Depending on the specific project, issues like latency or stereo audio might not even matter. So even if you don’t have a project like that in the works right away, it might be a good idea to put that speaker in a safe place, because you never know when you’ll need it.

Give It a Second Life as a Gift or Kids’ Music Player

Just because you’re done with your speaker doesn’t mean someone else couldn’t get some use out of it. Even if the battery is no longer good, many speakers can be plugged in with a USB charger and happily work for years that way. So why not gift it to a family member who can enjoy it long after you’ve lost interest?