One my highlights of CES 2026 was hearing Fender Audio’s Bluetooth speakers in person – not because they’re wildly innovative (though the company has some cool ideas), but because they just sound great.
Fender Audio is a separate company to the guitar maker’s core business, but it’s run by a former Fender employee. Quite a few people – including us, in our news coverage – were surprised and maybe disappointed that these don’t look like a Fender amp or the body of a telecaster, but I feel safe saying these people won’t be disappointed by the sound.
There are two models: the Elie 6 and the Elie 12, and it was the Elie 6 that particularly grabbed my attention.
This isn’t a very big speaker (though it’s not small either – more like a Sonos Era 100 than a JBL Flip 7), but it delivers a far fuller, deeper and richer sound than I was expecting. That’s thanks to its three-way system – there’s a tweeter and a pretty sizeable mid-range driver facing forward, and then a dedicated bass driver firing downwards. Not a passive radiator – an active speaker just for low-frequency power, which is rare on speakers this size.
As a result, the Elie 6 not only fills a mid-size room with sound without breaking a sweat, it does it with satisfyingly deep and well-controlled bass, mids that feel like they have loads of room to express themselves properly, and treble that stays clean and clear.
It felt pretty dynamic, and seemed to deliver an amount of detail just as well-realised as its soundstage in my short demo. And then I heard a pair in stereo, and I was even more impressed – the stereo imaging was flawless, and combined they had even more power and expressiveness.
At $299 (about £220 / AU$445), the Elie 6 certainly isn’t cheap, but based on my time so far, I think it could well be worth it – and there are other options among the best Bluetooth speakers for that kind of price without the extra tricks of Fender’s box.
Specifically, the Fender speakers both have an XLR input that doubles as a 1/4-inch input, so you can connect a guitar or microphone. They also have two wireless connectivity buttons that aren’t about Bluetooth – Fender plans to release a range of wireless accessories, and demoed me a prototype of a DJI-like wireless clip-on mic that beams straight to the speaker. You could imagine a wireless electric guitar connection as an option, for example.
The speakers themselves have more features than most, too – for example, a dedicated switch for switching between stereo and single speaker modes, so you don’t need to fetch the app. The larger Elie 12 model has EQ controls as well.
I haven’t mentioned the Elie 12 much – not because it’s worse than the Elie 6, but because it just didn’t surprise me in the same way. It’s considerably larger, so I expected more from it – and it delivered. It appears to be basically two Elie 6 models in a single unit (which the name certainly implies), and it has two bass drivers to that effect.
As a result, it goes very loud, while maintaining that great sound balance I said impressed me in the Elie 6 – though while it’s now a stereo system, it still feels like it’s delivering sound from a single box.
The Elie 12 is $399 (about £300 / AU$600), so will be competing against premium speakers from the likes of Bose – but I think it may be up to the challenge. Consider these are the first speakers from the newly formed Fender Audio, Marshall might need to watch its back.
The best Bluetooth speakers for all budgets
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