I’ve been writing for Wirecutter since 2017 and regularly performing as a singer and guitarist since 2001. In addition, I’ve worked as a theatrical sound designer and a live mixer at a music venue, and I’ve engineered and produced several independent albums that have collectively garnered hundreds of thousands of streams. I’m also known to bust out a killer rendition of Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping,” both at karaoke and in casual conversation.

Like all Wirecutter journalists, I review and test products with complete independence, in accordance with our editorial standards. I have no knowledge about the business implications of any of my editorial recommendations. I don’t own any stock or have any other financial interest in any of the companies that I cover (or am likely to cover), and I don’t hold onto any “freebies,” always donating products after I’m done testing them, unless I need to hold onto them for long-term observations.

This guide is for anyone who wants to do some amplified singing at home or in small gatherings. Maybe you’re tired of singing in the shower (even if the acoustics are great). Perhaps you and your friends are really into the interactive aspects of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and you wish you could blend your voices into the songs more seamlessly. Or maybe you know in your heart that you’re headed for stage lights and Learjets and fortune and fame, but you still need a little practice. Karaoke is a billion-dollar industry in the United States, with over a thousand dedicated karaoke bars and an endless number of places hosting the occasional karaoke night. The karaoke app Smule claims to have 50 million active monthly users—and that’s just one app. With all those people singing their hearts out, it stands to reason that some of them might want to take the experience offline and into a room with other people.

Put another way: This guide is for those about to rock, and we salute you.

If you’re looking to host huge parties or scout for talent at the local bar, though, this isn’t the guide for you. For that, you should hire a professional KJ (karaoke DJ). And if you aspire to be a KJ yourself and are searching for suggestions on pro-level equipment, this isn’t the place for you either. This guide also won’t help you find a full-scale public address (PA) system—we looked into recommending one, but we think they’d be too complicated for most people who just want to throw some small karaoke soirees.

The biggest challenge I faced with this guide was also the most basic part of it: What exactly is a “karaoke machine,” anyway? Is it the microphone itself? The ability to mix a song source with a separate vocal track? Is it the little screen that displays the lyrics, with or without a cheesy CGI fireworks display in the background? Should a karaoke machine come with one of those big, beer-stained binders of CD+G discs that get passed around the bar every week? And what are people looking for in a home setup?

To find the answer:

• I sorted through listings of more than 100 karaoke machines, from big-box stores and specialty shops alike;
• I tried out more than a dozen karaoke subscription services;
• I combed through thousands of comments from karaoke enthusiasts on Facebook, Reddit, and elsewhere;
• And I even interviewed Garvaundo Hamilton, 2020’s Karaoke World Champion, about the differences between karaoke and other kinds of vocal performances.

It was Hamilton who gave me the key that helped me unlock the secret to a good karaoke machine. “There’s less expectation with karaoke,” he told me. “You’re doing it for fun, hanging with friends in a different environment. I’m not going to lower my singing standards just because it’s karaoke. But there is a difference, because the expectation is you’re going to have fun.”

With that in mind, I realized that a good karaoke machine is any machine that facilitates a singing performance—as long as it prioritizes fun. This means it will almost always include a microphone. But beyond that, it’s pretty flexible. Most of the consumer karaoke machines we found didn’t even have screens; instead, they served as a conduit to connect your tablet or TV to a speaker system.

In other words, you may have to supply your own Wi-Fi connection and screen, but a good karaoke machine should be able to cover the rest of the experience. That means it should be portable, easy to use, reasonably priced, and hopefully allow for more than one person to sing at a time. Bonus points if they have fun lights or sound effects.

We did a lot of karaoke. Like, a lot.

First, though, we had to set up each of the machines and took copious notes along the way. There are no prerequisites for karaoke and, as such, you shouldn’t have to be an audio engineer in order to figure out how to get your machine going. So we paid close attention to how simple or difficult the overall setup process was. We looked for things like:

• Are all the audio jacks and knobs clearly labeled and easy to control?
• Can you figure out how to access all the features without having to consult the instruction manual every time? And if you do have to consult it, is it actually helpful?
• Does it have Bluetooth connectivity and auxiliary ports, or any other additional inputs or outputs that could help?
• What kind of amenities are included in the box? For example, does it come with its own aux cable, or a pop filter to stop you from slobbering all over the mic?
• Does it have a light show? Is it uniquely fun or customizable, or does it hurt your eyes while you’re trying to watch your friends embarrass themselves?

Once the machines were all set up, we launched into some rousing renditions of our favorite Thin Lizzy¹ songs, plus a little Biz Markie and T-Swift for good measure. While we did that, we paid attention to the general audio quality, both of the microphones and the background music. Some of the things we looked for included:

• Do the mics make you sound like a muddled mess, or can you make out all the lyrics as the song moves along?
• Is the microphone responsive at different angles, or does the sound disappear if you don’t hold it the right way?
• Does the machine have any equalization or echo options to improve the audio? Do they actually work?
• Is it easy to use between songs? Is there a pause or skip button built-in?
• Does the machine come with any additional audio or visual inputs or outputs? Are they actually helpful?
• If it has a tablet holder, is it stable enough to select the next song without interrupting the flow of the night?

After that, we put the machines to the ultimate test: We gathered friends and neighbors for a raucous karaoke party, taking note of how much awesome fun was had. Admittedly, this part was kind of subjective. But it was also the most important, even if our notes were kind of hard to decipher the next morning.

Top pick

The most complete all-in-one karaoke machine

Ikarao Shell S1 10.1-inch Smart Karaoke Machine

With a tablet for lyrics, self-charging mic storage, versatile audio inputs, and decent speakers, the Ikarao is a good enough experience to forgive some frustrations with its touchscreen and microphone.

$350 from Amazon

The Ikarao Shell S1 10.1-inch Smart Karaoke Machine is the only karaoke machine we’ve tested that has absolutely everything you need to get a party going, all in one convenient carrying case that doubles as a speaker. And we do mean everything: The Ikarao even comes with a built-in touchscreen tablet screen for lyrics. That means you and your friends can go out into the middle of the woods and still sing your hearts out—which you might actually need to do, because this thing gets pretty loud. But don’t worry; the roughly 10-hour battery life will get you through the night.

The Ikarao’s built-in 10.1-inch tablet comes with multiple karaoke apps automatically installed, making it easy to find the songs you want to sing. Right out of the box, the Ikarao comes pre-loaded with YouTube, along with music-only services like Spotify and several dedicated karaoke apps including Smule and KaraFun (the latter of which comes with a free six-month subscription). It’s almost like buying a new tablet to use as a dedicated media server, complete with its own speaker.

It barely requires any setup either. All you have to do is turn it on, get onto the Wi-Fi, and the Ikarao is ready to rock right out of the box. There’s no need to worry about finding the right cables or crawling behind the TV set to plug something in. You may have to deal with the standard annoying login ritual if you want to get access to your personal Spotify library, though.

The Ikarao is also more portable than other karaoke machines we tested. It charges by USB-C, which is easy enough to find, and the mics charge automatically when you place them back inside of the machine, so you don’t have to worry as much about them cutting out in the middle of a song. Everything packs up neatly in one convenient case that weighs less than 12 pounds, which makes it light enough for kids to wrangle, too. It even comes with a carrying strap. No joke: My 4-year-old likes to sling it over his shoulder and walk around the block with the music blasting, recruiting the other kids for their own karaoke party.

It comes with a wide range of other audio inputs, too, as well as an HDMI port. There’s an aux-in port for your iPod (or whatever), plus a USB-C and standard USB input for flash drives and other storage, plus a separate ⅛-inch TRS input for an external microphone or other line-level instrument. But I found the HDMI output to be the most useful, because it allowed me to plug the 10.1-inch Ikarao into my TV, giving me a larger screen and making it easier for my friends to follow along as I fumbled through that really fast Barenaked Ladies song.

The speaker sounds pretty good, too. With a pair of 1-inch tweeters, a beefy pair of 3.5-inch subs, and up to 280 watts of output, the Ikarao is loud. We wouldn’t quite recommend spending this much money if you just plan on using the Ikarao as a portable Bluetooth speaker. But it definitely has the quality of a decent Bluetooth speaker (which is still a huge improvement over most of the other home karaoke machines we tested).

But the microphones themselves can be a little frustrating. The narrow, unidirectional diaphragms on the microphones means you really have to make sure you’re singing into them at the exact right angle and distance. The volume of your voice fluctuates at the slightest shift. The good news is, each mic has its own onboard volume control, so your singers can adjust themselves as needed. The bad news is, there’s no master volume control or limiter either, so there’s nothing stopping them from cranking their voices all the way up to 11, leaving the host scrambling to find the manual volume override controls on the touchscreen interface. Admittedly, this may be more of a problem with young children than it is with adults—but oof, it can be ear-piercing.

The touchscreen on the Ikarao can also be slow and glitchy. The tablet runs on AndroidOS with 32 GB of onboard storage—which might be fine for the occasional web browsing but tends to clog up after so much multimedia streaming. There is a built-in memory cleanup feature, which helps a little bit. But you really need to stay on top of it.

The light show is pretty disappointing, too. Most of the karaoke machines we’ve tested have placed their LED displays along the speaker grille, or around the speaker cones themselves. But the Ikarao limits its light show to a ring of roughly 2-inches in diameter that surrounds the main volume dial. That’s it. That little ring certainly changes color, but it’s hardly a party starter on its own. The tablet screen can help to augment that by adding in some fun flashes of color. But it’s still not the same as having, say, a dedicated disco ball on top like the Tonor or the Singsation.

The process of re-logging into all of your accounts (Spotify, YouTube, and so on) can also be annoying. This can obviously be an issue any time you buy a new tablet or other device. But it’s made worse by the already glitchy tablet, which tends to get overwhelmed by pop-up windows and two-factor authentication. Once you’re in, though, you should be good to rock.

Best for...

Decent sound, mood lighting, and a bonus disco ball

Tonor K20 Wireless Karaoke Machine

The Tonor is a portable party machine with a delightful light show and better quality microphones than most other models. But you will have to supply your own screen.

$290 from Amazon

$290 from Walmart

The Tonor K20 Wireless Karaoke Machine is basically a 250-watt PA speaker on wheels with a telescoping handle—all of which makes it easy enough to transport from party to party. It comes with plenty of thoughtful accessories, too, including two wireless mics and a handy carrying case (also great for portability). But perhaps most important, it has a totally awesome disco ball on top to enhance your overall performance experience. You’ll have to supply your own screen or tablet for the lyrics though.

The Tonor’s built-in light show makes you feel like a true rock star. The Tonor’s speaker panel comes with a colorful pane of LEDs on the front, plus a disco ball on top, with the lights flashing faster as the music reaches higher peaks of volume and intensity. It’s not quite a synchronized light show, but then again karaoke’s not really a high-production concert. You don’t have a lot of custom control over the lights, but they are bright enough to transform your dark living room into a club-like setting without hurting your eyes. And if you don’t want to use the disco ball—if you have a sensitivity to flashing lights, for example, or if you just don’t like it—it’s easy to turn off with the click of a well-marked button on the front panel.

The Tonor comes with lots of thoughtful accessories in addition to the microphones, including a pair of pop filters. These washable foam covers help protect the mics from sibilance and slobber—which can be especially helpful if you have kids, or a particularly, um, sloppy friend. It also comes packaged with several different audio connection cables and a DC adapter for charging, plus a remote control and a clip-on tablet holder that connects to the telescoping handle. Finally, there’s a nice velvety carrying bag that’s large enough to fit all of these accoutrements inside, making it even easier to take your karaoke party on the go.

It’s easy to set up and use as well, with clear onboard controls and a variety of audio input options. In addition to Bluetooth connectivity, the Tonor comes with most of the other basic audio cables you might need. There are also clearly marked slots for a USB drive or microSD card—if you have songs you’ve downloaded from a subscription service, for example. The simple fact that you can stop or start the music right at the machine, instead of having to reach for a tablet or remote control is refreshingly helpful, too. If you’re nervous or uncertain about setting up audio equipment, the user manual is also surprisingly simple and comprehensive.

The Tonor’s microphones sound pretty good, too. They’re no SM57, but the included microphones delivered crisp, clear vocals whether we sang directly into the top or howled closer to the sides. And that’s more than we can say for almost any other karaoke machine we tested, which tend to have cheaper, unidirectional diaphragms that are either too muddy or too hot. The Tonor also has a pair of onboard equalization (EQ) controls, which can help you tweak the sound to your liking. There’s an echo-level knob as well, which produces an effect somewhere between reverb and delay—a little bit will help your vocals sound bigger and smoother, though it can get overwhelming pretty quickly.

It also has a built-in recording feature that’s surprisingly easy to use. This is hardly a necessary feature, especially since most computers and tablets come with their own audio recording software anyway. But it’s a nice perk that can help you capture the memories of a silly night with friends. You will need to plug in a USB drive to capture the MP3 data though.

But the mics don’t have their own, independent volume controls. The Tonor’s biggest drawback is shared across almost every all-in-one karaoke machine we tested: While there’s a master volume control for the microphones, there’s no way to control each mic individually. This will likely only be an issue if you plan on doing duets with someone who has a very different vocal volume than you—but if you’re intent on doing David Bowie and Mick Jagger’s version of “Dancing In The Street” with a particularly quiet partner, it could be annoying.

The speaker doesn’t sound quite as good at lower volumes either. The Tonor sounds great when the speaker is cranked. When you try to turn it down, however, it loses a lot of the lower mids and bass that make a song sound present and full. This might have something to do with the size of the subwoofer, which could affect the speaker breakup. It could also be that we’re just being really picky about this in a way most casual karaokers won’t notice. But hey, that’s our job.

You’ll also have to supply your own tablet or screen. Again, this is fairly common among the karaoke machines we tested. But it certainly makes the Tonor stand out in comparison to the Ikarao.

Best for...

A powerful PA with custom lights and sound

Soundcore Rave 3S AI Party Speaker

A big, bold speaker that gives you nearly full control over lights and sound, and also comes with an AI-powered “vocal remover” that works better than you’d expect.

$350 $264 from Soundcore

Use promo code HONEY2024

$300 from Amazon

The Soundcore Rave 3S AI Party Speaker is an incredibly powerful Bluetooth speaker that comes with a pair of wireless microphones and allows you an impressively wide range of control over the lights and sound. The biggest selling point for most people, however, will be the “AI Vocal Remover” feature, which can intuitively cut the vocal frequencies out of any song you play, at least in theory. It definitely struggles with some songs/musical genres more than others, but it is a neat tool and could be easier for some people than having to search for karaoke-specific versions of songs they want to sing.

The Rave 3S is a great-sounding speaker overall, with a fully customizable EQ band. Right out of the box, the 200-watt Rave 3S pumps out enough rich, resonant sound to get a good backyard party going. But if the speaker isn’t quite attuned to your specific needs, the Soundcore app gives you control over full band equalization control up to 20,000 Hz. That means you can really get there and adjust specific frequencies to suit your needs. The Q Factor is fairly limited, but if you have no idea what that means, well, then you shouldn’t have to worry about it anyway—the presets sound good, too.

The lighting effects are also big and bold, with plenty of options to tweak. Like the audio quality, the light show on the Rave 3S is great out of the box, but the app opens up a wider range of customizable options. The color selector wheel lets you choose from thousands of color options, and while the included light patterns are somewhat limited, you can combine them into plenty of different fun, flashy patterns to keep the party going. Or, at least there’s enough bright motion that you can totally zone out while staring at the speaker, which is also fun.

The AI-powered vocal remover means you can easily sing along to any song in the world—though it could still use some work. We’ve tested some other karaoke machines with built-in vocal remover features, which essentially cut out all of the midrange frequencies where the vocals tend to sit. And every one of them has been a huge disappointment, except for the Rave 3S. For example, those other systems made such broad cuts that they often sliced out crucial guitar and keyboard sounds within a similar range. But the “AI-powered” capability on the Rave 3S is much better at honing on the specific frequencies being used at any given time. Like most AI-supported technology, however, “better” is still far from perfect. The Rave 3S is particularly bad at identifying reverb, for example, which ironically makes it harder to remove the vocals from quieter songs such as sparse piano or acoustic ballads. Similarly, the AI can also get tripped up on background vocals and harmonies. You can manually control the level of vocal removal from within the Soundcore—if you want a lightly audible vocal guide to follow, for example—but even that has its limits.

It also has a ¼-inch input jack for guitars or other line-level instruments. This is not something we found on very many karaoke machines. But it is a nice touch and means that the Rave 3S could also be a good choice for buskers on-the-go. You could even combine it with the AI vocal remover and create your own full-band accompaniments on the fly.

But you may want to get some pop filters for the microphones. The mics that come with the Rave 3S aren’t entirely unidirectional, but there’s a noticeable gain difference when you sing into them from different angles. The top of the mic is almost too hot to the point of nearly clipping, while the sides are way too quiet on their own. A simple foam ball pop filter can go a long way to help smooth out the sound.

If you want to get the most out of the features on the Rave 3S, you’ll need to use the Soundcore app. The instruction manual does come with some guidance on how to access the deeper customization options using the on-board controls. But you’ll have to pull your phone or tablet out if you really want to get the most out of the Rave 3S. This shouldn’t be a huge problem, especially since you’ll likely be connecting the Bluetooth to your device anyway, and possibly using that device to read the lyrics at the same time. But the app-ification of everything can still get annoying.

It doesn’t have a disco ball either. To be clear, the customizable light show on the Rave 3S is awesome! But testing all these karaoke devices really made us appreciate the party-starting power of a good disco ball, which this machine simply lacks. Alas!

Best for...

A kid-size karaoke party

Singsation Star Burst SPKA25

This small, portable karaoke cube doesn’t sound quite as good as our other picks, but it has lots of fun lighting and sound effects to keep you entertained.

$40 from Walmart

May be out of stock

If you have little ones who are interested in singing but you’re hesitant to make too big an investment, the Singsation Star Burst SPKA25 is the best you can do without breaking the bank. Like the Tonor, it has a disco ball on top, as well as a moving LED display across the speaker grill. It also comes with a bunch of built-in vocal effects, such as pitch shifting, plus a collection of silly sounds (sirens and DJ scratches, for instance) that can either add to a party atmosphere, entertain your children for a little while longer, or drive you off the wall—maybe even all three at once. It does feel more like a toy than a sturdy piece of audio equipment, but it’ll get the job done for about $50.

The battery-powered Singsation is small enough for a kid to carry around. At only about 5 pounds and just 8 inches tall and deep, the Singtation is roughly half the size of nearly every other karaoke machine we tested. This means it’s noticeably quieter but also easier to transport, with a convenient carrying handle in the back that even a toddler can figure out (which my toddler did many times during testing).

The controls are large, clear, and simple. The Singsation has one primary control—a giant volume knob on top. There are some smaller buttons along the side to control the volume, or select one of the fun-slash-annoying light, sound, and voice effects that come with the machine. But even those are easy enough for a curious kid to figure out.

The lights are fun, but the Singsation’s built-in sound effects are even better. With the tap of a single button, the Singsation lets you add found sounds like an air horn, a DJ scratch, or a round of applause into the middle of someone’s song—a great way to cheer your friends on, or relentlessly annoy them. The built-in vocal effects go far beyond the echo options on the other karaoke machines we tested, too: You can shift your voice up or down an octave, and there’s even a fun “alien voice” option if you want to get weird. None of these vocal effects are really practical, mind you, and they’re not easy to sing with due to the slight processing delay. But they’re fun to mess around with, and they can keep you or your kids entertained for a while.

Also there’s a disco ball. One cannot overstate the primal delight of a disco ball.

But the sound quality isn’t great. While it’s hardly a great speaker, the Singsation still sounds like any other midrange Bluetooth speaker you might find—which is to say, it’s fine. The microphones also sound sort of cheap and muddy, though that’s only really a problem if you’re concerned more with audio fidelity than silly sound effects.

The wired microphones are a little limiting, too. Unlike our other picks, the Singsation doesn’t have wireless microphones, and the wired mics that come in the box have a range of only 6 feet. That’s not a lot of distance, especially if the Singsation is resting on the ground, but it’s certainly workable. (If you really feel the need to dance around your living-room stage, you can place the speaker higher up on a shelf; or, if you’re capable, you could carry it around in your other hand.) Of course, this could also be a good thing, as it could keep your child tethered to one place for a while.

The Singsation doesn’t have a built-in rechargeable battery, either. You can install batteries if you want to carry it around, but be warned: This thing takes eight AAs. You can also plug it into the wall using the included DC adapter, if you don’t mind it being stationary.

Best for...

Decent sound, mood lighting, and a bonus disco ball

Tonor K20 Wireless Karaoke Machine

The Tonor is a portable party machine with a delightful light show and better quality microphones than most other models. But you will have to supply your own screen.

$290 from Amazon

$290 from Walmart

If you already have a home audio setup that you’re happy with and don’t want to deal with storing an entirely new speaker setup, the Rybozen K201 Portable Karaoke Microphone Mixer is a compact and affordable alternative. It’s essentially a microphone receiver that you can insert between your primary audio source (such as a smart TV on which you’d be watching YouTube lyric videos) and your usual speakers (such as a soundbar). It’s also one of the only models we tested that offers separate volume controls for each microphone, in case you and your duet partner don’t sing at the same loudness level.

The Rybozen is the smallest and most portable karaoke machine we’ve found. The central hub of the Rybozen is only about 6 inches wide, 4 inches deep, and 2 inches tall—roughly the size of a book. Other than that, you have just two microphones and a few cables to keep track of. This, combined with the lack of speakers, make the Rybozen easier to transport and store than any other karaoke machine we’ve tested.
The Rybozen is a particularly good option for people who are otherwise overwhelmed by the notion of having to set up audio equipment—it has only one audio-in jack and one audio-out jack, and it includes a wide variety of cables (plus Bluetooth capabilities) that should be able to connect to your specific home theater setup. As an added convenience, it’s the only karaoke machine we tested that included batteries for the wireless mics right in the box.

It’s also easy to set up. The Rybozen is a particularly good option for people who are otherwise overwhelmed by the notion of having to set up audio equipment—it has only one audio-in jack and one audio-out jack, and includes a wide variety of cables (plus Bluetooth capabilities) that should be able to connect to your specific home theater setup. The controls are simple and clear, too—there’s one big knob for the master volume, along with two individual volume knobs for each microphone, plus two effects knobs to change the tone or echo.

The microphones are more durable, too, and actually have their own, independent volume controls. Whereas most of the karaoke machine microphones we tested were made entirely of plastic, the mics on the Rybozen come with metal grills over the diaphragm. This makes them more durable overall and gives them a heft that’s more like a real, professional microphone, too. The Rybozen was also one of the few machines we found with separate volume controls for each of the microphones, making it easier to balance the loudness when you and your bestie are belting out “Defying Gravity.”

But you’ll have to supply your own screen—and your own speaker. The main appeal of the Rybozen is also its biggest shortcoming: There’s no speaker, and there’s no screen. If you already have a speaker and screen that you’re happy with, the Rybozen is a great way to connect those devices and facilitate a cool karaoke extravaganza. But it’s hardly an all-in-one machine.

The HDMI port doesn’t always work right. HDMI interfaces can carry both audio and video, so it makes sense to include this option on the Rybozen. During our tests, however, we could never actually get the audio and video to sync, making for a miserable karaoke experience. We noticed several user reviews complaining about similar sync problems, too. You’re better off just plugging your smart TV’s audio output directly into the Rybozen, then plugging the Rybozen into the speaker system that you normally connect to your TV or tablet. Or, use Bluetooth.

The Moukey MTs10-2 Karaoke Machine is a former pick that’s similar to the Tonor and could be a decent alternative, especially if you find it on sale. It doesn’t have a disco ball, though—which we wouldn’t mind, if its LED display didn’t make the speaker look like an angry audience member glaring back at you in judgment from behind a furrowed brow. Maybe you need that kind of motivation to bring your best performance, in which case you’ll be glad to know that the “eyes” light up only when you sing loud enough. Consider it a challenge.

The Ikarao Shell S2 is slightly smaller than our top pick, with an 8-inch tablet rather than 10.1 inches, but it’s otherwise pretty much identical. We don’t think the price difference is enough to justify the downgrade, but it’s a fine alternative if you want something even more portable.

The $800, 800-watt Ikarao Break X1 is sort of the giant cousin to our top pick, with more sonic power than you’re likely ever going to need for casual karaoke. But it’s too cumbersome to carry around, and the microphones have a latency problem, resulting in a slight delay between when you sing and when your voice actually hits the speaker, making your song sound sloppier and sloppier as it goes along. The spring-loaded microphone chargers are kind of cool, though.

Like its name suggests, the BlueAnt X5i Portable Party Speaker is a great speaker to have at a party. But the USB-C–powered wireless mics that perch unsteadily on top of it make for a rather cumbersome karaoke experience.

The Ion Audio Party Rocker Max has, without question, the best light show of any karaoke machine we tested, with almost blindingly bright disco ball and multiple speaker grill color patterns to choose from. Unfortunately, the cheap, plastic wired microphones feel terrible in your hand and sound even worse. This could be fun for a party, but not for karaoke.

The VocoPro WiFi-Oke Wireless Karaoke Machine was the first model we ever found with a built-in touchscreen. But the battery life was terrible, the tablet was useless, and the microphones were practically useless. Don’t bother.

Like the Rybozen, the VocoPro SmartTVOke is a pass-through receiver that you can connect to your existing home audio setup to add a pair of wireless mics into the mix. But, like the other VocoPro model we tested, the execution was terrible at every step of the way.

Other karaoke machines we considered but did not test include the Singsation Performer Deluxe SPKA710, which is similar to the Star Burst SPKA25 but has a built-in mic stand and only one microphone; the Gemini Sound MPA-3600 and the Gemini KP-800PRO Party Caster, both of which seemed more like semi-pro gear; the Masingo Soprano X1, which turned us off because, like a car battery, it requires crocodile clips to charge; the Karaoke USA GF844 Karaoke System, which seemed both too cheap and too complex; Pyle’s PPHP1299WU.5, PWMA230BT, and PWMA325BT portable PA speaker systems, none of which had all the features we wanted; and the Singing Machine STVG782BK Groove XL, which requires you to invest in those CD+Gs. Honestly, just use YouTube—it’s free.

One question that came up frequently in both our early research and focus groups was: Where do you even get your karaoke songs, anyway? If you’re of a certain age, you may have memories (fond or not) of doing karaoke at bars and parties, where the KJ passed around binders full of song lists that referenced their extensive collection of CD+Gs—specially formatted discs that combine audio with synced-up lyric graphics. (Believe it or not, you can still buy CD+Gs, which are often sold as song packs.) But while the music will technically work in any CD player—assuming you still have one—you’ll need a specialized device to play the lyric graphics along with the song’s instrumentals. Companies such as Karaoke Cloud and Karaoke Version, as well as the OpenKJ Project, let you buy and download individual video files that, like a CD+G, combine a song’s MP3 with its accompanying lyric graphics. These businesses do offer subscription options—but either way, the costs can start to add up quickly.

That’s why we generally recommend that you find your karaoke songs on YouTube, which is free (with ads) and has pretty much everything you could ask for. (Seriously, the platform even has karaoke versions of hip-hop songs in the Irish language.) If you don’t want to deal with the ads, you can upgrade to YouTube Music ($10 per month) or YouTube Premium ($12 per month for an individual membership and $18 per month for a family plan).

The only other subscription service we’d recommend—and only for the most serious karaokers—is KaraFun. Not only does the app have nearly 50,000 songs to choose from (with decent-quality recordings, too), it also gives you the option to speed up or slow down the tempo, or even change the key. This is great if you, like me, really like to sing along with ’80s hair-metal tenors who are out of your vocal range. KaraFun lets you create a running queue of multiple singers so you’re not scrambling to the search bar between every song, a particularly nice option if you’re throwing a big party with lots of soon-to-be singers. The user interface is nice, and the accompanying lyric visuals are certainly no more corny than other karaoke graphics. KaraFun offers a two-day pass for $6 or a monthly subscription for $10, which is about as much as the most dedicated singers in our focus group said they would spend for a premium experience. (Our top pick from Ikarao also comes with a free six-month subscription.)

If you need a jump start on song ideas, feel free to use the Wirecutter staff’s Spotify playlist of karaoke faves.