It wasn’t very long ago that most mini amplifiers were little more than toys, built with terrible speakers that produced truly awful tones – think angry wasp’s nest in a tin can. Over the last few years, manufacturers have realized there is a place for great tones in compact packages that allow guitarists to practice at home or on the move. With the modern guitar player turning away from heavy and loud tube or solid-state amps, the best mini amps can deliver all those same great tones in a more compact package, and so much more.
A mini amp is defined by being lightweight and space-saving, even when compared to the sort of practice amps that typically come bundled with starter sets. They will have much smaller speakers than standard practice amps and many are battery-powered. The ever-improving quality of passive radiators combined with amp modeling in small guitar amps means they’re quite capable of delivering room-filling sound, all whilst taking up a tiny amount of space. This means they not only cater to the beginner market, but also for professional players looking for a compact companion to practice at home with.
When looking for a small guitar amp you’ve got a lot of choice out there, so we’ve separated our top picks by use case to make things a little easier for you. You should be thinking about what you’re going to use it for, whether it’s a home practice set up away from your regular rig, whether you want to use your own guitar pedals with it, or you’re a beginner looking for something all-encompassing to get you started. You’ll find options here that cover all the bases, and if you have any further questions you need to ask, have a look at our FAQs section for more information.
Our top picks
1. Positive Grid Spark Mini
Our favorite mini amp is the Positive Grid Spark Mini, which has features you’d expect on a much bigger amplifier and with a really impressive sound from its small body. It’s cute, it’s user-friendly, and packed full of tones – there’s nothing not to like here.
2. NUX Mighty Lite BT MKII
The NUX Mighty Lite BT MK II is an excellent mini amp with an astonishing number of features at a, frankly, tiny price. If you’re looking for an amp with lots of tricks, but you’re on a budget, look no further than the Mighty Lite.
The Boss Katana Mini X is a huge leap forward for BOSS in the mini-amp space and offers dynamite sound in a classy chassis that’s easy to navigate. It’s on the larger side of things for a mini amp, but we think it’s worth it.
Best overall
At a Glance
✅ Buy if you want an all-encompassing mini amp: With a huge array of amps and effects alongside a trove of practice tools, the Spark Mini can cover pretty much all the bases for guitar players.
❌ Avoid if you don’t like using an app: This amp works without the app, but you’ll be very limited in what you can do with it. One to avoid if you want to do away with the smartphone.
The Spark Mini may be mini by name and size, but in every other department, it is anything but. Its cleverly angled two by 2” speaker design produces a much larger sound than it has any right to with good, balanced detail and enough low end for most applications, though really powerful bass sounds can drive the speakers into crackling.
The other area that the Spark Mini stands above rivals is its build quality. While it’s only made from glass-fibre, the Tolex on the outside adds a layer of luxury and the mesh grill is classy. This is an amp you’d be proud to have on the side in your home.
It comes loaded with four presets, which are great to get you going, but to unlock the depths of its abilities, the Positive Grid Spark app is a necessity. Technophobes may be put off by having to use the app, but it is generally very intuitive to use and gives you full control over the 43 effects and full amp catalog. If you’re not interested in building your own sounds, there are over 10,000 presets to choose from—no other mini amp can compete with that.
Read our full Positive Grid Spark Mini review
Best budget
At a Glance
✅ Buy if you’re on a budget: Coming in around the $100 mark, the Mighty Lite delivers great sound and plenty of functionality for a relatively small amount of money.
❌ Avoid if you don’t like using batteries: It doesn’t feature an internal battery, so you’ll need to invest in rechargeable AA batteries or keep buying fresh ones.
NUX has made an effort to stake a real claim in the small guitar amp market with the Mighty Lite BT MKII. Launching a mobile app to go alongside your mini amp is bold, given the quality of those already established in the market, however, the MightyAmp Mobile App is really simple to use with a graphic interface that even technophobes will be able to get their heads around. With the use of the MightyAmp app, the Mighty Lite has lots more tonal options, plus additional effects.
If you’re not keen on using an app, the Mighty Lite is ready to go from the box with delay/reverb (only one at a time) with tap tempo, plus your standard gain, volume, and tone to dial in a solid sound. This alongside a drum machine featuring nine different patterns and Bluetooth connectivity means you’ve got a really great practice amp.
In terms of features compared to the price, the Mighty Lite is up there with one of the best mini amps on the market, which makes us almost forget it requires AA batteries rather than having an integrated battery. It does have the neat trick of being able to be powered by a third-party USB power bank – the sort you’d charge your phone with – which is a nice trick.
Best for beginners
At a Glance
✅ Buy if you’re looking for your first amp: The Boss Katana Mini X strikes a great balance of having all the features you need, whilst not overloading you with a million tones. We also love that it doesn’t need an app to run either.
❌ Avoid if you’re short on space: The Katana Mini X definitely pushes the boundaries of ‘mini’, being considerably bigger than most of the other mini amps in this article.
Bigger and better than its little brother, the Katana Mini, the Katana Mini X is a concerted attempt by BOSS to put themselves at the top of the mini amp food chain, as they have done with the rest of their full-sized Katana range. While the smaller Katana Mini feels a little cheap and hasn’t really set the mini amp world alight, the Katana Mini X is a different beast.
Standout upgrades include far more effects options and more. The big one for any player who plans to use this regularly on the move is the change from disposable batteries (6x AAs) to an integrated rechargeable battery, charged via USB C. This is so much better and it’s a real wonder why BOSS has taken so long to upgrade to this.
The 5” speaker packs plenty of punch and notably a good amount of low end. Combine this with a great selection of BOSS effects and this is a really exciting amp to add to any players’ collection to achieve great tones on the move. As far as mini amps go, it is on the larger side, so for anybody looking for the truly tiny, it might be a little too big, but it’s still very portable and, compared to the sound it produces, it’s miniscule.
Best for gigging
At a Glance
✅ Buy if you’re looking to gig: This tiny head from Orange is a great choice if you want to gig but need something small enough to fit into a backpack. Pair it with a venue or practice room cab and you’re ready to rock.
❌ Avoid if you need something for home practice: As it requires a cab for sound, it’s not a great option if you’re practicing at home and need something small.
The Micro Dark is the mini amp to beat when it comes to tiny amp heads. Other manufacturers have created their own microscopic heads to combat Orange’s Micro range – comprising the Micro Dark and Micro Terror – but they haven’t caught on in the same way.
True simplicity is where the Micro Dark excels. A simple 3-knob setup gives a surprising amount of tonal control for the 20W of hybrid power—yes, the Micro Dark has a real ECC83 (12AX7) vacuum tube in the preamp. When compared to the extremely clever and powerful digital options on the mini-amp-market, the Micro Dark may feel a touch simple, coming without many bells and whistles.
For example it has no integrated effects, but does have an effects loop which will appeal to those with existing pedalboards. For those looking for a super versatile option with lots of features, this is one to avoid, however, if you are looking for a mini amp with the ability to gig, the Micro Dark is a great option.
The obvious issue with the Micro Dark as a practice amp is that once you add a speaker cabinet – and it can get even a 4×12” cabinet pushing air – it’d be fair to argue that ‘the package’ would struggle to qualify as a mini amp. One that’s only suitable for players looking for something compact to use at shows.
Best for simplicity
At a Glance
✅ Buy if you’re looking for something simple: The Blackstar Fly 3 doesn’t bother with apps, practice tools, and all that other guff, choosing instead to concentrate on ease of use and great tones.
❌ Avoid if you need lots of different sounds: With only a single EQ knob and two channels, there are other mini amps on this list that offer a lot more tones.
There’s an argument that when it comes to modern mini amps, the Blackstar Fly is the king. It’s certainly one of the first that took the mini amp seriously, creating an amplifier that was supremely compact but delivered genuinely impressive tones. The Fly 3 Charge sits at the top of the Fly range, with a major upgrade coming in the form of an integrated rechargeable battery, giving up to 18 hours of playing time, plus Bluetooth integration.
The two channels offer clean and overdrive, with Blackstar’s patented ISF knob providing the EQ control, though as Blackstar likes to remind us, it does much more than just tweak some settings, it changes the whole tonal character. While it certainly is powerful and only takes up one knob, a more conventional EQ would be our preference.
The Fly 3 Charge is reassuringly solid and you can find plenty of the original 2014 versions kicking about now, over ten years later. It’s an amp that lasts. It’s also an amp that can be upgraded with the Fly 103 extension cabinet available to double your wattage (to 6W) and give you a stereo speaker set for music. For beginners, in particular, this is an amp that is perfect to start with, but it will also inevitably remain in your collection for years to come.
Best portable
At a Glance
✅ Buy if you’re looking for something to take on the go: Quite literally able to fit in a large pocket, the PG Spark Go is a proper take-anywhere amp that has all the sounds and features of its much bigger siblings.
❌ Avoid if you play bass: With such a small speaker, it’s no surprise that it doesn’t deal with the low end all that well, so give it a miss if you regularly play bass guitar.
The even smaller brother of the Spark Mini, the Positive Grid Spark Go is the best amp for those on the go who want a plethora of sounds in a truly portable package. As with the rest of the Spark range, the Spark Go requires Positive Grid’s Spark app to unlock all of its features, with limited, but usable, options available via the amp itself.
When connected to the Spark app, there are pretty much limitless opportunities for sound creation, with 43 effects at your fingertips and plenty of amp models to choose from. For some, this may seem overcomplicated, but it makes it extremely versatile.
It can’t match its bigger brother – the Spark Mini – for volume, but that is to be expected given its lower price point and smaller size, boasting a single 2” speaker, compared to the Mini’s 2x 2”. This will appeal to people looking for the smallest solution possible that still produces great sounds, or could be a nice addition if you already have one of the larger Spark amplifiers and want to take those tones on the go.
Read our full Positive Grid Spark Go review
Also consider
The above amps should, in our opinion, cover the bases for most guitarists out there. We appreciate there’s no one size fits all solution however, so here’s a selection of other options for you to consider.
FAQs
What is a mini amp?
A mini amp is a type of amp that would easily fit in a backpack and is effortlessly moveable—think smaller than the types of amp that come bundled with guitar starter packs. Typically, ‘mini’ will be reflected in their speakers, which would usually be five inches or smaller.
Many can be battery-powered, and whilst this isn’t a necessity for a mini amp, we think it’s one of their biggest selling points as it means they can be played wherever and whenever, which is a big advantage over small, more conventional amps.
What makes a great mini amp?
The laws of physics mean that mini amps will never sound quite like a bigger amplifier, but that doesn’t mean they can’t punch above their weight. The best mini amps will sound much larger than they are, with some able to fill a room. This can be down to clever speaker arrays, or simply smart EQing that gives a feeling of a bigger bottom end.
Achieving massive volume is likely not the end goal if you’re buying a mini amp, but tone should be. Even if a mini amp can’t produce heaps of volume, they should still sound great and the best mini amps will have been optimized to sound best at lower volumes and in any environment.
What features should a mini amp have?
Traditionally, mini amps had very limited features, but modern mini amps will often have integrated effects, tuners, and even bluetooth, giving a player just about everything they might need to practice with some great tones. Bluetooth is a more recent addition to mini amps, but means that good mini amps can double as a wireless speaker for music playing.
Particular effects we would always recommend looking for when buying a mini amp are time based effects such as reverb and delay, which can give the illusion of larger sound. This means it isn’t so jarring when switching between bigger-bodied amps and mini amplifiers.
Mini amps are fast becoming the go-to choice for beginner guitarists due to their small size and ever-increasing feature set. One feature that is really handy, particularly for beginners, is an integrated tuner. They’re simple, but so handy. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if you’re playing a mini amp or a 100W stack, it’ll sound bad if you’re not in tune.
One feature the best mini amps should have is a headphone output. This means that volume becomes even less of a problem, as you can simply plug in your headphones and have all the level you will need, with the tone to match.
How much should I spend on a mini amp?
Mini amps are typically at the lower end of the amp market, so you should always be able to pick up a great mini amp for comfortably under $200, but if that is a stretch, you can grab some really exciting mini amps for $100 or less. Bear in mind that the more you spend, the more features your mini amp will likely have, as well as more volume and better sound quality. Anything under $50 may be limited with fewer effects and tonal options, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be fun practice tools.
How we test
Here at Guitar Player we’ve been testing gear since 1967, so it’s fair to say we’ve got a great overview of guitar gear throughout recent history. We’ve reviewed all kinds of guitar amps from tube classics to modern modeling amps, giving us a great overview of how best to judge a mini guitar amp for our guides. When testing a mini guitar amp we’ll take the same steps as we would a full-size guitar amp.
First of all, we’ll look at the build quality of the amp. We want to determine the inputs and outputs, how it’s put together, what size speaker it has, how many knobs, and any other physical features we can note. This helps us determine who the mini amp is for, and what sort of use case it’ll be good for.
Next, we’ll take a more in-depth look at the usability of the amp. If it’s a modeling amp then we’ll determine how many amp models you get and how to access them. We’ll look at any effects it has built-in, as well as additional functionality like Bluetooth or an auxiliary output. In using the amp we’re looking to see how easy it is to get to grips with it and start dialing in tones, as well as using any extra features it might have.
Finally, and arguably most importantly, we’ll test the sound. Depending on the amp type, if it’s more a classic type then we’ll start with all the EQ knobs at 12 o’clock and start playing to see what a neutral tone sounds like. We’ll then tweak to find various tones, making notes of everything as we go.
If it’s a modeling amp then we’ll start with the built-in presets to see how those sound, before beginning to tweak our own sounds. We’ll try building a rig from scratch, seeing how easy it is to put a signal chain together and judging how realistic the models sound versus the actual gear from our own experience.
Read more on how we test gear and services at Guitar Player.
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