![]() ![]() ![]() Some people have asked me how it sounds compared with Bose's canister-style Revolve ($219), which was marginally updated last year. ![]() The Flex does not appear to have that feature, although you can pair it with multiple devices and manually switch back and forth between them. But the A1 does offer multipoint Bluetooth pairing so you can pair it simultaneously with your phone and a computer. The Bose beats that more expensive model as well, offering more full-bodied sound. I also like Bang & Olufsen's Beosound A1 2nd generation. The Bose's sound also has more body and depth to it than that of the UE Wonderboom 2, an older model that costs $100 and also manages to deliver good sound for its compact size. The Bose is more straightforward to use because it's Bluetooth-only. I thought it compared pretty favorably with the $179 Sonos Roam, which is also an excellent wireless speaker that has Wi-Fi as well as Bluetooth and connects to your Sonos system at home. ![]() The speaker is fully waterproof and floats. That's fine by me, but a lot of people like having some sort of EQ settings to play around with. Both speakers lack EQ settings in their apps, so you have to go with their signature sound. The Bose has a better overall tonal balance and the bass has more definition. Its bass is bigger but arguably boomier and more forward so the mids, where vocals live, can sound a little recessed. The Charge 5 is a bit bulkier and puts out a little more sound. The one that it seems to get compared to the most is the JBL Charge 5, which costs $180 and is also fully waterproof with an IP67 rating. I compared the SoundLink Flex with several other compact portable speakers. To avoid distortion, certain frequencies get ratcheted back, particularly at higher volumes. The soundstage only gets so wide and it can sound a little constrained with more complicated music tracks that have a lot of instruments playing at the same time. But it can't totally escape being a small speaker. You're going to be immediately impressed by how much sound it throws off, and decent sound at that. Also, it avoids distorting at higher volumes and delivers good clarity in the treble and midrange, with overall well-balanced sound that's only slightly bass forward. But the key is that it does manage to produce more bass than you think it can. From my tests, I'd say it would have to be a relatively small living room - it can only output so much sound - and to be clear, this is a mono speaker. David Carnoy/CNETīose says the SoundLink Flex can fill a living room with sound. The sound automatically is optimized for the orientation of the speaker. And given that limited benefit of upgrading to 5.1, the company made the decision to use a chip it had previously used in the SoundLink Micro that had been "thoroughly field-tested and updated over time for interoperability and reliability." Bose told us it didn't see a significant benefit for its customers to going from Bluetooth 4.2 to Bluetooth 5.1 because the enhancements had "no bearing on the A2DP performance of the Flex" (since there was no change in the spec for A2DP audio in 5.1). The Flex uses the older Bluetooth 4.2 instead of 5.1, which seems unusual given that most new Bluetooth speakers use Bluetooth 5.1. With the price for the Micro rising to $119, the Flex is clearly the better value at this point for only $30 more. The Flex does look and feel like it's in the same family but is basically twice as big, weighing 1.3 pounds or 0.59 kg - and it sounds significantly better than the Micro, with better battery life. I personally wouldn't want to drop it anywhere, but Bose says that thanks to its soft silicone back and powder-coated steel grille it "won't peel or flake and is resistant to corrosion and UV light." So it's designed to be durable and can survive small drops.īose's SoundLink Micro, released in late 2017 and due for an upgrade, also delivers impressive sound for its tiny size. It also floats, an important feature if you're in the habit of dropping your Bluetooth speakers in your pool or another body of water. In fact, it's the only new Bluetooth speaker we've given a CNET Editors' Choice Award in 2021.Īvailable in three color options - black, white smoke and stone blue - the Flex is IP67 dust- and waterproof. For its size, the Flex packs surprisingly bold sound, is fully waterproof and should be near the top of your list if you're looking for a portable Bluetooth speaker. that you can feel in your chest." There's a bit of marketing hyperbole going on there, but I gotta say, it mostly lives up to the hype. The exact quote was that it has "astonishing bass. When it launched, Bose made some bold claims about the sound quality of the SoundLink Flex, particularly its bass performance. 4: The Bose SoundLink Flex now has a CNET Editors' Choice Award. ![]()
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