Bose SoundLink Flex Bluetooth Portable Speaker, Wireless Waterproof Speaker for Outdoor Travel - White

This is a great addition to our music enjoyment. I use it mostly in one of our restored little British cars. It charges fairly fast, and the Bluetooth enables us to have music, news, etc anywhere we go. I even built a custom bracket for it so we can easily remove it when we stop. The sound quality is rich, and does not sound tinny or cheap. I have recommended this Bose to many of my friends. It's a great system, easy to set up, and looks good.

I bought this speaker because I wanted a way to listen to music while grilling in my backyard. I had no expectations of it being a “party” speaker or anything of the like.But my goodness. This speaker punched above the weight I expected and what reviewers claim. They say it’s good for less than 10 people. Probably true if in an enclosed space.Outside, standing in the corner of my backyard about 40+ feet away, the speaker volume is at about 60-70% and with the air conditioner droning on I can still hear this speaker, and the vocals are clear, the instruments are clear, and there’s even some punch of the bass. It’s so much more potent than I expected.I actually bought a second one (the one pictured) so I could utilize Party Mode and Stereo Mode, and then these are far better than they have any right to be. The bass shook through the house at about 40% volume, to the extent that my wife actually asked me to return one and get some noise cancelling headphones if I wanted to be blaring music all day. 😂So (for now), I’m obliging and returning one, but honestly, I don’t want to. One of these speakers are great. Two make a great portable stereo system.Now for the feature set. Key selling points for me were:1. Durability. It’s made of steel and silicone, is rated to withstand a dunk in water and dust. You can enjoy this in the yard, on your workbench, swimming, shower, etc. I live in high desert, and the wind blew over these speakers from a table to the ground and they didn’t have a single dent or scratch. Which leads me to…2. The device has sensors built in that detect its positioning, so the sound quality was maintained even if it’s on its back, side, or face down. None of the other products that compete in this segment offer that function to my knowledge.3. Unlike other products that I considered, this sounded good right out of the box. Anker (Soundcore) offers some great competition in this segment, but needs the EQ tweaked to shine. They’re not bad by any means, but I wanted things to just be simple. Power on and go without fuss. Bose delivered that.There are similar products for sure. Ultimate Ears will also let you pair two portables to create a stereo, but it lacked the intelligence that this speaker did.We already covered Soundcore. Tweak with the EQ, save some money, you’ll likely be happy.These speakers do often go on sale, and I purchased mine used (like new) and refurbished respectively. The “Used” unit was actually brand new from Amazon, broke the seals on the box and everything. Far as I could tell, the speaker just rolled around in someone’s trunk unopened before returning. The box had some cosmetic damage but no dents, broken seals, and all accessories were obviously also unopened.Refurbished unit came straight from Bose. Also came with all accessories and literature, just a box that was labeled “Refurbished”. Warranty on refurbished or new are 1 year regardless.I bring this up to encourage you to save some money, reduce some e-waste, and buy secondhand like I did. No judgments if you want to go new of course! But I got 2 speakers, one that was new in reality, essentially $100 off the set, and I didn’t miss out on anything in terms of product or warranty.$150 is pricey for a speaker, but $103 for a Bose speaker is not. Especially one that can literally go for a swim.Four criticisms I’d like y’all to know. First, compression above about 75% volume. Your bass will flatline above this point to maintain clarity of the track as a whole. In reality, that just means you go from a slightly warm tone to a very neutral tone of sound profile. No big deal unless you’re blasting EDM, Hip-Hop, the like. As I said, this little 20W speaker carries enough punch that 70% was more than enough to fill my backyard.Second criticism is no biggie for me, but worth bringing up for those shopping the competition. I didn’t want to fuss with an EQ, but competitors do have them to fine tune your sound. Consequentially, the app is basically useless beyond seeing your battery life and an option on how to do party mode (not required).Third criticism is truly a nitpick, but why do I have two apps for my Bose products? Why do I need one for headphones and one for speakers? Wish Bose would put all their portable speakers and headphones into one app. You could easily knock out criticisms 3-4 by just putting this speaker into the Bose Music app, like my QuietComfort Headphones, and this VERY speaker's big brother, the Soundlink Flex Max, is already there. Why the heck is the Soundlink Flex not in Bose Music, with a basic EQ like the others?Fourth, this uses outdated Bluetooth. No big deal. Pairs easily. But don’t expect to watch movies or game off of this. Latency is too high.Anyhow, enough of that. Go buy one. Or better yet, two. You won’t be disappointed.

My perfect speaker would be the size of my Soundmatters Dash 7 and sound like my Marshall Woburn. I haven't found it yet, so I keep looking. The Bose Soundlink Flex is certainly not that perfect speaker. It sounds very good but like every speaker you see pictured, it has its shortcomings. Because the Flex and Emberton II are the cream of my 'portables', that is where I spent most of my time doing comparisons.Battery life - If I am goingt to listen for several hours, I will have a charger available, portable if needed. This is a non-issue for me. 12 hours is sufficient imo.Ease of use - I had trouble with the initial connection to my Fold 3. Once connected, it's been flawless.App - I'm tired of apps. I don't use them. It needs to sound good out of the box.....and the Flex does.Latency - The Flex has more lag than the Emberton II if you plan to pair with video.Volume - this speaker does not get very loud and distorts over 60% volume. I can measure later but guessing around 80-85dbs at 3 meters is all you're going to get before losing fidelity. The sad thing is...it's louder than the Emberton and the bass is punchier. Anyway, neither is my idea of a "party speaker".And most important sound quality: The Bose sounds very good out of the box. It's a more powerful speaker than the Emberton II. The bass is pretty awesome until its not. The Bose hits on lower notes than the Emberton II but with a caveat. Once you get so low, the Marshall's bass simply disappears. On the Bose, once you get so low, you lose tonal separation and the bass sounds artificial to me. There is definitely a peak in the treble on the Bose, too. Highs can be a little harsh at times. The sound is more technical on the Bose, whereas the highs on the Marshall are rounded and warm. Vocals and instruments in the mid frequency range just sound better to me on the Marshall in general. Bass sounds better on the Bose. Pick your poison.Like I said, neither are perfect but both are pretty dang good.