Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Price Review

111 of 111 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of five stars Beautifully intended, good sound, compact size, October 26, 2011
By M. Erb (Syracuse, NY) See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME) This review is from: Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Speaker Nylon (Electronics)
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I own some number of bluetooth wireless speaker systems, the last of which is this Bose Soundlink. But I also own the Altec Lansing iMW725 inMotion Air common Wireless Speaker and considering its sound quality and price, its an very respectable consideration.

The Bose Soundlink speaker system is a well made, except for the aux input on the back panel which looks unfinished, otherwise it’s considerable in construction. It is a bit hefty for a really movable speaker, based on what your meaning of movable is. I have compared the sound of the Bose Soundlink to quite some other speakers, as well as the aforementioned Altec Lansing iMW725 and it is got good sound, but it is surely not the golden standard by which all speakers should be judged.

The integrated cover/stand guards the speaker when its not used but also serves as the speaker base/stand when the speaker is in use. The magnetic closure works really well and an added feature is that if the speaker is operating, simply closing the cover automatically turns off the speaker. That is a thoughtful touch.

The speaker just exudes quality. I really do not understand how Bose could leave the aux input looking so unfinished though. It is really odd since it is so evident. Maybe it is not a big deal, but for a comparatively costly part of gear, I expect more. If feels good, it seems good and the sound is decent though I could not say it was spectacular.

It does have the capability to play deafening and produces a considerable total of bass for a speaker so small. Bose is recognized for doing amazing things in the way their speakers produce bass and this speaker is no exemption. But good the bass is, I did find this speaker missing clearness and meaning in the mid and high range. When this speaker is compared side by side to the Altec Lansing iMW725, the difference is profound. I can not tell you it is “better” than the Bose because that’s a subjective judgement. For me, I do like the clearness of sound the Altec Lansing gives over the Bose Soundlink. But the Bose does produce more bottom end sound if that is what you like, you may favor the Bose for that reason.

The Bose Soundlink has the capability to remember up to six different bluetooth devices which is great. If you try to add a seventh device, it’ll simply “forget” one of the earlier paired devices to make room for the new device. No worries though, you may be able to generally add the “forgotten” device back at a afterward time.

There is no remote control provided and that is not really a big deal because if you are using an iPhone, for example, you may be able to control the volume of the output of the iPhone on the phone itself, also as stopping, pausing or changing song selections. But I can see where having a remote may be an advantage in many situations.

The volume control lacks any indication of where you’re on the scale of volume though the Bose has a volume display that will blink twice when the minimum or maximum level was reached. But you do not really have any idea where you’re on that scale visually.

There is no tone modification on the speaker, all modifications of that nature could must be made on the device from which the Soundlink is paired to.

The capability to hook up an auxillary device via the provided mini plug cable is useful especially if you want to hook up an mp3 player or another device that doesn’t have any bluetooth capability. I have effectively paired a laptop, iPhone and desktop computer, all with bluetooth to the Soundlink with no difficulty whatsoever.

Overall I like the Bose Soundlink though I do not feel as strongly about the quality of the sound. It’s quite compact in size still is hard. I can not really believe that it gets as deafening as it does with little distortion (always remember the “garbage in garbage out” maxim though. It’ll not magically make low bit rate mp3′s sound good.) It “feels” good, has excellent build quality (except for the funky looking aux input,) it seems good and the batteries last a good long time. You may be able to expect anywhere from 3 6 hours based on how deafening you have the system playing.

I could really recommend you listen to it before buy if possible. As I have said, the Altec Lansing iMW725 is 30 40 less in cost and to my ears gives an excellent sound, better balanced with no heaviness or boominess in the low end, with much better stereo separation than the Bose and it has a remote control! But the form factor is different and in that regard I favor the Bose.

It’s worth mentioning that there are a range of different colored covers available for the Soundlink. They are a bit pricey but do let you to make yours stand out from the default grayish cover. And speaking of the cover, I do have many concern as to if the continual flexing of the cover as you open and close it’ll sooner or later lead to issues like the eventual failure of the stitching or cover material itself at the bending point. Time will tell I guess. I am not docking any stars for this but I’m going to update my review if I ever begin to notice any issues with the cover. Since I do not have the leather cover, but the nylon, I dont have idea how the leather cover will fare.

So I am giving the Bose Soundlink a 3 star ranking. I think it is OK. Yes, it’s solidly built and looks to have good build quality. I just do not think that the sound quality is as good as alternative merchandise. I feel that for the premium price it should be accompanied by obviously superior sound and I believe it falls short. But, I think that judging sound is subjective and what one person may find nice, another person may disagree. So for this reason it’s vital that you listen 1st and choose after that. It is not a bad speaker system by any stretch but it’s what it’s.

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38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of five stars Wow!, September 27, 2011
By leegart (Eastern Massachusetts) See all my reviews () This review is from: Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Speaker Nylon (Electronics) I’m writing this about five hours after having received the Bose SoundLink Wireless Speaker. I opened the box, took the speaker out and in two minutes paired it with my Toshiba Thrive Tablet. I then played many classical music and said to myself, “Oh my goodness!” The sound of these speakers is amazing. The violins sound clear and distinct. Horns sound undistorted and smooth. The piano sounds like you’re in the 1st row of the concert hall. The bass is at just the right mix with the mid level and higher sounding instruments. The clearness of the sound is what stands out.

I then paired up an IPOD touch and played “Never My Love” by the affiliation. The vocals were clear and distinct and the instrumentation mixed in nicely. I’m no audiophile but I’m pretty discriminating. At some number of volume levels, these speakers sound great. They’re among the best I have ever listened to.

With all of this, these speakers are movable due to fitted battery. You may be able to take these anywhere and have the quality of music. Amazing!

I haven’t seen any indication of many issues some critics mentioned. There was virtually no distortion and the sound didn’t seem to me to be compressed and equalized as many observed.

Yes, you’re paying a premium for a Bose product, but if you want quality, then this product is worth it.

I look forward to many hours of immersion in my favorite music, sounding clear and true.

Bose hit a home run with this. I want to make it clear that this is an honest review and I dont have connection with Bose whatsoever. Purchase this and enjoy. I could give it six stars if I could.

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36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of five stars Amazing Speaker, September 25, 2011
By Joshua Easters See all my reviews
(REAL NAME) This review is from: Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Speaker Nylon (Electronics) I newly bought a Jambox because I looked for a small wireless speaker that I could just throw in a bag and take wherever. While the size of the Jambox was nice, I generally felt that it lacked in sound quality and felt the max volume was much too calm. Thankfully Bose presented this product while I was still in the return period with the Jambox, so I returned the Jambox and payed the extra to get the Soundlink. I wasn’t totally sure what to expect from the Soundlink. I have one of the Sounddock speakers, and the sound from that device is amazing, so I wasn’t expecting it to sound as good caused by the smaller size, but just wanted something that surpassed the Jambox in volume and sound quality.

When I got the Soundlink home and tried it out, I was totally surprised. This little thing sounds amazing! As many other reviewers said, this really does make the Jambox sound like a toy in comparison. It really is quite amazing that something this small and movable produces audio that sounds this good. It’s considerably bigger than the Jambox, but its size still makes it easy to take around in a bag. If you need a movable, wireless, battery powered speaker, you won’t find a better one than the Soundlink Mobile speaker from Bose.

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