Bose Soundlink Mini

Recently, Bose announced two new great products to give special Bose listening experience. One for being completely immersed in your music, the other to share it all around you. This month I have been reviewing the latter. The brand new Bose Soundlink Mini.

It’s premise is simple, make it easy to share the experience of listening to music, wherever you are, whomever you are with, without compromising anything. This means it should have the right sound quality, portability and user experience one expects from such a product.

Does it? Yes!

Bluetooth speakers are nothing new, at all. When visiting the biggest technology store in town, I found a wall of portable speakers. When trying most of them, it sounded like my music was coming from an aquarium, outer space, or a non-flushed toilet bowl. Comparing the Soundlink Mini wasn’t hard. A clear sound, with a decent bass, that can easily fill a room. The only portable solution in the store that had the same sound quality was from … Bose itself. The Soundink Mini’s bigger brother: the Soundlink 2.

If you told people this product came from Apple they would be hard pressed not to believe them. Its unibody aluminium body, the sturdy front and back grill, and the big rubber buttons make it a great, yet easy to operate product.

The sound it produces is absolutely gorgeous. If coming from a tiny iPhone speaker you will be blown away how such a little product can pack such a punch. The two dedicated drivers make sure your bass sounds are replicated accurately. Music sounds clear, and in a high-quality.

For the last few weeks I have been carrying the device all over the house, the park, and more. In use we did found one flaw though, the bluetooth. While testing it on an iPhone 5 running iOS 7 we have found that a few meters between device and speaker would be enough to give problems with the sound quality with drop-outs. When connecting a MacBook Pro, we found that there are occasional pops and ticks. However, all this could be just an issue with bluetooth (which always has been rather flaky in my opinion).

For use on the go, Bose created separately available plastic bumpers and a carry case. However, when just tossing it in your bag for a quick move, be sure there isn’t any loose change in your bag, as the magnets in the device makes sure to collect them all.

In the two months of testing I found that it’s a great companion for mobile enjoyment of music, never having it drained of power and producing a great quality of sound. While it isn’t a cheap purchase, I found it is worth its price!