Bose Portable Smart Speaker — Wireless Bluetooth Speaker With Alexa Voice Control Built-In, Black

Bose Portable Smart Speaker — Wireless Bluetooth Speaker with Alexa Voice Control Built-In, Black

• All-in-one: The most versatile smart speaker from Bose; a portable Bluetooth speaker, a home speaker, and a voice control speaker with 360 degrees of deep, clear, lifelike sound and powerful bass
• Portability: Grab the handle and take this lightweight (just over 2 lbs) speaker wherever you go out of the house, or move it with you from room to room around the house
• Rugged and ready: This portable speaker has a durable design, battery life of up to 12 hours, and a water-resistant IPX4 rating for all life’s drops, bumps, sprays, and splashes
• Bluetooth speaker: Outside Wi-Fi range, use it as a portable Bluetooth speaker and control it with your mobile phone or tablet to listen to anything your device can play
• Smart speaker: Within Wi-Fi range, control the speaker with your voice and use it as an Amazon Alexa speaker or your Google Assistant speaker to play integrated music services like Amazon Music, Spotify, and Pandora
• Make or take calls: With Alexa only, make or take calls from this portable speaker to Bose smart products, Amazon Echo products, and anyone in your contacts list. Hands free, phone free, and free of charge.
• Compatible products: This Bluetooth speaker is part of the Bose Smart Home Family and works with other Bose smart speakers and soundbars for a multi-room listening experience

Buy Now : Bose Portable Smart Speaker — Wireless Bluetooth Speaker with Alexa Voice Control Built-In, Black

Brand : Bose
Category : Electronics,Portable Audio & Video,Portable Speakers & Docks,Portable Bluetooth Speakers
Rating : 4.4
ListPrice : US $399
Price : US $399
Review Count : 3358
SalesRank : 0

Bose Portable Smart Speaker — Wireless Bluetooth Speaker with Alexa Voice Control Built-In, Black

• When I bought the Bose Portable Home Speaker (PHS), I wanted to know how it measured up to the older Bluetooth-only Bose Revolve+. I\'ve had it for a little over a year now and it is a significant generational leap forward over the Revolve+.Pros over Revolve+:a) 20-30 % louderb) Higher fidelity and louder bass while only being slightly larger than Revolve+ (doesn\'t feel much heavier) Bose has changed their sound signature slightly for this speaker where at near max volume it compresses sound in a much, much more pleasing way versus the Micro, Revolve, Revolve+c) Higher quality streaming over Wi-Fi & Spotify Connectd) Similar in sound quality to Bose Home Speaker 300 (which is a non-portable speaker)e) 180 degree charging port on bottom - as long as the speaker is handle-side up you can set it on the charging dock (not included) in any direction and it just works.Cons over Revolve+:a) No audio over USBb) No AUX Portc) No tripod mountd) The PHS has loud power on/off, pairing, connection/disconnection tones that can\'t be turned off *Voice prompts can still be turned on/off, but with them turned off you don\'t know the battery level unless you check the Bose Music app (the power LED on the speaker remains white the whole time until it is at 10%, when it glows red)e) You can no longer wake-up the speaker via Bluetooth when the speaker is powered-off i.e. helpful when the Revolve+ was mounted somewhere on a tripod, or on a bookshelf, or across the yardf) Bose seems to have designed this speaker to be Wi-Fi first, and bluetooth second You can turn off Wi-Fi and mute the microphones on the speaker to use it bluetooth-only, but this resets everytime the speaker is powered-on, unfortunately, although the microphones do remain muted until you press the microphone button The PHS doesn\'t work with the app over Bluetooth, it is Wi-Fi only. So there is no way to check the battery level with voice prompts & Wi-Fi turned off, for example, among other things like adjusting the speaker\'s built-in equalizer.g) (-1 star) No stereo pairing with any of Bose\'s Wi-Fi or Bluetooth speakers, not even with another PHS. It does allow you to mono-pair with Bose\'s other Wi-Fi speakers, including their current gen soundbars and other home Wi-Fi speakers, and even allows you to pair with older gen Bluetooth speakers (such as the Revolve and Revolve+), just not in stereo. In general, when buying a 360 degree mono speaker like this it is because they get louder and have more bass than their similarly sized stereo speakers - this is why other manufacturers have also started producing mono speakers, like the JBL Flip 5. In exchange for this you can typically pair another speaker in stereo to get a much more powerful setup - it\'s unfortunate Bose does away with this in the PHS.e) (-1 star) The passive radiators can distort.For the Revolve & Revolve+ Bose introduced what they called a \"pressure trap\" into the passive radiator system that guaranteed distortion-less passive radiators - something that always resulted in clean, loud bass.This was really, really neat and a huge improvement over most other speakers with a passive radiator setup. It also greatly improved upon the design on the Soundlink Mini as it had a habit of distorting at louder volumes.Unfortunately, the PHS does not use this system, and with an extra 3rd passive radiator (as opposed to the 2 in the older generation of speakers) and the fact that they are tuned louder than ever, the PHS can end up distorting wildly on some very mainstream songs - although it\'s \"only\" observable above 50 % volume.In general, the speaker sounds great from 0 - 50 %, where 50 % is the sweet spot. At this volume level it is already 30-ish % louder than the Revolve+ while sounding much better, and everything flattens out and sounds really natural while still sounding full and satisfying. Above 50 % is where the distortion problems start to happen. Although near top volume the DSP kicks in and actually lessens the problem - so I think this is more of a rare DSP misstep from Bose, although at a year in the speaker still sounds the same unfortunately, so they are likely not going to change the sound signature for this generation of the speaker.Other cons just in general:a) Supports Apple Airplay but not Google Chromecast i.e. While the Bose Music app supports Sirus XM, it doesn\'t work with their Xtra channels the native Sirius XM app you download on the phone only supports Chromecastb) Speaker is still only IPx4 water resistant I would presume leaving off the pressure trap from the passive radiator system and with the introduction of Bose\'s first ever IPx7 water proof speaker (to 1 meter for 30min) in the Bose Soundlink Micro (which came out a year before) I thought the PHS would be more water resistant than the Revolve & Revolve+, but it is still only IPx4 water resistant. For reference,the only competitor to the PHS, the Sonos Move (of which I have a feeling the PHS was rushed out to beat the launch date of), is IPx7 water resistant (although it is a much larger and heavier speaker).Other things to note, the speaker no longer has speakerphone functionality, although I personally never used this in Bose\'s previous speakers, so no loss here.Despite all of this, I still like the speaker and it is still an improvement if the lack of stereo-pairing or fidelity issues with the passive radiators is not a show stopper for you (although I would consider these carefully, because the PHS is still a much lesser speaker without them) - there just isn\'t much competition in this space.In closing, after using the speaker for over a year now I have a feeling it is (thankfully) not a direct successor to the Revolve & Revolve+ due to the two stars off. Their older gen speakers are getting long in the tooth (still on Micro-USB, don\'t sound as good a high volume, see Pro\'s section part b) ) so I hope those are refreshed soon.
• I currently own a variety of portable speakers, hard wired speakers and a home theater system. I have always been a fan of BOSE for the sounddock systems and the portable battery powered Revolve +. Bose is known for over emphasized & artificially created soundstage. However, this in my opinion is a positive when it comes to small portable speakers. When the first BOSE sounddock came out years ago I was amazed at how big and full it sounded for it\'s size. I have had a few generations of that one and now they have the Bose Soundtouch 10,20,30 series. I own the series 20 and have it at my office. Great smaller hardwired speaker. However, I wanted a portable speaker to take to the beach, pool, my garage, our back porch, yard, etc. The answer was the BOSE Revolve Plus. First time I powered it on I was amazed at the sound and bass for the little size. The battery lasts a long time and being splash proof was nice when we would take to our friends pool. With our growing family I find the revolver plus disappearing more so I was looking to purchase another. I waited a few weeks knowing BOSE was coming out with the newer version that was only slightly bigger, more powerful, deeper bass, WiFi AND now with Alexa and other app capability. I received it about a week ago and it was very easy to hook up to internet, update and run the BOSE app. No issues like some others have had. I really enjoy being able to run it on WiFi at home, but still be able to use Bluetooth if out and about. I think the Sonos app is better, but the Bose app is still ok and seems to get better with updates. (Been using the BOSE app a few years now) After charging, I set it side by side with Revolver plus to see if it was different enough or if I would be sending back for another Revolver plus. I could easily flip back and forth in my Spotify app to move the sound instantly from one back to the other over and over. Tried different genres of music from Country, to Hip Hop to Jazz to Rock. Definitely a warmer and more filling sound with the new BOSE Portable Home Speaker. Louder as well if needed. I thought the Revolver had great sound, but now it sounds a little flatter next to this one. The extra radiator gives a little more bass too which is nice. The size between the two is almost the same with the new Bose being a hair taller and wider and a tad heavier. I have a pic of both above side by side. I skipped the Sonos Move, not because of sound, but its size, weight and portability. No way are you throwing that speaker in a suitcase or car to travel. Much heavier and much bigger in size. The size of this speaker and grab handle make it excellent for taking anywhere with you. Add the built-in Alexa and you get a great speaker. Yes, it is a tad pricey. If you are considering the Revolve plus, spend the extra $50 for this one. You won\'t be sorry. Overall I am very satisfied with this speaker. Very clear highs, \"ok\" mid-range and decent bass for the size. I also like you can adjust the bass and treble on this one where the Revolve you cannot. I currently own a Sonos Play 5, which I love and use in my family room. I also own a Sonos Beam for a center in the family room. Both are great for that room and I really like the Sonos app. I also have a Martin Logan theater system in the basement. This Bose is honestly not that far behind the Play 5 which is mind boggling. Just shows you what a great job BOSE can do with such a tiny footprint. To sum up, if you want a portable speaker that you can actually take with you easily to the beach, pool, yard, gym or anywhere, I don\'t think this speaker will disappoint for the size, sound, Alexa capability and battery life. Well done BOSE!

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