BosePortable Smart Speaker — Wireless Bluetooth Speaker with Alexa Voice Control Built-in, Black

New favorite speaker. Takes everything I put it through and connects to all my smart speakers (Apple HomePods and Minis).

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!

Love it! Easy to set up.

Got this as a birthday gift for my husband and never spent an outdoor family and friends event without it. It stays on our kitchen counter top for some casual dinner parties too. Good quality sound without distortions or unnecessary high volume. Bose has it all.I also got a charging pad and a case for it, they made it much easier to use for traveling and charging.

Clean, clear and powerful sound. Deep rich bass from such a small unit is impressive. This has geat portability and good battery life. Connectivity issues with Alexa, worked great for a while but now Alexa went on strike. Bluetooth works well, but the Alexa feature is where this is supposed to shine, unfortunately the integration is kidnda phoned in. Not sure if its a Bose or an Amazon software issue.

We purchased this speaker, along with a Bose Home Speaker 500, with the intent of using both speakers individually at times and together at times, sometimes at home and sometimes at other locations. We wanted the 500 for bigger sound (still quite portable, just without battery capability) and the portable for easier portability (and battery capability), especially for the times we'd be taking only one speaker from home to another location. Unfortunately, the other negative reviews are accurate. Our problems included:1. Couldn't use the Bose app with Spotify because the speaker couldn't tell if it was supposed to use the volume setting from the app or the volume setting from Spotify, so the volume jumped up and down constantly on its own. Bose Support diagnosed the problem but confirmed there is no solution in the Bose app. There was a workaround, which was good, but only if one owns an iPhone, is connected to WiFi, and the workaround was still glitchy (see #3 below).2. Could connect directly to the speaker with Bluetooth and use it with Spotify, without the Bose app, but only if using 1 speaker at a time and sometimes Bluetooth didn't work / couldn't connect the iPhone to the speaker. Bose Support was friendly on the phone but couldn't fully solve this problem. It's just glitchy.3. We were able to use both speakers at the same time through the same device, using Spotify and without the volume problem described in #1 above, but only if using AirPlay (sorry non-iPhone users). However, this workaround requires WiFi (cannot be used with Bluetooth). So, if you're taking your two speakers to the beach, park, hike, picnic, outdoor birthday party, private events space that has secured WiFi or WiFi settings not compatible with Bose, your back yard, or any place that doesn't have WiFi, you can't use your Bose speakers at the same time from one device. This is also true if owning two portable speakers and no Home Speaker 500. This leads one to ask, "What's the point of buying small, portable speakers if they can't be used outside of the house?" We've read that with older versions of Bose portable speakers, one could play music through multiple speakers at the same time from the same device using Bluetooth, but the new speakers won't work without WiFi and without an iPhone-specific workaround for the faulty Bose app.4. Even if there is good, accessible, properly-configured WiFi that is compatible with Bose speakers at the location of one's event, it requires reconnecting the speakers to the device before use. That entire process is glitchy (with or without the glitchy Bose app), time-consuming, and frustrating, with it sometimes working and sometimes not, with no discernable reason for the glitches. Again, Bose Customer Support was friendly and helpful on the phone, but could not solve this problem.We are not sure what the developers were thinking with the downgrades listed above from previous versions of Bose portable speakers, but these are flaws that make these speakers nearly useless for us. We don't care about Alexa, only about getting music through both speakers, no matter where we are, with simple set-up. We are returning them for a refund and purchasing two Sonos speakers, which have solid reviews and great word-of-mouth from friends. We will write a review for those once we receive and use them.