I’ve spent over a week with the Bose SoundLink Mini and I’m carrying it everywhere with me at the moment.
Compact speakers of any kind tend to have some sort of compromise, and don’t produce the deep low frequency sound you get with larger speakers, but with the SoundLink Mini there appears to be little compromise. Often you will hear similar sized speakers to the Soundlink Mini sound too thin and bright, simply because of a lack of bass depth. But Bose has managed to create a small speaker with a great sound.
Sound quality
The Bose speaker develops a warm, meaty performance – I’m really impressed with the amount of depth Bose have managed to pack in to its tiny footprint. The SoundLink Mini’s bass performance is deep and inviting. More importantly, it underpins the overall sound with a sense of weight that’s lovely to hear. Stream any song over Bluetooth, and they all sound satisfyingly solid. It’s a dynamic sound, too, with plenty of punch to the thumping beats.
The rest of the frequency range hasn’t been ignored either. Voices are rich and full of detail. The treble is smooth and gentle, and there’s no hint of brightness or sharpness to be heard – not even at higher volumes.
That said, the strength of that bass performance shouldn’t be underestimated – it’s head and shoulders over any other speaker I’ve heard of this size, even if its lower frequencies can occasionally overwhelm other elements.
Build quality
For some reason, in life we relate quality to the weight of a product and when you first pick up the Bose, the first thing you’ll notice is how heavy it is. It’s surprisingly weighty, especially for such a small thing. I guess part of the weight is the batteries and partly the casing to weight the speaker down and stop it moving around. It really feels like a premium product.
It’s a good size, and a decent portable option; you can easily get it in your bag, or even your pocket at a push!
The grey rubber buttons on top are functional and respond well. There’s a button each for Bluetooth and auxiliary input, so it’s easy to switch between wireless and wired streaming.
Features
Bose has taken a no-frills approach with the SoundLink Mini. I think that was the best way forward, simply turn it on connect the Bluetooth and you’re away.
What are the features? Bluetooth streaming and a 3.5mm input for wired connection, you don’t need anything more than this.
Accessories…The SoundLink Mini comes with a charging cradle. It’s a nice addition that the speaker slots in neatly and allows you to pick the speaker up and run without any messing about with cables.
Verdict
The SoundLink experience is a no-brainer, you get a rich, bassy, and punchy sound everywhere in your life simply by carrying this small speaker around with you. Every garage needs a decent sound system and it doesn’t come more suitable than this.
Sure you can by similar quality speakers with a lot more features, but not at the £170 price point and I haven’t seen a portable speaker as rounded as this one yet.
