Expert’s Rating
Professionals
- Great audio for a mono speaker
- Handsome look
- Much more thump than you may expect
- Can pair for stereo.
Drawbacks
- Monaural sound
- No EQ in application
Our Verdict
The IP67-rated Bose SoundLink Flex outdoor speaker is correct at home about the pool, or at the beach. It’s also appealing, and provides both equally distinct monophonic audio and a significant amount of money of thump for its dimension.
Price tag When Reviewed
$149.00
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I commonly count on excellent audio from Bose products, and the weather conditions-proofed, $149 SoundLink Flex very easily fulfilled my expectation. In fact, I was a tad astonished to find that it was a monaural speaker presented the dulcet tones radiating from its enclosure.
The Flex is a little bit bass-centric, but offered the younger viewers, which is both equally understandable–and appealing. To heck with that. I like it as effectively.
This review is element of TechHive’s coverage of the most effective Bluetooth speakers, wherever you are going to locate testimonials of the competition’s offerings, furthermore a buyer’s manual to the functions you need to take into consideration when purchasing for this variety of product or service.
Style and design and functions
The SoundLink Flex measures 3.6 x 7.9 x 21 inches (HxWxD) and weighs 1.3 lbs. It feels sizeable, but not like an anchor in the backpack. It is obtainable in stone blue, black, and white smoke. I analyzed the stone blue, and to be straightforward, it is my favourite of the 3 hues.
The non-grill areas of the Flex are lined in a grippy silicone material, so it does not slip from your grasp around or in the pool. The trade-off is that the material has a inclination to assemble grime. There is also a little material utility loop so you can dangle/have it on a single finger or dangle it on whatever’s helpful. You could also use the loop to tether a for a longer time lanyard if you so want.
Bose gives the speaker an IP67 score, that means it can endure up to 30 minutes submerged in up to a meter of water, and that particulate make a difference (dust, sand, and the like) won’t penetrate into its important parts specifically, the electronics. It floats, though it’s rather shut to neutral buoyancy, producing it enjoyment to poke in the pool. You are going to uncover an in-depth explanation of IP codes at the preceding url.
Jon L. Jacobi/Foundry
Inside the Flex is a solitary 60 mm (roughly 2.3-inch) whole-array driver, as effectively as around 3-inch wide rounded rectangular radiators firing forward and back again by way of the huge front, and smaller sized again grills. Bose has an animated exploded illustration of the SoundLink Flex halfway down the webpage at the preceding backlink. Also on board is a microphone for handling cell phone calls and summoning your smartphone’s voice assistant.
On leading of the unit are the energy, Bluetooth pair, quantity up/down, and a multi-operate button, as effectively as the Bluetooth and electrical power position lights. The speaker depends on a USB-C port to cost its battery, but there no other connections–which is abnormal.
Bose presents an application (see the up coming part for screens) to assistance connecting the Flex to your telephone or pill, should really you not know how to do so manually. I was hoping for an EQ purpose, but no dice. There are, even so, a users’ guidebook and facilities to connection with other Bose speakers in Party (unison/repeater) or Stereo (R/L stereo) modes.
Audio, Bluetooth, and Battery
Even with being a mono speaker with no channel separation, the SoundLink Flex is a pretty fantastic sounding speaker in simple fact, it is one of the superior-sounding monaural speakers I have examined. I’d have loved to hear a pair in stereo, but Bose only sent us the a single.
I was primarily amazed with the clarity of vocals. In fact I’m tempted to say the enclosure might’ve been tuned with them in brain. If you like to sing alongside with the accurate lyrics, you’ll under no circumstances slip-up text listening to the Flex. There’s also a honest amount of bottom end–and it is limited, not boomy.
Talking of growth, it would seem that Bose optimized for standard bass (above 60Hz), not sub-bass, which is only hinted at. This was a tad stunning as one usually connotes the existence of the other. I’m not a enormous supporter of sub-bass, but if you are, test out the Spark Mini.
The Bose SoundLink Flex related fast by means of Bluetooth (there is variation 4.2 radio onboard). That is great, since there is no auxiliary enter. My run time with the 3.2aH battery was at around 7 several hours in the course of fairly very low-level listening with about 30 % lifestyle (introduced by using voice prompt) remaining. Bose claims up to 12 several hours.
Jon L. Jacobi/Foundry
Fantastic things
While it’s a bit expensive, the Bose SoundLink Flex is attractive, appears excellent, and provides a pleasant quantity of thump. Currently being completely h2o-proofed, it’s also a fantastic speaker for all around the pool or at the seashore. It’s one of–if not my favorite–speakers of this dimension.