Bluetooth speakers are all the rage these days. It seems like every major electronics company has some variant of one. The features of Bluetooth speakers vary widely, but the decision to buy one usually comes down to a person's preference on portability, sound quality, battery life, Bluetooth range, and price.
I recently entered the market for a speaker. I wanted something that was portable that I could carry around the house or travel with, and I've always been particular about sound quality, so that was another big factor in my decision. I checked out several different speakers, ranging in price from $30 to $200. In my search, a couple of different speakers immediately stood out. There's the incredibly popular and affordable Anker SoundCore 2, which comes in at around $30. It touts a long battery life and wide Bluetooth range. JBL makes several speakers, popular for their water resistance , and they are very widely reviewed on Amazon, so you can get a feel for what other people think about them. Finally, I arrived at the Bose Soundlink Mini II. Coming in at $179, it's far more expensive than the other two I've mentioned, and one of the most expensive in its class. However, I couldn't help notice that it has 4.6 stars after over 4,000 reviews on Amazon.
The thing that pushed me over the edge to the Soundlink Mini was actually hearing one in person. I visited my local Target, where they had all three of the speakers I mentioned, as well as several more in the price range I was looking at. The speakers were displayed side-by-side and you could listen to a few predetermined tracks across all of the devices there on the display. I proceeded to go one by one and figure out what I liked about the sound. I wouldn't say I'm an audiophile, but I do care about good sound quality. Bose has always made quality speakers. I remember as a kid going to some friends' house who had a Bose Wave Radio, and I always enjoyed listening to it because of the impressive sound.
I was blown away at the sound coming from such a small device. I listened to some of the others, but in the way of sound quality, I was extremely impressed by the Bose, which led me to purchase it.
Now that I've had it for around a week, I've decided to point out some of the pros and cons of this speaker, which I hope will be helpful to you. First, since I just made a comment about its size, I'll talk about that.
The official dimensions are listed as 8.88 x 4.62 x 5 inches on the Amazon product page, and you can see the size relative to my hand in the image above. The small size definitely makes it portable. The speaker is however quite heavy. Amazon lists it as weighing over 2.5 pounds, and I must say, it does feel heavy. That has not been an issue for me since I usually place it on a counter top, bookshelf or the bedside table, but if you're looking for something that doesn't add much extra weight to a bag or backpack when traveling, you might want to literally weigh your options.
The physical design of the speaker makes it feel well-built. It has an aluminum frame, and the bottom of the speaker has padding so that it does not scuff the surface it is sitting on. I've taken pictures of the speaker from all angles so that you can see the buttons, connections, and padding:
High Resolution versions:
Now that you've seen the speaker from all sides, let's talk about some of the features. First, there are two ways to charge the speaker. First, you can plug in an ubiquitous micro USB cable into the port on the side to charge if you're on the go. The speaker also comes with a charging dock, which may be plugged into the wall via the included adapter. You can see the charging pins in the image of the bottom of the speaker. The speaker sits in the dock, and the pins make contact, so the device can charge in its dock and be picked up straightaway without the need to unplug, which is what makes the dock useful. If you're planning on keeping the device in one place, the dock is a nice aesthetic way to charge without having a cable protruding from the side of the speaker.
Also on the side of the speaker with the charging port is a 3.5 mm connection, in case you want to physically connect a device to the speaker. This is a nice feature to have for legacy devices with no Bluetooth (I've used this device with a turntable), and the speaker will switch the source to this auxiliary input any time a cable is plugged in. So far, I've been very impressed with the battery life. The product description touts "10 hours of unplugged playtime," and I believe this to be an accurate assessment. Sure, you may not get 10 hours out of it if you're playing at max volume, but for normal listening levels indoors, the 10 hour claim has definitely held up. Also, each time you power on the device, it will give you an approximate battery percentage, so you can know when it needs to be charged.
As for Bluetooth pairing, simply press and hold the Bluetooth button on the top of the device to begin pairing. Find "Bose Soundlink Mini II" in your device's Bluetooth menu, and in seconds you're ready to play music. It will pair to two devices simultaneously, and I believe it remembers up to 8 devices. Once connected, use the volume control buttons to increase or decrease the volume, or use the volume control on your phone. I've found that controlling the audio volume from your phone is easier since it takes several presses of the volume buttons on the speaker to notice a difference. The Bluetooth range is something I've not tested scientifically with a tape measure yet, but the product claim of "30 feet" seems to be roughly accurate, given that I've carried my phone in my pocket around the apartment and maintained a solid connection. If I decide to test it, I will update this post.
Another feature to note is that when paired with a phone, the device will act as a speakerphone. I've not used this feature extensively yet, but I believe that the audio quality for phone calls is great. The microphone does require you to be within 3 feet or so in order for the other person on the call to hear you. My wife tried using it across the room, and while I could make out what she was saying, it was clear she was far away from the microphone.
Finally, I want to talk about general use. This speaker is great. My favorite place to put it has become my bookshelf, as you can see above. It has such a sleek design, that it blends in nicely with the shelf, and can be hard to notice because of its size. It's easy to grab and move to another room, and fills the room with incredible sounding music. I'm constantly impressed with the quality of this speaker each time I hear a new song played on it. Upon picking up and examining the device, you can see there are two speakers on the right and left of the device, and what appears to be a small subwoofer in the middle, which is responsible for producing very clear bass tones that pack just the right amount of punch. As a bass player, I'm always listening for bass lines in songs, and this speaker makes it very easy to pick them out. It's balanced across the highs and the mids also, which is what sets this apart from other speakers. If you've ever owned any other Bose speakers, the Soundlink Mini II holds up to their quality standards. I'm incredibly happy to have purchased this speaker despite the additional cost.
This speaker suits my needs since I use it primarily indoors in my living room, kitchen, or bedroom, and I don't need it extremely loud (although it will definitely get loud). So if you're looking for something to take outside or to the pool or beach, you may want to check out other speakers with water resistance (Bose even has some of those now). But if you want a solid speaker with a sleek design and fantastic audio quality for listening around the house, look no further than the Bose Soundlink Mini II. I love mine, and now I can't wait to go home to listen to it.
The Bose Soundlink Mini II can be purchased on Amazon here, and you can access its page on Bose's website here.
I'd love to know your thoughts if you own one of these, or if you have another Bluetooth speaker that you enjoy using! Thanks for taking the time to read this review! I hope to do more in the future.
