Let’s take a look at another aspect of the quality of life. Ever wished you didn’t have to invest in multiple music players so you don’t have to be in a specific room in order to listen to your favorite tunes? Or alternatively, got tired of having to carry your phone with you everywhere and be utterly disappointed at the inferior sound quality you had to put up with in the process? The Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker is an answer to all of that and can do even more on top of it.
Basically, the SoundLink Mini is a portable speaker that can fit in the palm of your hand but doesn’t fail to amaze at the amount of bass and punch it can throw. It’s the second iteration of the Bose SoundLink Mini – occasionally named the Bose SoundLink Mini II – but it became the current and sole variant placed on sale soon after its release (the original cannot be found on the market anymore). Though there aren’t that many changes that were brought to the second version of the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker, the latest version ended up being very popular thanks to the addition of speakerphone capability.
Whether you don’t want to feel bound to a particular room in order to listen to music, your car stereo is busted or you simply need an easily transportable speaker to take with you wherever you may be going, the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker is one of the best choices you can make. With a reliable battery life, an unexpectedly powerful sound and wireless capability, it has pretty much everything you could ever wish for.
Pros:
- Very powerful and high quality sound
- Small and easy to transport or take without you
- Compact and sturdy
- Simple and sleek design
Cons:
- Far from the cheapest on the market
- Does not support near field communication (NFC) pairing
- Doesn’t have an LCD display
Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker Design
I won’t lie to you, my first reaction when seeing the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker wasn’t one of the greatest, and for a moment I wondered if I was looking at a recent device or some really outdated lone speaker. That’s mostly due to the front of the device – a perforated strip of aluminum that really resembles the one that my stereo had on its speakers… 15 years ago. I really, really wish the manufacturer had done something different with the front of the SoundLink mini speaker.
On the other hand, though, I can say that I understand the reasoning behind not employing a different design or softer material for covering the speaker’s drivers. This is supposed to be a portable speaker that you can just put in your camping bag and enjoy it when you’re there; it’s supposed to be sturdy. And that is certainly something that the Bluetooth speaker manages to pull off. The Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker is amazingly compact, with a sound aluminum body and a very solid feel. It’s also unexpectedly heavy for its size too: at 2 x 7.1 x 2.3 inches it weighs 1.5 pounds which is really a bit of a shocker the first time you pick it up.
The sturdy and solid feel of the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker’s unibody is complimented by the button layout on the device’s top side. The entire area where the buttons are placed doesn’t leave any room for crevices on the sides, simply displaying the device’s logo in the very center and giving you access to 5 rubber-covered controls right below that. There is a power button, a Bluetooth button, the volume up and down controls, as well as a multifunction button. The last of the 5 handles playback and the speakerphone; for example, you can use it as a play/pause button, skip forward or backwards by 2 and 3 taps respectively, hold down on it to activate voice dial, answer or reject calls and even switch between calls.
The right side of the speaker features 2 ports: a 3.5 jack input that you can use to connect any non-Bluetooth capable device to the speaker and a microUSB port that you can use as a secondary charging method. Sadly, the microUSB can’t be used to pair the speaker with various devices and can instead only be used as a charging port and connector for any kind of needed firmware update. The bottom of the device features the primary method of charging however. When connected to the charging cradle included in the box, the connectors enable charging via your nearest power socket.
The way that the speaker was constructed suggests that you’re more likely to use this in your own home rather than anywhere else, like taking it with you on trips. Thanks to the charging cradle, you’re most likely to keep it somewhere mostly stationary, and switching its position only when you need to. Thanks to the simplistic and sleek design, you can probably place it nearly anywhere in your home and it’ll fit in just fine.
There are two color variations that you can purchase the Bose Soundlink Mini Bluetooth speaker in: Carbon and Pearl (basically black or white). However, given that the more fun and playful color variations are not being manufactured anymore, you can purchase a number of matching soft covers that will not only spike up the look of the speaker but also give it a touch of extra protection against external factors. The soft covers come in a multitude of color tones: blue, pink, red, gray, navy blue, energy green, deep red and charcoal black, thus sufficing for absolutely anyone’s tastes.
Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker Features
Even though on first look the Bose Soundlink Mini Bluetooth speakers are pretty straight forward, it’s necessary to elaborate on just how far its base functions really go. As long as a device is either Bluetooth capable or can be connected to the speaker via the 3.5 mm jack input, the Bose SoundLink Mini will act as a relay for any sound that’s made by the host. The range on the Bose SoundLink Bluetooth speaker is about 30 feet, meaning that you don’t necessarily have to carry your paired device with you wherever you go. Or, alternatively, you don’t have to carry the speaker either.
The Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker provides feedback through an automated voice system that’s meant to fill in for the absence of any kind of LCD display. The voice system notifies you of several things: starting with the battery level when you turn on the device and ending with the names of devices connected to the speakers. If there had been a way to read out the name of the song I’m listening to, I would’ve been completely sold on this as I tend to listen to a lot of random playlists and when I like something I have to go through an entire process of finding out what I just listened to.
There’s a fair number of pre-installed languages to select from if needed.
Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker Playback
Once you have a device paired with the SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker, you can control the music volume and controls from either of the two devices, giving you a fair amount of control without being subjected to too much hassle.
You can pair up to 2 devices simultaneously: meaning both can be connected to the Bose SoundLink speaker and listen to them alternatively. The music won’t overlap but instead it will start playing off of the device you most recently used. Say if device A is already playing and you want to start using the speakers for device B, all you have to do is pause music playback on device A and turn it on for device B; the latter will start playing in the speakers instead.
You can pair up to 8 devices to the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth mobile speaker without overriding any of the records kept on the device. Any time you come in range to the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker with a previously paired device, it will recognize your handheld automatically and allow you to start using it immediately. Whether we’re talking your smartphone, tablets or even Bluetooth capable laptops, the SoundLink Mini can handle it all.
Considering there’s no display on the speaker to let you know which device is currently connected to it, you need to make use of the Bluetooth button to find out. The name of the paired device will play through the speaker. Similarly, in order to connect a mobile device from the speaker’s recorded pairing list, you need to double tap the Bluetooth button then press it once to move through to the next device until you find the correct one.
If by any chance your 8 slots have already been filled with devices and you wish to connect a new one to the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker, you have to press and hold the Bluetooth button for 10 seconds until the speakers notify you that the list has been cleared.
Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker Speakerphone
Thanks to the microphone that has been added to this second version of the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker, you can now use it as a relay for your phone calls as well. While the multifunction button serves as your main aid for most of the call functionalities, it may take a while to get used to all the tapping and holding down combinations – considering each does something different.
There is a downside to using the SoundLink speaker for taking calls however; the reason behind that is the simple fact that you pretty much have to speak into the microphone that’s included in its body in order to be heard so the hands-free, wireless ordeal is a little defeated by that. On the bright side, however, the speaker is able to identify incoming callers when they’re recorded in your contacts so you’ll be notified prior to answering the call. This feature can be turned off by pressing the – and + buttons simultaneously until you hear a notification that says that the voice prompts are off.
Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker Setup & Performance
The setup process is very straight forward and doesn’t even require any application to be installed on your mobile phone or Bluetooth laptop. By simply turning on your Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker and turning on the Bluetooth on your phone, you can find the speaker and pair it to your smartphone; you will, in turn, be notified through the voice system that the devices have been paired.
In terms of sound performance, the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker is an undoubtedly powerful device, especially given its size and portability. The volume goes considerably high without any breaking or distortion. The bass and mid tones of the speaker are the strong point of the entire device, delivering a punchy and clear sound, with a lot of emphasis on detail. The treble isn’t particularly great, but overall the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker performs well with a variety of music genres and will completely dwarf many competing models – if you can spare the extra cash for it at least.
Thanks to the passive radiators that are added in addition to the standard sound drivers, the low frequency sounds are enhanced a fair amount, thus allowing the speakers to provide an unexpected output of sound and volume, despite the small size of the SoundLink Mini. In comparison to the original Bose SoundLink Mini, not a lot has changed in terms of sound quality – the digital signal processing is mainly responsible of bringing out the best in the music you listen to; it’s not about an amazing and innovative set of hardware that’s miraculously packed inside the speaker, sadly.
Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker Battery
The Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker contains a rechargeable battery that you can charge either via a wall socket or any USB device. The plastic charging dock that comes with the device is a nifty, nonintrusive peripheral that you can place your speaker in while you use it and either charge it at the same time or simply prevent battery usage. Without being connected to a power source, the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker can last for up to 10 hours of playback time, which is a definitely improvement over the previous model which could only last up to 7. With even less worry of the device running out of juice while you’re on the road, you can really take the SoundLink Mini with you anywhere you go.
The charging cradle allows the speaker to be securely placed on top of it thanks to the pin connectors in the far right corner that keep it stable and secure. The user manual notifies the user that an increased volume will reduce the battery playback time. The device charges from 0 to 100% in roughly 4 hours if you’re not using the device in the meantime. There is also a battery saving feature that will automatically turn the device off after 30 minutes of inactivity in case you happen to forget it on.
Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker Verdict
The Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker is one of the most proficient and complete Bluetooth speaker you can find: with an amazing amount of power packed in the tiny box, you can enjoy your entire collection of music without being constricted to a pair of mobile phone speakers, unsatisfactory headphones or having to crank up your sound system’s volume loud enough for you to be able to hear it from a different room.
Even more so than that, you can event take the speakers with you wherever you go – 10 hours of playback time on a full charge is a lot more than one realizes. While it lacks the handier near field communication pairing that you may find in other competing models, the Bluetooth connectivity is particularly self-explanatory and really easy to use.
However, with unmistakable quality comes a higher price; and by all means, the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker is not a couple of bucks more expensive. While you can get most wireless speakers for anywhere between $100 to $150, the SoundLink Mini is no less than $199. Depending on how much need you actually have for such a wireless speaker and how much you predict you’ll be using it, it falls onto you to decide if it’s worth paying that amount for it or not.