Bose SoundLink Flex Portable Speaker

An excellent portable speaker that packs way more sound than you'd expect for its size. This isn't the smallest or lightest Bluetooth speaker out there, but it is small and light enough to truly be on-the-go friendly. I enjoy photography, so I'm already lugging around gear and don't want a big, heavy speaker to add to the mix. It doesn't add much to your backpack or luggage, so you'll be more tempted to bring it with you than, say, the SoundLink Max, which I also have. While the Max is demonstrably better and more powerful, the sheer size and weight makes you think twice about bringing it anywhere. The occasion must call for it. This speaker is often a no-brainer to toss in your bag. Surprisingly, it does have speakerphone support, unlike the Max, which is nice to ... MoreAn excellent portable speaker that packs way more sound than you'd expect for its size. This isn't the smallest or lightest Bluetooth speaker out there, but it is small and light enough to truly be on-the-go friendly. I enjoy photography, so I'm already lugging around gear and don't want a big, heavy speaker to add to the mix. It doesn't add much to your backpack or luggage, so you'll be more tempted to bring it with you than, say, the SoundLink Max, which I also have. While the Max is demonstrably better and more powerful, the sheer size and weight makes you think twice about bringing it anywhere. The occasion must call for it. This speaker is often a no-brainer to toss in your bag. Surprisingly, it does have speakerphone support, unlike the Max, which is nice to see. Thanks to no WiFi or "smarts", battery life is also very good. It does drain faster the higher you crank the volume, so if you plan to blast it for hours on end you'll likely want a USB-C battery with you. But more likely than not, it'll cover your entire event, no problem. I used it often while on a trip for a week - mostly at lower volumes - and never actually needed to charge it. It feels well built and substantial, despite being light enough to carry with you. Overall, really exceptional audio quality. You'll be amazed at the bass it pumps out - especially if you increase it via the EQ in the Bose app. Unfortunately, there is no AUX port, nor can you do audio via USB-C. Perhaps that can be enabled via a software update, but I wouldn't count on that, so you are limited to Bluetooth connectivity. There are certainly cheaper options out there for something like this, but you'll be hard pressed to find something with this level of audio quality and portability, so the price seems justified. If you primarily care about audio quality - and don't care about price or size or weight - the Max is the way to go. But if you want any real semblance of portability, you won't be disappointed by this. I don't have the Micro to compare against it, but this is only slightly more and seems like the right call.

The Bose Flex 2 SoundLink is a remarkably small speaker that packs a ton of audible punch while on the go. I’ve bought numerous portable/Bluetooth speakers over the years, and none come close to this latest model from Bose! This speaker's footprint is less than a third of its bigger brother (the Bose SoundLink Max) and carries a minor lower register penalty from its diminutive size. However, the audio wizards at Bose struck the perfect balance between weight, size, and performance in my mind.I’ve taken this speaker everywhere, testing it in numerous settings before posting this feedback. It joined me on my recent whitetail hunting trip on the eastern plains, saw the top of a 14,000-foot mountain on a backpacking expedition, and has flown coast to coast in my ... MoreThe Bose Flex 2 SoundLink is a remarkably small speaker that packs a ton of audible punch while on the go. I’ve bought numerous portable/Bluetooth speakers over the years, and none come close to this latest model from Bose! This speaker's footprint is less than a third of its bigger brother (the Bose SoundLink Max) and carries a minor lower register penalty from its diminutive size. However, the audio wizards at Bose struck the perfect balance between weight, size, and performance in my mind.I’ve taken this speaker everywhere, testing it in numerous settings before posting this feedback. It joined me on my recent whitetail hunting trip on the eastern plains, saw the top of a 14,000-foot mountain on a backpacking expedition, and has flown coast to coast in my backpack while on business travel. This speaker has been a fantastic travel companion and hasn’t slowed me down one bit. If you are hunting for a focused sound, place the speaker upright towards your seating position. However, if you want a more room-filling experience, laying it down (speakers firing up) gives the best experience for this situation.Let’s talk about some musical choices used during this evaluation. I gravitate towards Metalcore, Rock, and fairly bass-heavy musical styles. As alluded to earlier, the larger SoundLink Max digs deeper, but the trade-off is a significantly heavier speaker (not to mention a much more significant dent in your wallet). One of the first songs I usually try is Post Malone’s Rockstar to see how low a speaker goes, and for this tiny speaker, it performed remarkably well. I then try Bullet to the Heart - Revanent (played in F key with a significant double bass kick). You can hear each distinct slap of the bass kick pedal, and they do not get muddied at all (unlike one of its competitors, the Beats Pill, which failed to produce the same distinction). I then switched to Written by Wolves - Goddess to hear how it handles Rock meets EDM music — fantastic! For a blend between metal and R&B, Jeris Johnson’s When the Darkness Comes fits the bill, and this was the most surprising experience. The Flex 2 SoundLink sounds fantastic during the lower beat hits post-chorus! Moving to slower music, Jelly Roll - I Am Not Okay tests against his signature growl and voice gravel. What an excellent little speaker!However, I think my favorite use case is a bit of an oddity — it is FANTASTIC for telepresence meetings (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WebEx, and Amazon Chime). I tired of my smaller monitor-style speakers on my limited desk space, which admittedly is dominated by my 49” Dell monitor, MacBook Pro, and peripherals. Linking this Flex 2 SoundLink via Bluetooth was a snap, and it fits perfectly below the monitor. I could clearly hear all the meeting participants. Other participants told me that the built-in microphone also made my voice sound warm and inviting on their end of the call.One small area that I would love to see more improvement is Bose’s newest Speaker Linking feature. It functions perfectly between two identical Flex 2 SoundLink models, but it does not work between dissimilar models within the same SoundLink family (for example, one Flex 2 and one SoundLink Max). I’m sure there is a reason why this doesn’t work, but I would love to have this functionality if possible.

I have been a long time user of the original Bose SoundLink Mini from 2013, and have shown off its quality to new friends as recently as last year. I can confirm that this new addition to my speaker collection will also be shown off for years to come.The setup process was extremely simple and straightforward - no techy knowledge is really required as the Bose app takes you through all of the steps. There was a firmware update for my device that the app installed very easily.The sound quality is exceptional for a speaker of this size (which is par for the course as far as Bose is concerned!) and, in the couple of weeks I have had it, has been with me on the go not taking up much space or weighing me down.The speaker is covered in a rubbery coating which prevent ... MoreI have been a long time user of the original Bose SoundLink Mini from 2013, and have shown off its quality to new friends as recently as last year. I can confirm that this new addition to my speaker collection will also be shown off for years to come.The setup process was extremely simple and straightforward - no techy knowledge is really required as the Bose app takes you through all of the steps. There was a firmware update for my device that the app installed very easily.The sound quality is exceptional for a speaker of this size (which is par for the course as far as Bose is concerned!) and, in the couple of weeks I have had it, has been with me on the go not taking up much space or weighing me down.The speaker is covered in a rubbery coating which prevent it from slipping about on a smooth surface but it can be a magnet for dust and crumbs.Battery life is also top notch - I haven't let it run down fully but it can last me at least 3 days with a few hours playtime a day.There is no aux port which may be an issue for some, but Bluetooth is all I would use anyway and it has a super wide range.I didn't get the original Flex but I've read that it used the old app - the big change since then is that there are now EQ settings which I sometimes like to play with to fit the media I am consuming.One great feature is the shortcut button - I have another speaker in the SoundLink range (Max) and, with a press of a button on both devices, I can have them both play in perfect sync. Very, very useful if I need to cover a couple of rooms with sound at the same time.If you are after something that can put out a lot of sound then the Max might be a better fit for you, but if you're after the best version of what most people would think of as a Bluetooth speaker, then you cannot do better than the new SoundLink Flex.