Which Bose Speaker Should You Buy?
The models range from tiny, budget-friendly portables to pricier smart speakers
By Allen St. John
For decades, some music fans have tried to simplify the task of shopping for a solid speaker by following a three-word mantra: Buy a Bose.
Since the 1960s, the company has made innovative, high-quality products—many of which have performed well in Consumer Reports’ labs.
Our speaker ratings also include many high-performing speakers from other companies, of course. But even if you narrow your choice to this one brand, you still have decisions to make, because Bose offers a complex line of products featuring wireless and smart speakers at a wide range of prices. Some models are compatible with each other for pairing or multiroom capability, while others are not.
Consumer Reports puts each Bose model through a rigorous independent testing program. The process begins with purchasing the speaker through regular retail channels—no freebies for us. Each sample is then evaluated in our dedicated listening laboratories, where our trained testers compare it to a variety of reference speakers and rate it for ease of use, versatility, and most of all, sound quality.
In the roundup below, the options are separated into smart speakers and wireless Bluetooth speakers, and ranked in descending order of overall test score. Smart speakers and wireless speakers are ranked on a slightly different scale, so you can’t compare scores across categories.
Bose Smart Speakers
Bose Home Speaker 500
What’s to like: The Bose Home Speaker 500 is platform-agnostic, meaning it’s one of the few smart speakers that allows you to choose between Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant. The model fares quite well in our sound-quality tests, exhibiting strong bass and detailed highs that can reproduce both the thwock of a kick drum and the shimmer of cymbals with lifelike realism.
What’s not to like: It’s hard to know what to make of the small LCD screen that shows the title and album artwork from your playlist. While some users may like it, others will find it to be an awkward half-measure, sitting between an audio-only device and a smart speaker with a full-blown screen like Amazon’s Echo Show models. The Home Speaker 500 can’t be synced with Bose’s SoundTouch wireless models, which can be disappointing if you’re a longtime fan deeply entrenched in the Bose ecosystem.
Who should buy it: Someone looking for an option that delivers smart speaker versatility with a little added visual information about the tracks on that Remember the 2000s playlist.
Bose Home Speaker 300
What’s to like: Like its larger sibling, the Bose Home Speaker 300 lets you choose between Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant. And when it comes to sound quality, the Home Speaker 300 doesn’t give away much to its larger sibling, despite a significantly lower price. The chief differences? The 500 plays somewhat louder and can reproduce lower bass notes more accurately.
What’s not to like: Unlike its larger sibling, the Home Speaker 300 doesn’t feature an LCD screen, which some users may actually consider to be a benefit because the styling is cleaner. Also note that the Home 300 lacks multiroom compatibility with Bose’s older SoundTouch wireless models.
Who should buy it: A music lover looking for a versatile smart speaker with fine sound that’s simpler and cheaper than the Home Speaker 500.
Bose Portable Home
What’s to like: The Bose Portable Home is sleek and compact, and the sound quality is more than respectable for the device’s size. There aren’t many portable smart speakers that can match this combination of sound quality and smart speaker functionality.
What’s not to like: You’re paying a significant premium for portability. If you’re planning to keep the speaker at home, you can buy a higher-rated model such as the Amazon Echo Studio. If you’ve got your heart set on a portable smart speaker, you might consider the Sonos Move, which is a bit more expensive but fared even better in our sound-quality tests.
Who should buy it: A music lover who’s short on space and wants a good-looking, good-sounding, go-anywhere speaker with a small footprint.
Bose Wireless & Bluetooth Speakers
Bose SoundLink Color II
What’s to like: While it lacks fancy features, such as LED lighting and sound effects, that are found on some inexpensive wireless speakers, the Bose SoundLink Color II performs where it really matters. Not only is it cool and colorful and easy to use, but our testers report that it provides sound quality that compares favorably with that of larger and more expensive portable speakers.
What’s not to like: The SoundLink Color II’s IPX-4 certification makes it splashproof, but much less water-resistant than the Bose SoundLink Flex that’s also in this roundup. (Consumer Reports doesn’t test speaker manufacturers’ water-resistance claims.)
Who should buy it: An active music lover who’s looking for a speaker to put in a bag, but not a beach bag.
Bose Soundlink Revolve+ II
What’s to like: With its steely, cylindrical styling, the Bose SoundLink Revolve+ II hits an aesthetic sweet spot, providing enjoyable—though not truly stellar—sound while blending into the décor of your home or office. Our testers detected a slight metallic distortion in the midrange, but they also gave the model high marks for the large and intuitive controls atop the device.
What’s not to like: The Revolve+ II costs about one-third more than its smaller sibling, the Revolve II, but doesn’t sound much better. Its sonic advantage lies primarily in volume and bass.
Who should buy it: A consumer with a big room, a sense of style, and not much price sensitivity.
Bose Soundlink Revolve II
What’s to like: Like its larger sibling above, the Bose Revolve II features distinctive styling and satisfying though somewhat flawed sound, with a midrange that’s a bit metallic. The large and intuitive controls atop the speaker are another plus. The Revolve II uses the same optional charging cradle as the Revolve+ II.
What’s not to like: While the SoundLink Revolve II is a moderately small portable speaker with a handle, it lacks water and dust resistance, so it’s not meant for the great outdoors.
Who should buy it: A style-conscious, value-conscious consumer looking for a speaker that can move easily from room to room.
Bose Soundlink Flex
What’s to like: The Bose Soundlink Flex sounds quite good for a small, modestly priced portable speaker. But its biggest advantage is the fact that unlike most of Bose’s other speakers, it has IP67 water and dust resistance, so you can take it to the beach or perch it by the pool. The Flex, which comes in four colors, can be positioned horizontally or vertically; the speaker adjusts automatically for its orientation.
What’s not to like: Our testers reported that the bass of the Soundlink Flex is a bit on the boomy side and the speaker produces only enough volume to fill a medium-sized room.
Who should buy it: A consumer looking for a Bose speaker that can get wet or even dunked.
Bose Soundlink Micro
What’s to like: Sometimes smaller is better. The tiny SoundLink Micro is cute, hyper-portable, and comes with a strap that allows you to lash it to a bicycle, backpack, or stroller. Bose claims that it’s IP67 water-resistant, too, so it’s a good choice for wet and wild action.
What’s not to like: If the Micro’s small size isn’t super-important to you and you’ve got a few extra dollars in your budget, the SoundLink Flex offers much better sound quality for not much more money. The Micro also doesn’t play very loud. It works best if you’re close to the speaker, and it’s better suited to spoken-word content or background music.
Who should buy it: A podcast-loving fan of tiny speakers.
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