![]() ![]() If you’re a podcast fan, you’ll love the Flex. The second thing we notice is that voices take centre stage. That’s the first thing we notice: the sound from this compact speaker goes big and loud. Inside the speaker is one custom-designed driver and two small passive radiators (front and rear facing) that deliver Bose’s larger-than-its-size sound. Pairing and playing is easy: this is a straightforward Bluetooth speaker, and we love how easily we can start listening to music within seconds. You can also connect the Flex to other SimpleSync-compatible products, which include Bose soundbars and headphones like the Bose 700 and QuietComfort Earbuds. The Flex can be used as a speakerphone thanks to its built-in mic, and you can pair two Bose SoundLink speakers together in stereo or party mode using the app. There are no EQ sound settings to tweak yourself, however – Bose’s PositionIQ tech seems to be enough. Other features in the app include setting the auto-off timer, seeing the two devices you’re connected to, controlling music playback and, most importantly, turning off the rather annoying voice prompts if you don’t need it. But there’s no indication of how much battery life is left on the unit, so it’s worth downloading the app just to keep tabs on that. The LED next to the power button stays solid white when fully charged, and glows red when low. You can also press and hold the multi-function button to activate your phone’s voice assistant.ĭownload the Bose Connect app and you get a few more features, the most useful being battery life status. The control buttons on the speaker – power, volume up and down, Bluetooth pairing and multi-function that pauses, plays, skips music and takes calls – are responsive and instinctive to use from the second you get it out of the box. You also get a wireless range of up to a claimed 9m/30ft. You can also have two devices connected to the speaker at the same time – we had an Apple iPhone and a Samsung Galaxy smartphone connected to it simultaneously. Still, pairing to a smartphone takes mere seconds and it automatically reconnects to the last device it was paired with. The SoundLink Flex has Bluetooth 4.2 on board – not exactly cutting edge when similar speakers from JBL are now sporting Bluetooth 5.1. It takes roughly 4 hours to charge the Bose speaker up to full power using the provided USB-C charging cable. You get a similar 12 hours with the JBL Flip 6 (but it takes half the time to charge up), while the JBL Charge 5 goes much longer for 20 hours. ![]() You’ll get plenty of music out of the Bose, as it has a hefty 12 hours of battery life on a single charge. ![]() We find this works really well – the sound comes through evenly however we place the speaker. This is thanks to Bose’s PositionIQ Technology, which uses built-in sensors to detect the orientation the speaker is in – lying flat on its back, standing up, propped against a wall in portrait mode – and adjusts its EQ and optimises the sound accordingly. On a happier note: the speaker sounds good wherever you place it and in whichever position. But we’d think twice about taking the Bose to a music festival. Conversely, we have no such qualms about getting the more rugged exteriors of the JBL or UE speakers dirty or keeping them clean. We quickly scrub it off, but some stains remain and we feel like we’ve tarnished it. When the soft-touch finish of the Bose picks up a lot of dirt, debris and grass from being placed in the garden, we feel like we’ve done something wrong. The Flex looks and feels more sophisticated than the JBL and Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2 speakers, which are very much designed to get dirty. It also floats, and the speaker performs perfectly well after it’s dried out too. It’ll even play when dunked in water – we submerged our sample underwater and it carried on playing, albeit in a muffled way. With its IP67 rating, the SoundLink Flex is fully waterproof and dustproof, so we don’t mind getting splashes of water on it and the finish is wipeable too. You can also place the Bose speaker anywhere indoors and it won’t look out of place: we used it in the kitchen, home office and even the bath. Finishes Black, White Smoke, Stone Blue, Carmine Red ![]()
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