Review on Bose Portable Smart Speaker – Wireless Bluetooth Speaker with Built-In Alexa Voice Control, Silver: The Ultimate Smart Audio Companion by Derek Cage

I use a Bose Soundlink Revolve+ and I like the sound, but the Zipp 2 ends up falling behind, largely because of Zipps' ability to connect to WIFI and play internet radio stations via a feature-rich app that had equalizer type. The revolver has none of that, and at the time I wished he had one. The Zipp 2 sounded better too. I received a Bose portable speaker and the installation was pretty easy. I've been waiting a long time for Bose to offer a portable WIFI/Bluetooth speaker and here it is. It works well with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. No early termination. It wasn't bad on first listen. It has more bass than the Revolve+, but the mids are a bit thin. I also noticed that there is a lot of boost at 85Hz, which drops off drastically when playing music. I think this is due to the design of passive radiators. Now there are 3 instead of 2. I think Bose is pushing the limits of what a speaker can do and usually they win by balancing, but that's not the case with this speaker. It's this resonant frequency that bothers me because it's so loud compared to all other frequencies. The only other issue I had is that the music sometimes sounds too compressed, even at low volumes. This effect does not normally occur at higher volumes. It's also annoying and doesn't feel like Bose. I listen to everything from smooth jazz to hip hop, although I prefer jazz so it's been tested with all types of music. For its size it's still amazing that it can reproduce the sound it does. I think a software update could fix these problems. It's worth noting that the app works very well with the Bose portable home speaker and even offers bass and treble tuning. Definitely a first for Bose. I'm an audio engineer so you may not notice these flaws the way I do and I know this is not intended to be a reference speaker so I don't have those expectations. I've had pretty much every major brand Bluetooth speaker right now, and many other brands at one time or another. So I know what to expect based on size, design and price. At $349.99, this should rival the best Bluetooth speakers on the market. Let's hope Bose sends an update to fix this. Update: 9/8/20 Zipp 2 proved to be a great speaker until it was disconnected from the show. I ended up gifting it to a friend after buying the Sonos Move. It has all of the above features but sounds way better and if you are familiar with the app it is pretty amazing and works seamlessly with many different music platforms. Search Spotify, SiriusXM, Apple Music, Hulu and tracks and more in the app with one search and get results for every music service in one. Every time you move the Sonos Move (hence the name) it uses seven different microphones to adapt the sound to your surroundings to give you the best sound no matter where you place it. It's amazing how flat and uncolored the sound is, with a bit of bottom end punch. Compared to Bose's portable home speaker, it costs $499, but it also includes a halo-shaped charger that's super slim and table-mountable. All you have to do is dock the Sonos Move and it will start charging. The Bose portable home speaker charging dock was sold separately and was not included with the original purchase of the speaker itself. I was able to get 12 hours of battery life at a decent volume. Trust me, this thing gets pretty loud so it could easily cover a party, indoors or out, and still retain the great sound that Sonos is known for. I was able to get 12 hours of battery life at a decent volume. Trust me, this thing gets pretty loud so it could easily cover a party, indoors or out, and still retain the great sound that Sonos is known for.