How To Connect To Bose Speaker

Tom's Guide Verdict

The improved Bose SoundLink III Bluetooth speaker offers excellent audio quality and long bombardment life in an attractive design.

Pros

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Crisp, lively audio
+
Good overall book
+
Sleek, sturdy pattern
+
Adept battery life

Cons

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No speakerphone
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Lacks track-skip buttons and USB charging
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High toll

The SoundLink line of portable wireless speakers keeps improving in audio quality with each iteration. The line does, however, face a Bluetooth speaker market that has grown increasingly crowded with models boasting extras, such every bit mobile device charging and speakerphones. The SoundLink III is aimed at travelers who have fairly deep pockets and are more concerned with their musical experience than with bells and whistles.

Design

The SoundLink III retains the same bones, rectangular shape as its predecessors had, minus the integrated cover. The metal grille, thick plastic bumpers and rubber-covered controls along the top give the impression of good adroitness and sturdiness, while rubberized anxiety on the bottom keep the speaker stable.

The chassis retains the previous model'south slim dimensions, at 1.nine-inches thick, 5.2-inches high and just a fleck wider than the SoundLink 2, at ten.ane inches across. The slimmer shape makes the Bose a fleck easier to slide into flatter types of bags than competitors like the Big Jambox (x ten 3.half-dozen x 2.1 inches). Coming in at 3 pounds, however, the SoundLink 3 outweighs the Big Jambox (2.7 pounds).

The SoundLink Three isn't near every bit travel friendly as Bose's SoundLink Mini (7.ane x 2.iii x ii inches, 1.five pounds), just you can hands movement the SoundLink from room to room. It's really designed more for occasional travel than the Mini.

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Features

The SoundLink III offers a fairly sparse design, with a line-in (aux-in) minijack, power jack and microUSB port on the back. Unlike competing speakers, the SoundLink III doesn't charge via USB (the port is strictly for firmware upgrades) or provide the power to charge other devices, as the models from Braven practise. Only nosotros practice similar the 14-hour bombardment life, which is up from the SoundLink II's eight hours.

Controls along the acme include ability, Bluetooth discovery mode, aux (to listen to a device plugged into the aux port), mute and volume up/down. Conspicuously missing are play/break and track-skip buttons, and although yous can control those functions from your mobile device or computer, there'due south enough of free space on pinnacle for that purpose. A row of LED indicators for Bluetooth, aux input, mute and battery ability sits on forepart just below the peak.

Competitors similar Jawbone's Large Jambox and Braven'south 850 Hd offering far more in the way of extras, such as speakerphone, customizability (Jawbone) and additional device charging (Braven), all for the same cost.

The SoundLink III parcel doesn't include any extras as well the AC power wall plug; a zippered case for the speaker costs an actress $35, though its light design appears more for ornamentation than protection.

Sound performance

Overall, the SoundLink III's dual passive radiators do a good job squeezing out ample upper bass, and the tonal balance tends towards brightness. The volume was significantly louder than in previous models, but we didn't detect any distortion, even at superlative book.

The lively audio works well for acoustic music and mellower rock and pop, simply bass-heavy hip-hop and kickdrum-centric metal sounded a scrap thin. In a speaker this size, however, nosotros're somewhat forgiving about the bass, every bit information technology only takes a larger speaker to reproduce deep lows. Here'south what nosotros encountered in our testing:

John Coltrane's "Blue Train" exhibited practiced audio-visual bass definition; the horns were a little bright, but the cymbals sounded very crisp. The pianoforte was a little dirty, only the overall sound was pleasing.

Yo-Yo Ma'due south solo rendition of Bach Cello Suite one in Grand sounded slightly unnatural; the speaker'south tonal colorations didn't quite adjust the instrument's complex timbre, and the additional highs made the sound a bit besides airy.

Jay-Z's "Holy Grail" featuring Justin Timberlake sounded good on the intro, with JT's vocals coming through clear and well-baked despite a tiny fleck of harshness on the sibilants during the chorus. Unfortunately, as with any speaker this size, yous lose the deep synth bass that enters with Jay-Z's vocals, and so the track simply vicious flat.

Ac/DC's classic "Back in Blackness" sounded edgy, with up-front vocals and plenty of crunch and bite in the guitars. The kick pulsate and bass didn't have every bit much impact as they would on a bigger speaker, like the Bowers & Wilkins Z2, just the overall volume and crispness fabricated up for that somewhat.

On Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb," the vocals cutting through the psychedelic soup very well, with plenty of sparkle that helped bring out the acoustic guitar as well.

Diane Schuur's vocal version of "Autumn Leaves" backed by Maynard Ferguson's large band offered up powerful electric bass with very skilful overall residuum. Maynard's trumpet, the occasionally muted trumpet section and Schuur'south vocalisation all lie in the speaker's sweet spot of functioning, and it rendered them very well.

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Verdict

At $299, the SoundLink 3 is a pregnant investment for those who want to make full a small room or patio with articulate sound, simply it isn't any pricier than competing models from Jawbone and Braven. Bose manages to pack plenty of sonic punch and battery life into a slim package, improving significantly on the previous model. Furthermore, the SoundLink Three offers better clarity and volume than competitors like Jawbone's Big Jambox and Braven'southward 850 Hard disk. The lack of extras like speakerphone and onboard playback controls comes as a surprise at this price. Only if you can live without those amenities, the SoundLink 3 is 1 of the best portable wireless speakers y'all tin get.

(If your needs, and budget, are bigger — say, for outdoor use at a decent-size party — cheque out the $449 Soundcast Melody.)