I went on a shopping spree a while ago. Quite a while ago. A shopping spree for me usually entails spending more than usual on one item and then going home and feeling guilty. This happens maybe once a year. This year I decided I wanted a wireless speaker. I did all the research, went and tested a few, checked the bank account and… still went ahead and bought one.
In the end it was down to two – the Logitech UE Boom and the Bose Soundlink Mini
The idea was to have a speaker that we could take away with us anywhere. Something to throw in the bag, that wouldn’t take up too much space or weight and create a party or fill a space with good quality sound.
Imagine changing the mood of a whole dorm room with some music, feeling some rich bass and enjoying your music collection with friends, or putting a speaker on a rock on the beach and playing frisbee to some balearic sounds.
Not doing a full comparison, I chose the Bose because of better depth of sound and looks. The UE Boom was a brilliant contender on sound and actually had better features in that it can link to other units, it’s case was protective and it could be charged with a mini usb connector, but I’m a bit vain with gadgets and sound quality trumps pretty much everything else with me, so the Bose it was.
I’ve had this almost a year now and it is by far and away the best gadget I own, and I own a few. It’s not perfect but for the price it’s almost there.
Sound : 5/5
Style : 5/5
Battery time: 3.5/5
Portability: 4/5
Value for money: 5/5
Would I recommend : Yes
The sound is trademark Bose quality. They have packaged a great deal of drive and throw in this speaker and the weight of it shows that. It is heavier than most other speakers but after using for a few weeks, you stop noticing and when you pick up another brand, they feel like toys.
The finish is very similar to Apple products, I think intentionally and looks the part anywhere. It has a thick rubber base that has gripping power. To make it safe to take anywhere I highly recommend buying case as well.
Battery time is good enough for me but if I’m taking it for more than 1 day I will take the charger. I can rely on it for 7 hours continuous play.
As I said it’s heavier than others and needs a case but I’m happy with this for the pro’s.
I’ve tried all the other offerings around the same price bracket and this is the best. I can’t even begin to start with a comparison to the Beats Pill (it’s shocking, it’s like comparing venison to spam).
The only cons or things I’d want different are:
- connections on the rear instead of side
- aux connection on the cradle
- mini usb charging
- volume indicator
- volume consistent when turned on (sometimes it goes onto a lower level for no reason when turned off)
- bluetooth controls
Another factor to buying this kit is I’ve put the cradle that comes with it in front of my TV and when I put in on there and connect it, it becomes my TV speaker and it has changed our home TV experience 10 fold. This is where the UE Boom fails, it doesn’t look as good next to the TV. Anyone with a flat screen knows you have to sacrifice sound for thinness, this is why there are sound bars on the market. I can honestly say this is the better solution to a sound bar as you can take it with you and when travelling it makes a laptop, tablet or phone a much better viewing experience.
Recently I took my Macbook Air, Pioneer DDJ-SR and Bose Soundlink Mini with a cable and played a house party and it was the easiest and least back-breaking house party I have ever done. It was so great.
If you are serious about your music and your style, this is the best option on the market. It doubles as a sound bar, compliments a home hi-fi setup and sounds great outdoors.
So that, in my opinion, is the best wireless travel speaker on the market at the moment.
If you fancy buying it or the other also awesome UE Boom, the price is £169.99 pretty much everywhere for each one but we’d love it if you could buy through the affiliate link above, but it’s cool if you want to buy it elsewhere or go check it out for yourself first.