One of the best portable Bluetooth speakers was released two years ago and it is still holding one of the top-selling spots, offering performance and possibilities at an outstanding level. The Bose SoundLink Mini II is a small Bluetooth speaker, having the perfect size for the offered performance, but not enough to make it easy to carry around with you in your pocket.
If you are searching for a powerful bass and performance, that’s hiding in a tiny box, then this speaker will most definitely impress you with its capabilities. Of course, there are cheaper versions available but you’ll hardly find a better one than this for $180.
Design
Not only in terms of performance but the looks are what I find cool too. It’s superbly well made, with a tough aluminum body, that will probably be easy to scratch and harm. That’s why you’ll have to pay extra $25 for a protective case but that’s all up to you – if you are careful or don’t care about the outside but rather tend to focus on performance, you surely won’t have any problems! The exact size of the device is 2″ H x 7.1″ W x 2.3″ D.
Aside from the perfect size for home-carrying around, is that the SoundLink Mini II has a charging dock and cable charging option – you can choose between the two, depending on how it’s most suitable for you. The charging is done with metal contacts on both the dock and the speaker, that transfer the electricity from one to the other for a quick charging.
On the front there’s the company’s Bose logo in the exact middle, embedded in the dotted metal mesh, that covers and protects the sound-producing system. The controlling happens with the physical buttons located on the top, or with your Bluetooth connected device. There are buttons for power/volume and Bluetooth pairing, and all are covered with rubbery material.
Performance and sound quality
There is still no NFC for easy pairing, but there is a new voice system. A slightly robotic-sounding woman reads out the battery level when the Bose SoundLink Mini II is turned on, alongside the names of connected devices. Two devices can be paired simultaneously, although you can play audio from only one at a time.Battery life has improved, too, from a quoted 7-8 hours to 10 hours. You won’t get that long if you blast the Bose SoundLink Mini II at full volume, however.
To be fair, the first generation SoundLink Mini has the exact sound performance and it really didn’t need any changes, so I like this move by Bose. As I’ve said it is an astonishingly bassy and powerful-sounding speaker for its size. As far as I am concerned, it’d have sounded better if aptX codec was added, unlike the known SBC codec, which is standart for Bluetooth connections but less capable of high-quality sound than the aptX codec.
Bose SoundLink Mini II delivers a smooth and intensive tone, with perfect bass and natural sounding vocals. It is slightly more expensive than its competitors at this price range but offers the best sound quality, bass, slick and smooth vocals with tweeters that manage to crank out sound much larger than their stature because they use passive radiators. I personally find them perfect and really suitable for everyday usage and carrying around in your backpack or hand. The battery life is also great, offering 7-8 to 10 hours unless you play it at the maximum level possible – this, therefore, requires more energy consumption and may quickly drain your energy level. All in all, there are plenty of cheaper alternatives out there, but the Bose SoundLink Mini II is the best wireless speaker in this class right now.
