Bit of Bluetooth for t'Dads
Bose pulled its latest speaker system out of the box (a small box, we have to say) - the Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Speaker - at a London event on Thursday and Pocket-lint was on-hand to get up close and personal with it.
The SoundLink is a Bluetooth speaker that has your smartphone or tablet in its sights. It's diddy, measuring in at 13 x 24.4 x 4.8cm and weighing 1.3kg. So it's easily small enough to fit in your suitcase or overnight bag when you're off on your travels.
First impressions were just how cool it looked. It's got the charm of a 1970s transistor radio, with an incredibly slick looking cover and stand system (Cordura nylon or leather) that makes it look like an expensive piece of luggage. Plus, the cover is metal reinforced so it adds a bit of protection to the speaker, and also packs magnets to turn the speaker on when opened, or off when closed.
And it's a tough mo-fo of a speaker as well. We were shown videos of it being tested in the labs, resisting salt-fog, sand, wind, and moisture. Oh, and a wacky looking button pressing machine. It's also got end-caps made from automotive-grade chrome, so it'll handle the odd drop or knock too.
But it's all well and good it looking good, and being durable - but it needs to sound good too. But there's no issues in that department. It sounds superb. We tested it with an array of musical genres and it handled them all fantastically.
And that's because it is packing some serious audio tech in its small little chassis. The SoundLink boasts four low-profile neodymium transducers, dual-opposing passive radiators, with a patented waffle-shaped surround, and Bose's digital signal processing algorithms.
The result is a mini speaker, with a sound that's anything but mini. We were actually blown away with just how powerful a punch it packed.
Battery life is good too. You'll only get 3 hours or so at full volume, but crank that down to around 75 per cent and you're looking at at least 8 hours. A full charge whilst listening takes around 2 hours.
Available now, the Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile speaker costs ?249.99 for the Cordura nylon cover version, or ?50 more if you want some leather action. You can also customise your SoundLink with an array of additional covers. Covers in nylon (bright red or royal purple) and leather (burgundy or tan) are available.
Tags: Audio Bose Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Speaker Bose SoundLink Bluetooth speakers iPhone iPad Photos
Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Speaker hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 11:46:00 +0100
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There are growing numbers of counterfeit Bose products in the marketplace. Unfortunately for the Soundlink Mini, the fakes are copied remarkably well. There are a few differences we will show you below to make sure you don't purchase any.
ReplyDelete1. Even the packaging is done very well by most of the counterfeits. The sound quality is where the real problem exists, so use the steps below to verify your Soundlink Mini is genuine.
2. The first thing to check is the "Bose" alignment on the Speaker. On the real one you can see the "Bose" is straight but on the fake one, it goes uphill. We placed a straight yellow box over the top of the "Bose" so you can see how out of alignment it is. This will never happen with a real one.
3. remove the cover on the bottom and check the placement of the "RU" and some of the other printing errors. Your device should look like the one on the right.
4. look at the connectors on the cradle. The real connectors are spring loaded and the fakes are rigid.
5. look on the Soundlink where the cradle connects when it's docked. They should be flat and not recessed. If it looks like the one on the right, it's fake.
6. check the rubber around the grill on the back. On many of the fakes, the quality is very poor and does not look uniform. This is a high end device and even a small detail like this should look perfect.
7. Now, if you have a scale, weigh it in lbs. and as you can see, there is a weight difference. It's not a lot but the real ones do weigh slightly more.