This is the review of the comparison between two speakers from the same brand but from different series. The comparison here is between the Bose Portable Home Speaker and the Bose SoundLink Mini II. There is a difference in their price range and also, in their features and performances. To know which one has better sound quality, go to the detailed review.

Bose Portable Home Speaker	Bose SoundLink Mini II
BUY NOW	BUY NOW
PROS	PROS
Warm, well-balanced sound. Premium and very portable design. Choice of Alexa or Google Assistant. The app lets you tweak the sound to suit you.	Great build quality. Stellar sound. Automatically switches to AUX mode when a device is connected via cable. Can be paired with two Bluetooth devices at the same time.
CONS	CONS
Neither the brightest nor most bombastic performer on the block. The white version gets dirty easily. Not waterproof. Expensive.	No aptX or NFC. Lows lack precision and agility. Mediocre battery life. Not water-resistant. Bose missed an opportunity in not allowing for stereo pairing.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

Bose Portable Home Speaker

The Bose Portable Home Speaker is retailing for quite a higher price but still worth that price range. This speaker is actually retailing for around three hundred and fifty dollars currently on Amazon. This speaker is also IPX4 waterproof rated which means it can go through some splashes.

Bose SoundLink Mini II

The Bose SoundLink Mini II is the updated version speaker of the Bose SoundLink Mini. This speaker has 12 hours of battery life and it also looks quite good. This speaker also comes with voice assistance which is really good to have in a speaker make your work get done very easily.

DESIGN: 

Bose Portable Home Speaker

As far as the physical features of this speaker, the body itself seems to be made of this nice hard plastic probably polycarbonate, and you’ve got your carrying handle. The lower part of the speaker is where you have your bass radiator, it’s made of nice aluminum trim. Then down below is where you have got your USB Type-C power input and on the bottom is where you plug in that little Bose ring that keeps this powered on 24*7, so you never have to mess with it and it shouldn’t destroy your battery. But if you keep it powered on through the USB-C charging port directly, over time it’s gonna really destroy your battery. So, when you take it on the go, it’s probably gonna die real fast over time. Up on top there, we have our power button, our Bluetooth pairing button, volume down and volume up, play and pause, you have your mute switch toggle for your voice assistant, and a button to summon your voice assistant without you using your own voice, you just press that button and give it a command, pretty short and simple. The button controls on this speaker are pretty easy to use for the average consumer.

The speaker looks glorious, it looks sleek, the plastic on top does not feel cheap, it’s super-premium like polycarbonate. We got our buttons on the top for all the controls, the speaker grille is made out of stainless steel nice and touches on both. There’s our USB-C charging port, and on the bottom there, we have a little spot for an adapter that’ll keep it powered on at all times, 24 hours for voice assistant support.

Bose SoundLink Mini II

This speaker is fairly heavy, it feels like they did put a lot of quality into this. It doesn’t feel like a cheap plastic speaker, it is made of aluminum. The design is very nice, very sleek, with really close attention to detail there and the buttons are nice over there. On the other side, you have the Mini USB port, if you don’t have the cradle. There is an auxiliary port, the only purpose I can see for this is maybe if your audio source is somewhere far away but you’re sitting beside your speaker maybe you need to keep it quiet put on some headphones and listen to the music but otherwise, I don’t see any other purpose for that. The speaker there in the background does have padding like a rubber cushion on the bottom, so it does help protect it when you lay it down in the cradle or laying down on a table, so lots of attention to detail.

FEATURES:

Bose Portable Home Speaker

The Bose Portable Home Speaker is available in both silver version black versions. This speaker is super stealthy, it’s very durable, it’s also IPX4 rated, so we can take it to the pool and it’s gonna be just fine if it gets splashed on or rained on. You just need to make sure, you have the Bose Music app downloaded to your phone or tablet to connect it, pair it, and set it up. It’s super easy and you can also set up Alexa or Google Assistant for your voice assistant. Most of the Bose Portable Home Speaker has a little carrying handle built in to help you in portability. Just pick it up, take it to the pool, take it to the beach, take it to the next room, you’re good to go. 

The box is looking grand and it comes in a black box. On the back, you can see that the Bose Portable Music app is offered on both Google Play or the Apple app store. Inside the box, the speaker is wrapped up in a nice little material. In the box, actually, you are going to have your speaker itself, a USB-C charging cable, the charging brick, and some reading materials.

In the Bose Music app, inside you can choose your music subscription providers such as Amazon Music or Spotify, and Apple Music is not supported. But you choose many other different radio stations like sports networks and other radio stations, and also, you can always connect this through Bluetooth or use AirPlay 2, if you have Apple music. So, don’t worry you can still listen to your favorite tunes if you’re an Apple Music subscriber. You can also change the equalizer within the app, and add more treble or more bass, you can pair multiple speakers together, or even your headphones if for that matter if you have some Bose headphones, so that’s a really nice touch on Bose. Also, you can do software updates here and many other things. As soon as you add a new Bose product to your family, you’ll see all of them in the app, all of them together paired together, and working in synchrony.

It’s not worth 349 dollars as much as I love it, at the most, 249 would be a good price point for this. It does sound great, it sounds incredible, especially when I watch my movies with it or listen to music, which is the most important part of using it with a voice assistant that works really well if you choose Google or Alexa. But coming in at 349 dollars that’s just a little bit too much to ask for the average consumer. I love this speaker and it’s going to fit along nicely in that Bose ecosystem, just like people get caught up in the Amazon ecosystem. If you’re looking to get into the Bose ecosystem, maybe you already are, maybe you own a Bose SoundBar 700 or a SoundBar 500. This is a great addition to add to it and what makes it nice is it’s portable, unlike the other ones, so you can take this on the go, take it to the beach or the swimming pool, if it gets rained on a little bit it’s gonna be okay.

Bose SoundLink Mini II

The Bose SoundLink Mini 2 is a Bluetooth speaker. This Bluetooth speaker lets you connect your smartphone, tablet, or any other Bluetooth enabled device, comes with a lithium-ion battery, rechargeable, lasts up to 10 hours, does come with voice prompts, so it’s simple to use with prompts to talk you through the Bluetooth pairing, also lets you know the battery life things like that. It also comes with a charging cradle, which basically keeps the ion battery charged and ready to go, so you can just pick up the Bluetooth device when you’re not using it put it back, and just generally rests on that cradle.

You can also charge through micro USB there’s a little input there, if you lose your cradle or if you’re on the go and you need to recharge it to kind of refresh the battery. One of the new features is the speakerphone, so you can get clear sound, hands-free calls, this is basically just an upgraded version of the SoundLink Mini where it didn’t have a speakerphone in the past, battery life used to be seven hours but they’re advertising ten hours of battery life, which is another little improvement that they made. Other than that they haven’t really made many changes.

There’s the device there and a few instructions in the box, really easy instructions on how to pair the device and get you started right away. The box is designed in a really nice way. On the little compartment down there in the box, I believe you have the USB charger and the cradle, so kind of cool design and even for the box. In that box, you have the product registration, that’s the safety guide basically telling you not to submerge it in water and not to put it on fire things like that. There’s the cradle, and the cradle looks nice.

I’m not sure if the Mini and the Mini 2 would work together just because the specs on the Mini 2 say that it is slightly wider, so I’m not sure if you can mount this Mini 2 on an old SoundLink Mini cradle. Then you have the Mini USB cord that connects directly to the cradle or you can connect it directly to the SoundLink Mini 2. Also, there will your nice and slim charging brick if you want to use the USB and can plug into that if you’re charging into a wall or you can keep it as is charging it into a computer if you already have a USB outlet on your wall. 

As far as the pairing process, it’s just really simple. Just turned the speaker on, the speaker will automatically go into the Bluetooth pairing mode and the Bluetooth light will be on. Then go to the phone, turn on the Bluetooth, and it will get paired very easily, just like that. Overall, I am very happy with this speaker, really I got money’s worth. The sound is absolutely amazing for the price I paid. Not much of an upgrade, so if you already have a SoundLink Mini, I’m not sure if it would be worth the money to upgrade to this SoundLink Mini 2. 

SOUND QUALITY:

Bose Portable Home Speaker

As far as the sound quality on this speaker, I think the bass on this speaker will be comparable to that on the JBL Xtreme 2, it has that much bass as the JBL Xtreme 2. I’ve listened to so many speakers and from my experience, in terms of loudness, this should be one of the loudest portable speakers on the market for its size.

Bose SoundLink Mini II

As far as the sound quality of the Bose SoundLink Mini II, I felt like vocals and some things were a little held back and I think that’s because they’re pushing bass so much and still trying to keep treble so sparkly. As far as the mids I feel like it gets lost just a little bit and then that’s kind of nitpicking.

WHICH ONE HAS BETTER SOUND QUALITY?

If you’re on the market looking for a portable speaker and portability and loudness are a top priority on your list, I’ll recommend you give the Bose Home Portable Speaker because it is louder than the Bose SoundLink Mini II. Also, the overall sound quality is better on the Bose Portable Home Speaker than the Bose SoundLink Mini II.

Expert Reviews of Bose Portable Home Speaker:

By Stuff
Not perfect and definitely not cheap, but the feature-packed Bose Portable Home Speaker is still very easy to like.

By Tech Radar
There’s a lot to like about the Bose Portable Home Speaker; it’s super smart, and its design blends functionality with minimalist…

By goodhousekeeping.com
This speaker comes with a high-end price tag, but its excellent quality makes it worth it. It’s lightweight, versatile, and…

By Tech Hive
The Bose Portable Home Speaker is a personable, user-friendly, voice-activated smart speaker that’s easy to tote, whether deployed outside…

By Tom’s Guide
The $349 Bose Portable Home Speaker is designed for mobility, and it packs substantial sound into a small frame.

Expert Reviews of Bose SounLink Mini II:

By TechRadar
The Bose SoundLink Mini II is showing its age with its average battery life and lack of features like NFC and…

By goodhousekeeping.com
The SoundLink Mini II is a compact and lightweight speaker (it’s only about 15 square inches and weighs one pound) with…

By expert Reviews
Available now at around £130, the Bose SoundLink Mini 2 is a great choice overall. It sounds excellent for the money and provided you’re not looking for a ruggedized speaker…

By What Hi-Fi?
If you’re after a fully portable speaker that doesn’t scrimp on bass weight, the SoundLink Mini II could be for you.

By Trusted Reviews
There are plenty of cheaper alternatives out there, but the Bose SoundLink Mini II is the best wireless speaker in this class right now.