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  1. Table of Contents
  2. Top
  3. Main Differences
  4. Design
    1. Pictures
    2. Style
    3. Portability
    4. Build Quality
    5. Controls
    6. In The Box
  5. Sound
    1. Frequency Response Accuracy
    2. Raw Frequency Response
    3. Soundstage
    4. Dynamics
  6. Active Features
    1. Battery
    2. Voice Assistant
    3. App
  7. Connectivity
    1. Wired
    2. Bluetooth
    3. Wi-Fi
  8. Comments

Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Gen 2 vs Bose SoundLink Flex

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Gen 2
Bose SoundLink Flex

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Sep 04, 2024 07:31 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Oct 31, 2024 02:49 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Gen 2 Picture
Bose SoundLink Flex Picture

Variants

  • Beosound A1 Gen 2 (Black)
  • Beosound A1 Gen 2 (Gold)
  • Beosound A1 Gen 2 (Green)
  • Beosound A1 Gen 2 (Grey Mist)
  • Beosound A1 Gen 2 (Pink)
  • SoundLink Flex (Black)
  • SoundLink Flex (Carmine Red)
  • SoundLink Flex (Chilled Lilac)
  • SoundLink Flex (Cypress Green)
  • SoundLink Flex (Stone Blue)
  • SoundLink Flex (White Smoke)

Our Verdict

Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Gen 2

Bose SoundLink Flex

The Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Gen 2 is a slightly better speaker than the Bose SoundLink Flex. The Bang & Olufsen offers a wider-sounding soundstage and comes with presets to tweak its sound to your liking. It also has fantastic voice assistant support with Alexa built-in, though it relies on your paired smartphone's Wi-Fi connection to work. That said, the Bose offers a better-balanced default sound profile and can get a bit louder. It also has a longer-lasting battery life, though this can vary depending on your usage.

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Black
Beosound A1 Gen 2
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Black
SoundLink Flex
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Gold
Beosound A1 Gen 2
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Carmine Red
SoundLink Flex
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Green
Beosound A1 Gen 2
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Chilled Lilac
SoundLink Flex
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Grey Mist
Beosound A1 Gen 2
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Cypress Green
SoundLink Flex
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Pink
Beosound A1 Gen 2
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Stone Blue
SoundLink Flex
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White Smoke
SoundLink Flex
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Main Differences for
Music

Threshold 

0.10

Music 

6.5
6.3

Soundstage 
 

7.4
5.5

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

6.4
6.9

EQ 
 

Presets
No

Dynamics 
 

5.8
6.4

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Style Photo  

Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Gen 2 Style Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex Style Photo

RGB Lights  

No
No
Show Text 

Portability 
 

9.3
9.2

Dimensions Photo  

Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Gen 2 Dimensions Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex Dimensions Photo

Volume 
 

46 in³ (749 cm³)
57 in³ (942 cm³)

Weight 
 

1.1 lbs (0.5 kg)
1.3 lbs (0.6 kg)

Power Source 
 

Battery & USB
Battery & USB

One-Hand Carry 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

Build Quality 
 

8.3
8.7

Build Quality Photo  

Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Gen 2 Build Quality Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex Build Quality Photo

Material Quality 
 

Great
Good

Water Resistance 
 

Submersible (IPx7)
Submersible (IPx7)

Dust Resistance 
 

Dust-Proof (IP6x)
Dust-Proof (IP6x)

Impact Resistance 
 

No
Yes (IK rating unspecified)

Floats In Water 
 

Unspecified
Yes
Show Text 

Controls 
 

8.9
8.4

Controls Photo  

Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Gen 2 Controls Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex Controls Photo

Controls Photo 2  

Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Gen 2 Controls Photo 2
Bose SoundLink Flex Controls Photo 2

Ease Of Use 
 

Great
Okay

Feedback 
 

Good
Decent

Music Play/Pause 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Call Answer/End 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Volume Up/Down 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Track Next/Previous 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Microphone On/Off 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Additional Controls 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

In The Box 
 

In The Box Photo  

Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Gen 2 In The Box Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex In The Box Photo
Show Text 
Sound

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

6.4
6.9

Frequency Response Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Slope 
 

-0.25
0.22

Std. Err. 
 

3.95 dB
2.85 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

62.6 Hz
60.8 Hz

High-Frequency Extension 
 

13.5 kHz
15.6 kHz
Show Text 

Raw Frequency Response 
 

Raw Frequency Response Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Binaural Recording @ 1m 
 

Binaural Recording @ 2m 
 

Soundstage 
 

7.4
5.5

Directivity Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Directivity Index 
 

1.09 dB
4.59 dB

Stereo 
 

No (mono)
No (mono)
Show Text 

Dynamics 
 

5.8
6.4

Dynamic Range Compression  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

SPL @ Max Volume 
 

84.2 dB SPL
87.5 dB SPL

DRC @ Max Volume 
 

3.33 dB
3.02 dB
Show Text 
Active Features

Battery 
 

3.2
6.7

Battery Life 
 

4.6 hrs
7.2 hrs

Charge Time 
 

4.9 hrs
2.7 hrs

Power Saving 
 

No
Yes

Charging Port 
 

USB-C
USB-C

Battery Powered 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

Voice Assistant 
 

10
5.7

Alexa 
 

Yes (Requires Smartphone)
No

Google Assistant 
 

No
Yes (Requires Smartphone)

Speakerphone 
 

Yes
Yes

Siri 
 

No
Yes (Requires Smartphone)

Voice Assistant 
 

Yes
Yes

Voice Activation 
 

Yes
No

Microphone Mute 
 

Yes
No

Far-Field Performance 
 

Excellent
Excellent

Ambient Noise Performance 
 

Excellent
Excellent
Show Text 

App 
 

6.0
6.6

App Picture  

Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Gen 2 App Picture
Bose SoundLink Flex App Picture

App Name 
 

Bang & Olufsen
Bose Connect

iOS 
 

Yes
Yes

Android 
 

Yes
Yes

EQ 
 

Presets
No

Stereo Pair Mode 
 

Yes
Yes

Party Mode 
 

No
Yes

Multi-Room 
 

No
No
Show Text 
Connectivity

Wired 
 

Aux Input 
 

No
No

USB Audio 
 

Yes
No

Other Ports 
 

No
No
Show Text 

Bluetooth 
 

8.3
8.0

Bluetooth 
 

Yes
Yes

Bluetooth Version 
 

5.1
4.2

Bluetooth iOS Latency 
 

104 ms
236 ms

Bluetooth Android Latency 
 

160 ms
109 ms

Bluetooth Range 
 

334.6 ft (102.0 m)
255.9 ft (78.0 m)

Multi-Device Pairing 
 

2 Devices
2 Devices
Show Text 

Wi-Fi 
 

0.0
0.0

Wi-Fi Version 
 

No Wi-Fi
No Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi Frequency Band 
 

No Wi-Fi
No Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi 
 

No
No

Apple AirPlay 
 

No
No

AirPlay Latency 
 

N/A
N/A

Google Chromecast 
 

No
No

Chromecast Latency 
 

N/A
N/A

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Black
Beosound A1 Gen 2
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Black
SoundLink Flex
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Gold
Beosound A1 Gen 2
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Carmine Red
SoundLink Flex
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Green
Beosound A1 Gen 2
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Chilled Lilac
SoundLink Flex
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Grey Mist
Beosound A1 Gen 2
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Cypress Green
SoundLink Flex
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Pink
Beosound A1 Gen 2
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Stone Blue
SoundLink Flex
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White Smoke
SoundLink Flex
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Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Gen 2

Bose SoundLink Flex

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Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Gen 2 vs Bose SoundLink Flex: Main Discussion

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