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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

Bose Portable Smart Speaker vs Bose SoundLink Flex

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Bose Portable Smart Speaker
Bose SoundLink Flex

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Sep 04, 2024 07:32 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Oct 31, 2024 02:49 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Bose Portable Smart Speaker Picture
Bose SoundLink Flex Picture

Variants

  • Portable Smart Speaker (Luxe Silver)
  • Portable Smart Speaker (Triple Black)
  • 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

Bose Portable Smart Speaker

Bose SoundLink Flex

The Bose Portable Smart Speaker is a better speaker than the Bose SoundLink Flex. The Smart Speaker offers a wider-sounding soundstage. It can produce a more extended low-bass and offers incredible voice assistant support with Alexa and Google Assistant built-in. It also comes with bass and treble adjustments to tweak its sound to your liking. That said, the Flex is smaller and better built, with an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance. It also has a bit less compression present at max volume, and you can pair it to two devices at once, so you can easily switch between audio sources.

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Luxe Silver
Portable Smart Speaker
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Black
SoundLink Flex
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Triple Black
Portable Smart Speaker
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Carmine Red
SoundLink Flex
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Chilled Lilac
SoundLink Flex
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Cypress Green
SoundLink Flex
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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 

6.9
6.3

Soundstage 
 

7.4
5.5

EQ 
 

Bass/Treble
No

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

7.1
6.9

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Style Photo  

Bose Portable Smart Speaker Style Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex Style Photo

RGB Lights  

No
No
Show Text 

Portability 
 

9.4
9.2

Dimensions Photo  

Bose Portable Smart Speaker Dimensions Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex Dimensions Photo

Volume 
 

148 in³ (2,420 cm³)
57 in³ (942 cm³)

Weight 
 

2.4 lbs (1.1 kg)
1.3 lbs (0.6 kg)

Power Source 
 

AC & Battery
Battery & USB

One-Hand Carry 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

Build Quality 
 

7.3
8.7

Build Quality Photo  

Bose Portable Smart Speaker Build Quality Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex Build Quality Photo

Material Quality 
 

Great
Good

Water Resistance 
 

Water-resistant (IPx4)
Submersible (IPx7)

Dust Resistance 
 

Unspecified
Dust-Proof (IP6x)

Impact Resistance 
 

Unspecified
Yes (IK rating unspecified)

Floats In Water 
 

Unspecified
Yes
Show Text 

Controls 
 

8.0
8.4

Controls Photo  

Bose Portable Smart Speaker Controls Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex Controls Photo

Controls Photo 2  

Bose Portable Smart Speaker Controls Photo 2
Bose SoundLink Flex Controls Photo 2

Ease Of Use 
 

Great
Okay

Feedback 
 

Great
Decent

Music Play/Pause 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Call Answer/End 
 

No
Yes (Physical)

Volume Up/Down 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Track Next/Previous 
 

Yes
Yes (Physical)

Microphone On/Off 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Additional Controls 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

In The Box 
 

In The Box Photo  

Bose Portable Smart Speaker In The Box Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex In The Box Photo
Show Text 
Sound

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

7.1
6.9

Frequency Response Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Slope 
 

-0.63
0.22

Std. Err. 
 

2.94 dB
2.85 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

55.0 Hz
60.8 Hz

High-Frequency Extension 
 

19.1 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 
 

1.16 dB
4.59 dB

Stereo 
 

No (mono)
No (mono)
Show Text 

Dynamics 
 

5.9
6.4

Dynamic Range Compression  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

SPL @ Max Volume 
 

89.0 dB SPL
87.5 dB SPL

DRC @ Max Volume 
 

4.32 dB
3.02 dB
Show Text 
Active Features

Battery 
 

5.6
6.7

Battery Life 
 

5.3 hrs
7.2 hrs

Charge Time 
 

2.6 hrs
2.7 hrs

Power Saving 
 

Yes
Yes

Charging Port 
 

USB-C
USB-C

Battery Powered 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

Voice Assistant 
 

9.4
5.7

Alexa 
 

Built-in (Wi-Fi Only)
No

Google Assistant 
 

Built-in (Wi-Fi Only)
Yes (Requires Smartphone)

Speakerphone 
 

No
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 
 

Great
Excellent
Show Text 

App 
 

7.7
6.6

App Picture  

Bose Portable Smart Speaker App Picture
Bose SoundLink Flex App Picture

App Name 
 

Bose Music
Bose Connect

iOS 
 

Yes
Yes

Android 
 

Yes
Yes

EQ 
 

Bass/Treble
No

Stereo Pair Mode 
 

No
Yes

Party Mode 
 

Yes
Yes

Multi-Room 
 

Yes
No
Show Text 
Connectivity

Wired 
 

Aux Input 
 

No
No

USB Audio 
 

No
No

Other Ports 
 

No
No
Show Text 

Bluetooth 
 

8.2
8.0

Bluetooth 
 

Yes
Yes

Bluetooth Version 
 

4.2
4.2

Bluetooth iOS Latency 
 

-56 ms
236 ms

Bluetooth Android Latency 
 

86 ms
109 ms

Bluetooth Range 
 

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

Multi-Device Pairing 
 

No
2 Devices
Show Text 

Wi-Fi 
 

7.5
0.0

Wi-Fi Version 
 

Wi-Fi 5
No Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi Frequency Band 
 

5GHz
No Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi 
 

Yes
No

Apple AirPlay 
 

Yes
No

AirPlay Latency 
 

28 ms
N/A

Google Chromecast 
 

Yes
No

Chromecast Latency 
 

N/A
N/A
Show Text 

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Luxe Silver
Portable Smart Speaker
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Black
SoundLink Flex
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Triple Black
Portable Smart Speaker
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Carmine Red
SoundLink Flex
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Chilled Lilac
SoundLink Flex
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Cypress Green
SoundLink Flex
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Stone Blue
SoundLink Flex
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White Smoke
SoundLink Flex
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Bose Portable Smart Speaker

Bose SoundLink Flex

Comments

  1. Comparison

Bose Portable Smart Speaker vs Bose SoundLink Flex: Main Discussion

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