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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 SoundLink Mini II Special Edition vs JBL Charge 5

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Bose SoundLink Mini II Special Edition
JBL Charge 5

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Jul 12, 2024 02:16 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Apr 14, 2025 08:40 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Bose SoundLink Mini II Special Edition Picture
JBL Charge 5 Picture
Bluetooth
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Speakerphone
Yes
Voice Assistant
Yes
Battery Powered
Yes
Bluetooth
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Speakerphone
No
Voice Assistant
No
Battery Powered
Yes
  1. Recommended in 1 article:
  2. JBL

Variants

  • SoundLink Mini II Special Edition (Black)
  • SoundLink Mini II Special Edition (White)
  • JBL Charge 5 (Black)
  • JBL Charge 5 (Blue)
  • JBL Charge 5 (Camo)
  • JBL Charge 5 (Gray)
  • JBL Charge 5 (Green)
  • JBL Charge 5 (Pink)
  • JBL Charge 5 (Red)
  • JBL Charge 5 (Teal)
  • JBL Charge 5 (White)

Review

See Bose SoundLink Mini II Special Edition Review
See JBL Charge 5 Review
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Our Verdict

Bose SoundLink Mini II Special Edition

JBL Charge 5

The JBL Charge 5 is a better speaker than the Bose SoundLink Mini II Special Edition. While the JBL has a more narrow soundstage and downmixes stereo content to mono, its battery life is twice as long, and it has a more rugged build quality, including an IPx7 rating for submersion in water. It also has companion app compatibility and can be linked to other JBL speakers via the PartyBoost function. That said, unlike the Bose, it lacks any voice assistant integration.

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Black
SoundLink Mini II Special Edition
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Black
JBL Charge 5
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White
SoundLink Mini II Special Edition
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White
JBL Charge 5
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Blue
JBL Charge 5
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Camo
JBL Charge 5
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Gray
JBL Charge 5
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Green
JBL Charge 5
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Pink
JBL Charge 5
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Red
JBL Charge 5
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Teal
JBL Charge 5
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Main Differences for
Music

Threshold 

0.10

Music 

6.3
6.5

EQ 
 

No
Graphic

Soundstage 
 

6.3
5.8

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Style Photo  

Bose SoundLink Mini II Special Edition Style Photo
JBL Charge 5 Style Photo

RGB Lights  

No
No
Show Text 

Portability 
 

9.4
9.1

Dimensions Photo  

Bose SoundLink Mini II Special Edition Dimensions Photo
JBL Charge 5 Dimensions Photo

Volume 
 

32 in³ (531 cm³)
121 in³ (1,982 cm³)

Weight 
 

1.5 lbs (0.7 kg)
2.0 lbs (0.9 kg)

Power Source 
 

Battery & USB
Battery & USB

One-Hand Carry 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

Build Quality 
 

7.3
8.3

Build Quality Photo  

Bose SoundLink Mini II Special Edition Build Quality Photo
JBL Charge 5 Build Quality Photo

Material Quality 
 

Great
Great

Water Resistance 
 

No
Submersible (IPx7)

Dust Resistance 
 

Unspecified
Dust-Proof (IP6x)

Impact Resistance 
 

Yes (IK rating unspecified)
Unspecified

Floats In Water 
 

No
Unspecified
Show Text 

Controls 
 

8.9
6.6

Controls Photo  

Bose SoundLink Mini II Special Edition Controls Photo
JBL Charge 5 Controls Photo

Controls Photo 2  

Bose SoundLink Mini II Special Edition Controls Photo 2
JBL Charge 5 Controls Photo 2

Ease Of Use 
 

Great
Great

Feedback 
 

Good
Good

Music Play/Pause 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Call Answer/End 
 

Yes (Physical)
No

Volume Up/Down 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Track Next/Previous 
 

Yes (Physical)
Forward Only (Physical)

Microphone On/Off 
 

Yes (Physical)
No

Additional Controls 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

In The Box 
 

In The Box Photo  

Bose SoundLink Mini II Special Edition In The Box Photo
JBL Charge 5 In The Box Photo
Show Text 
Sound

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

6.6
6.7

Frequency Response Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Slope 
 

-0.23
0.29

Std. Err. 
 

2.89 dB
3.90 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

68.3 Hz
58.2 Hz

High-Frequency Extension 
 

13.3 kHz
18.5 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 
 

6.3
5.8

Directivity Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Directivity Index 
 

7.00 dB
4.27 dB

Stereo 
 

Yes
No (mono)
Show Text 

Dynamics 
 

6.4
6.5

Dynamic Range Compression  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

SPL @ Max Volume 
 

86.3 dB SPL
88.9 dB SPL

DRC @ Max Volume 
 

2.82 dB
3.16 dB
Show Text 
Active Features

Battery 
 

6.3
8.7

Battery Life 
 

6.8 hrs
14.5 hrs

Charge Time 
 

3.9 hrs
3.8 hrs

Power Saving 
 

Yes
Yes

Charging Port 
 

USB-C
USB-C

Battery Powered 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

Voice Assistant 
 

5.7
0.0

Alexa 
 

No
No

Google Assistant 
 

Yes (Requires Smartphone)
No

Speakerphone 
 

Yes
No

Siri 
 

Yes (Requires Smartphone)
No

Voice Assistant 
 

Yes
No

Voice Activation 
 

No
No

Microphone Mute 
 

No
No

Far-Field Performance 
 

Excellent
No Microphone

Ambient Noise Performance 
 

Excellent
No Microphone
Show Text 

App 
 

0.0
7.9

App Picture  

Bose SoundLink Mini II Special Edition App Picture
JBL Charge 5 App Picture

App Name 
 

No App
JBL Portable

iOS 
 

No
Yes

Android 
 

No
Yes

EQ 
 

No
Graphic

Stereo Pair Mode 
 

No
Yes

Party Mode 
 

No
Yes

Multi-Room 
 

No
No
Show Text 
Connectivity

Wired 
 

Aux Input 
 

Yes
No

USB Audio 
 

No
No

Other Ports 
 

No
Yes
Show Text 

Bluetooth 
 

8.0
8.5

Bluetooth 
 

Yes
Yes

Bluetooth Version 
 

Unspecified
5.1

Bluetooth iOS Latency 
 

114 ms
125 ms

Bluetooth Android Latency 
 

180 ms
102 ms

Bluetooth Range 
 

183.7 ft (56.0 m)
328.1 ft (100.0 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

Check Price

Black
SoundLink Mini II Special Edition
Searching
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Black
JBL Charge 5
Searching
Finding store
White
SoundLink Mini II Special Edition
Searching
Finding store
White
JBL Charge 5
Searching
Finding store
 
Blue
JBL Charge 5
Searching
Finding store
 
Camo
JBL Charge 5
Searching
Finding store
 
Gray
JBL Charge 5
Searching
Finding store
 
Green
JBL Charge 5
Searching
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Pink
JBL Charge 5
Searching
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Red
JBL Charge 5
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Teal
JBL Charge 5
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Back to Top

Bose SoundLink Mini II Special Edition

JBL Charge 5

Comments

  1. Comparison
 • Posted 1 year ago

Bose SoundLink Mini II Special Edition vs JBL Charge 5: Main Discussion

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