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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

Marshall Emberton II vs Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen)

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Marshall Emberton II
Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen)

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Mar 26, 2025 01:32 PM

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Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Nov 28, 2024 05:10 PM

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Marshall Emberton II Picture
Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) Picture
Bluetooth
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Speakerphone
No
Voice Assistant
No
Battery Powered
Yes
Bluetooth
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Speakerphone
Yes
Voice Assistant
Yes
Battery Powered
Yes
  1. Recommended in 3 articles:
  2. Bose
  3. Shower
  4. Golf

Variants

  • Emberton II (Black/Brass)
  • Emberton II (Black/Steel)
  • Emberton II (Cream)
  • SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) (Alpine Sage)
  • SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) (Black)
  • SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) (Blue Dusk)
  • SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) (Sandstone)

Review

See Marshall Emberton II Review
See Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) Review
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Our Verdict

Marshall Emberton II

Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen)

The Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) and the Marshall Emberton II have different strengths but, on balance, the Marshall is the better speaker. The main benefit of the Bose is that it supports your smartphone's voice assistant and is amazing at hearing what you're saying, even when you're far away or in a noisy room. On the other hand, the Marshall has a longer battery life and can play stereo content, so its soundstage feels wider and more immersive. It also gets a little louder than the Bose, albeit at the cost of increased compression.

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Black/Brass
Emberton II
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Alpine Sage
SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen)
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Black/Steel
Emberton II
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Black
SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen)
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Cream
Emberton II
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Blue Dusk
SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen)
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Sandstone
SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen)
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Main Differences for
Music

Threshold 

0.10

Music 

6.9
6.6

Soundstage 
 

9.2
5.3

Dynamics 
 

4.6
6.2

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

6.8
7.1

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Style Photo  

Marshall Emberton II Style Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) Style Photo

RGB Lights  

No
No
Show text

Portability 
 

9.3
9.3

Dimensions Photo  

Marshall Emberton II Dimensions Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) Dimensions Photo

Volume 
 

49 in³ (798 cm³)
56 in³ (919 cm³)

Weight 
 

1.5 lbs (0.7 kg)
1.3 lbs (0.6 kg)

Power Source 
 

Battery & USB
Battery & USB

One-Hand Carry 
 

Yes
Yes
Show text

Build Quality 
 

7.9
8.7

Build Quality Photo  

Marshall Emberton II Build Quality Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) Build Quality Photo

Material Quality 
 

Good
Good

Water Resistance 
 

Submersible (IPx7)
Submersible (IPx7)

Dust Resistance 
 

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

Impact Resistance 
 

Unspecified
Yes (IK rating unspecified)

Floats In Water 
 

Unspecified
Yes
Show text

Controls 
 

7.0
8.6

Controls Photo  

Marshall Emberton II Controls Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) Controls Photo

Controls Photo 2  

Marshall Emberton II Controls Photo 2
Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) Controls Photo 2

Ease Of Use 
 

Great
Okay

Feedback 
 

Great
Great

Music Play/Pause 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Call Answer/End 
 

No
Yes (Tactile)

Volume Up/Down 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Tactile)

Track Next/Previous 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Microphone On/Off 
 

No
Yes (Tactile)

Additional Controls 
 

Yes
Yes
Show text

In The Box 
 

In The Box Photo  

Marshall Emberton II In The Box Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) In The Box Photo
Show text
Sound

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

6.8
7.1

Frequency Response Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Slope 
 

0.53
0.49

Std. Err. 
 

3.04 dB
1.97 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

59.1 Hz
64.4 Hz

High-Frequency Extension 
 

14.3 kHz
17.5 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 
 

9.2
5.3

Directivity Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Directivity Index 
 

1.54 dB
5.05 dB

Stereo 
 

Yes
No (mono)
Show text

Dynamics 
 

4.6
6.2

Dynamic Range Compression  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

SPL @ Max Volume 
 

87.6 dB SPL
84.5 dB SPL

DRC @ Max Volume 
 

6.53 dB
2.73 dB
Show text
Active Features

Battery 
 

8.7
6.4

Battery Life 
 

22.1 hrs
6.6 hrs

Charge Time 
 

4.9 hrs
2.4 hrs

Power Saving 
 

Yes
Yes

Charging Port 
 

USB-C
USB-C

Battery Powered 
 

Yes
Yes
Show text

Voice Assistant 
 

0.0
5.7

Alexa 
 

No
No

Google Assistant 
 

No
Yes (Requires Smartphone)

Speakerphone 
 

No
Yes

Siri 
 

No
Yes (Requires Smartphone)

Voice Assistant 
 

No
Yes

Voice Activation 
 

No
No

Microphone Mute 
 

No Microphone
No

Far-Field Performance 
 

No Microphone
Excellent

Ambient Noise Performance 
 

No Microphone
Excellent
Show text

App 
 

6.0
7.9

App Picture  

Marshall Emberton II App Picture
Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) App Picture

App Name 
 

Marshall Bluetooth
Bose

iOS 
 

Yes
Yes

Android 
 

Yes
Yes

EQ 
 

Presets
Graphic + Presets

Stereo Pair Mode 
 

No
Yes

Party Mode 
 

Yes
Yes

Multi-Room 
 

No
No
Show text
Connectivity

Wired 
 

Aux Input 
 

No
No

USB Audio 
 

No
No

Other Ports 
 

No
No
Show text

Bluetooth 
 

9.7
8.3

Bluetooth 
 

Yes
Yes

Bluetooth Version 
 

5.1
5.3

Bluetooth iOS Latency 
 

1 ms
119 ms

Bluetooth Android Latency 
 

33 ms
135 ms

Bluetooth Range 
 

301.8 ft (92.0 m)
275.6 ft (84.0 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/Brass
Emberton II
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Alpine Sage
SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen)
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Black/Steel
Emberton II
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Black
SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen)
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Cream
Emberton II
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Blue Dusk
SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen)
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Sandstone
SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen)
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Back to Top

Marshall Emberton II

Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen)

Comments

  1. Comparison
 • Posted 5 months ago

Marshall Emberton II vs Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen): Main Discussion

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