Most business travellers know Bose for their superb QuietComfort noise-cancelling headphones, but now the company wants to add a second bit of kit to your travel bag.
The SoundLink wireless mobile speaker is, well, exactly what the name says.
This compact speaker uses wireless technology – Bluetooth Stereo / A2DP, to be specific – to fill your hotel room with tunes form your iPod, iPhone, other smartphone or MP3 player.
With a 10 metre range, you can leave your MP3 player sitting by the bed and bring the speaker into the bathroom while you shave or soak.
The integrated cover unfolds into a stand and also acts as the power control – open the cover and the SoundLink is ready, close it and the power shuts down.
The battery will run for eight hours at normal output levels, and three hours if you wind the volume knob as far as it’ll go, but it can also run from an AC socket using the supplied charger.
Pairing the SoundLink with any Bluetooth device is a doddle, and the speaker remembers the six most recently-paired MP3 sources so you can swap devices without needed to renew the connection each time. (You can also skip the wireless link for ye olde fashioned cable.)
Although the SoundLink is portable enough to slide into a backpack or large carry-on bag it’s reassuringly solid which speaks well for its durability throughout your travels.
Naturally, the boffins at Bose reckon the SoundLink leaves all other wireless portable stereo speakers quietly sobbing in a corner of the room.
The PR guff goes on about “four low-profile neodymium transducers for clear high- and mid-frequencies, with new dual-opposing passive radiators -- designed with a patented waffle-shaped surround -- for rich, deep, low notes”, atop which sits a goodly dollop of “Bose digital signal processing algorithms”.
All we know is that the SoundLink sounds brilliant, delivering exceptional and punchy full-bodied audio right across the range.
Whether that sound is worth the asking price of $449 is up to you.
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
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