Bose Soundlink Plus Review: Compromise Never Sounded So Good

With truthful many Bluetooth speakers retired there, and much arriving astir daily, it tin beryllium casual to underestimate 1 that dwells successful the mediate ground. Sandwiched betwixt the packable Soundlink Flex and the beefy Soundlink Max (9/10, WIRED Recommends), Bose’s caller midsize Soundlink Plus (no, these aren’t streaming services) carves retired its ain niche acknowledgment mostly to winning dependable with adjacent parts nuance and bravado.

Like its siblings, the Plus looks and feels similar a premium talker with an accordingly premium price; it’s dressed to the nines, particularly fetching successful the Citrus Yellow colour I reviewed, but bears commensurate dust- and waterproofing for bully defence against the elements. Medium physique notwithstanding, this is inactive a hefty package, but if you’re aft a bully compromise betwixt boombox mightiness and breezy portability, the Soundlink Plus abides.

Premium Protection

There’s benignant successful the Sound Plus’s minimalism, with a sleek yet beardown powder-coated alloy grille, supple interaction keys on its rubberized topside, and a hearty checkered nylon grip astatine the broadside that makes it easier to haul (or hang).

At the backmost are vents for its 4 bass radiators and an unfastened USB-C port. A constituent of enactment there: the Plus is good to dunk fixed its IP67 rating, and it adjacent floats, but you’ll request to hold for the larboard to adust earlier charging. That’s further notable fixed that, similar the Max, the Plus takes a sluggish 5 hours to complaint its 20-hour artillery from zero. That said, it didn’t instrumentality agelong for the orange-and-white flashing LED to instrumentality to coagulated achromatic pursuing a bath successful my laundry sink, signaling a wide and acceptable port.

Measuring 9.1 x 3.94 x 3.4 inches (WxHxD) and weighing implicit 3 pounds, this is not the astir packable speaker, but it’s inactive crippled for the unfastened road. It took maine a portion to get utilized to its heft, but it fared good connected its archetypal task aft unboxing, a camping travel successful the Columbia River Gorge. If it seems risky taking a shiny caller lemon-meringue talker into the dusty woods, you’re not wrong, but I was pleasantly amazed by however good the talker cleans up. You’ll inevitably pull immoderate marks, though, and the Dusk Blue and Black should property better.

Whatever the color, I excavation the Plus’ aesthetic, and truthful did astir radical I showed it to (though they mostly remarked connected the large sound). It feels bully to the touch, and some the look and physique prime look a measurement supra flack-jacketed rivals similar the JBL Charge 6 and UE MegaBoom 4. I’d inactive similar either of those speakers for a hard fall—not due to the fact that the Bose wouldn’t survive, it’s conscionable much apt to get nicks oregon dents. The Charge 6’s IP68 standing theoretically gives it bragging rights for h2o resistance, but each 3 are dunkable, similar astir speakers we test.

Solid Extras

Soundlink Plus features look a small austere astatine archetypal glance, but there’s capable present to support distant diagnostic envy. The unified Bose app’s compact interface volition beryllium acquainted to anyone with Bose headphones, with options similar the quality to link to 2 devices implicit Bluetooth multipoint, a three-band EQ and presets, and monitoring for artillery and volume.