With the summer rapidly approaching, now is as good a time as any to get the latest holiday tech in time for your vacation!
Smartphones/MP3 players hold most of our music albums and playlists these days but very few come with good enough speakers to give any decent playback. It’s for this reason the Bluetooth Speaker market is booming (excuse the pun!) with devices staring from £10 and going up beyond £1000.
Bose SoundLink® Color Bluetooth speaker II
More a refresh than a complete redesign, the Bose name is synonyms with speakers, and even though this is their entry-level speaker, the brand tells you it is a Premium device!
Whats New
This time out the Soundlink has an improved exterior coating that brings with it 2 new benefits compared to its predecessor.
With a full silicon case the Soundlink is now more durable for outdoor use. Easier to hold in wet hands yet strong enough to take knocks and bumps. When you are paying a premium price you expect the product to hold up under the use it is advertised for!
Secondly, the silicon case improves the protection of the speakers by giving it an IPX4 water resistance rating. This means any splashes hitting the speakers will not break it!
Specifications
The internal specs remain the same, which is no bad thing. You can expect:
- Up to 9m/30ft of Wireless range from your music source.
- Around 8 hours of battery time and 3 hours for a full charge.
- 3.5mm Aux port if you’d rather not use Bluetooth or are watching a movie on your tablet.
- A choice of Aquatic Blue, Coral Red, Soft Black or Polar White colours.
- Dimensions 13.3 cm H x 12.7 cm W x 5.7 cm D.
- Weight 0.54 kg.
- Previous 8 Device Memory, for seamless pairing.
A built-in Mic allows you to make and receive calls whilst you are using the speaker and the multi function button (3rd from left in above image) keeps the design minimal without reducing the overall capability of using the speaker.
When in audio playback mode, the multi-function button allows for play (press), pause (press), track forwards (double press) and track backwards (triple press). Pressing and holding the multi-function button will activate the voice control capabilities of your device (for voice dialling and access to Siri or Google Now™). Pressing the multi-function button again will exit the voice control mode.
When there is an incoming call, pressing the multi-function button will answer the call, and pressing and holding it will reject the call. During an active call, pressing the multi-function button will end the call.
Bose have also developed an app for Android and iOS users allowing you better options for personalizing the settings, easier software updates and unlock future product updates. Although not vital for the use of the SoundLink speaker, if you have the space on your phone it is worth downloading.
The Bose SoundLink® Color Bluetooth speaker II is online for pre-order at £129 with shipping expected to start during May. Plenty of time before those summer holidays and with the Bose sound coming from such a small unit, the SoundLink will fit in anyones lugguge or carry on!