Despite what the weather might be trying to tell us, it’s finally summertime. Which means, it’s time to head to the park with friends, crack open a tin or two and while away the hours in the blazing (okay, weak) sunshine.
But what’s this? No music? Not to worry, says Bose: right on time, the brand has just launched its Soundlink Max speaker, which is custom-engineered to keep those good vibes flowing all the way through the day and into the night (or whenever the park warden comes around to lock the gates).
As any music aficionado will know, a good speaker is a key piece of kit year-round, and Bose is an industry leader in the field. The American-based brand has been going for sixty years (exactly, in fact) and has racked up numerous awards for its musical engineering.
So the signs are promising, but how does the SoundLink Max stack up against their other offerings? Let’s dive in.
Product specs
- Size: 12.01cm H x 26.47cm W x 10.49cm D
- Colours: Black or Blue Dusk
- Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity
- Snapdragon Sound with Qualcomm aptX adaptive codec
- Google Fast Pair
- Aux input
- USB-C charging
- 20-hour battery life; 5-hour charging
- IP67 water rating
- 2.27kg
Design
These days, it’s not enough for a product to simply do its job. It has to look immaculate, preened and ready for a candid Instagram shot. Fortunately, on this count, the speaker delivers and then some.
It’s constructed of silicon-wrapped steel and is all smooth edges and perfect proportions. It looks like an extremely expensive radio, without the aerial, and comes with a small handle – though you can also invest in a long one, perfect for slinging over one’s shoulder and heading out, like Camila Cabello at the Met Gala.
Even better, it’s also waterproof – and while I didn’t go to town testing this, for fear of electrocuting myself in the name of science – I’ve been promised it can be dropped in puddles, or even in a body of water, and will be more or less fine (handily, it also floats and boasts an IP67 rating).
The only downside? The SoundLink Max is hefty: at more than 2kg, lugging it all the way to the nearest park in the name of good vibes is no small ask (this must be where the ‘Max’ element figures in).
Plus, the colourways, while appealing, currently only come in two versions: baby blue and black. Pour one out for all the pink girlies; here’s hoping Bose gets around to expanding the range in the next few months. At least there are different handle colours with which to customise – blue, pink, purple and yellow.
The speaker boasts a 20-hour battery life, which bore out across my experiments and takes around five hours to charge up via the attached USB cable. One to plug in overnight, perhaps, though, after half an hour of charging, it was sufficiently juiced up to provide two hours of music.
Controls
This baby isn’t just a speaker, oh no. Well, it is, but it also comes equipped with a whole host of high-end tech gizmos.
There’s Bluetooth connectivity, of course, but there’s also a button that, when pressed, will sync to your Spotify playlist and automatically start playing from that. There’s AI – simply press and hold Play, and speak your commands to the speaker.
Tracks can be skipped by double-tapping play, and restarted by triple-tapping, and the whole thing also connects to the Bose app on your phone, which lets you adjust volume levels, and bass levels and customise it any which way you want.
Plus, an extra bonus: if you’re running low on battery, the speaker can be connected to and charged up from your phone. Handy in a pinch – and hey, who really needs their phone battery anyway?
Sound
Here’s an argument for investing in that baby blue speaker rather than waiting for the pink one to come along: the sound really is excellent.
With two in-built passive radiators, the SoundLink Max has been designed to deliver maximum bass levels – and yes, within two minutes of cranking up the sound, my eardrums were vibrating. The sound really is gorgeously lush, and sounds great no matter where you stand (thanks to, presumably, the Bose Articulated Array, which has three transducers spread across the front of the speaker).
Plus, those settings can be tweaked in the app, to adjust bass, mid-treble and range to suit the type of music you usually enjoy listening to. I tried a range of different music – thudding electronic to light jazz – and the sound sounds great throughout. Crank it up: there’s no distortion here.
Verdict
Bose SoundLink Max
There’s no denying it: the SoundLink Max is a very high-end bit of kit. The audio is characteristically gorgeous – as you’d expect from Bose – and it sounds just as good inside as it does out. Two in-built passive radiators deliver maximum bass levels and you get its full force no matter where you stand (thanks to the Bose Articulated Array, which has three transducers spread across the front of the speaker).
With an Instagram-friendly aesthetic (it’s made from smooth silicon-wrapped steel) and a direct link to Spotify, it’s the perfect speaker for summer. It’s also waterproof with an IP67 rating and boasts a 20-hour battery life that takes around five hours to charge via the attached USB cable. But after half an hour of charge, it does provide two hours of music and it can be juiced up from your phone.
The only downsides? It only comes in two shades and weighs 2.27kg.
If you want to pay for the best, this is it.
Buy now £399.95, Bose
