Looking to buy one of these for use around the house, but I’m not overly knowledgeable about them.
The Bose Soundlink Flex seems to have good reviews from the bit of research that I’ve done, but any recommendations from you guys on good ones to buy?
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I’ve had a charge 5 for 2 years now, I love it
Charge 5 here as well. Would buy it again. Sounds fantastic considering how small it is.
Surely it’s no Hi-Fi device, but for a mobile speaker it’s more than enough.
Sort of “waterish” proof too, I wouldn’t put it in the bath but I’m almost confident it’d survive (so no problem with some rain or humidity.
I’ll second JBL. I have two FLIP 5’s and they are loud, have partyboost mode, or stereo mode, and last all day long.
I have a Flip 6 that I’ve been happy with too. I forgot they can do stereo if you have a pair.
Just looked up the Charge 5 and there was a comparison video with the Soundlink and the Charge sounded miles better.
Obviously, you can’t really judge until you hear it in person but there was quite a difference.
If you’re looking for something compact, I’ve used a JBL Clip 4 and it honestly sounds amazing, especially for its size
I second jbl. Have one, just works and sounds awesome
I bought one of these a couple years ago and it still lasts 12+ hours streaming internet radio from my iPad at work. Sounds great for background music in a shop. I love how sturdy it feels and the handle is great. I call it “Nintendo plastic” cuz it feels indestructible like the OG Nintendo controllers.
Soundcore Anker Motion Boom Outdoor Speaker https://a.co/d/7ptVcCe
Just to clarify… I work 12hr shifts and it still has about 40% battery left at the end of the day.
If you’re after the best budget one, I picked up this one for £59 after reading good reviews on Reddit
https://www.myearfun.com/uk/speakers/earfun-uboom-l-portable-waterproof-bluetooth-speakers-black
It might need a firmware update to get the best sound, but imo it sounds as good as my 10 year old Bose, and much better than my ultimate ears wonderboom
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Probably not what you’re after, but you did ask for best. You can’t go wrong with Q Acoustics M20.
Pros:
- They sound amazing
- They are a stereo pair
- They support aptX, aptX HD, aptxLL, SBC & AAC
- They have a load of inputs, so not just BT
- They look very pretty
Cons:
- They are fairly pricey
- They are mains powered so not that portable
The last time I bought one, I selected a “Polaris V8” for using a removable 18650 battery. I wish that was more common.
- Runtime: infinite (just bring spares)
- Charge time: 10 seconds or so to swap the battery
- Service life due to the battery wearing out: infinite
- Service life due to being a janky no-name product: 3-4 years
So that last bit was disappointing.
Removable lithium batteries like 18650 or 21700 are not really a thing (except for a few hobbies) because they’re inherently dangerous and not a single respectable cell manufacturer sells them directly to end users (you can still buy them from unauthorized sellers though).
You can put your AA battery in the pocket with your keys and nothing scary will happen. Put there a 18650 cell and you might die from severe burns. So yeah, replaceable 18650 are awesome, but we’ll never see them because people are dumb AF.
They’re very common in flashlights, including mainstream brands based in the USA (Streamlight, Surefire) and in a bunch of stuff from the Alibaba to Amazon pipeline. The former uses cells with added protection circuits, and such models will accept generic third-party cells. I’m a bit surprised I don’t hear about the latter exploding on a regular basis, but I have not.
Li-ion cells with protection circuits are safe enough for the average adult to handle without any special instruction; the risks are no different from the removable proprietary Li-ion battery packs that are common in power tools, and used to be common in laptops. There isn’t a safety reason preventing their use in other electronics like Bluetooth speakers, though the business incentive to produce a more disposable product is obvious. New EU rules mandate user-replaceable batteries in the future, though I imagine manufacturers will find ways to make it proprietary and expensive if they can.
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Flashlights are certainly a hobby for some of us, but they’re also a common tool most people have an occasional use for. Standardized, field-replaceable Li-ion batteries are common in flashlights targeted at a non-enthusiast market.
On-cell protection circuits are quite bad, protection should be inside the device.
I agree that devices should not over-discharge or over-charge cells, but the example you gave was people putting batteries in their pockets, presumably with metallic items like coins and keys that can cause short circuits. On-cell protection circuits handle that situation well enough; I recommend carrying batteries in plastic cases, but I’ve never heard of a manufacturer getting sued over a protected cell.
I often use unprotected cells myself, but I’m a hobbyist.
[New EU rules don’t] mean the batteries should be swappable. It will only make service workers’ life easier, not yours.
The new rules say that batteries should be removable and replaceable by the end-user. They don’t seem to encourage standardization of battery types though, so they could still be proprietary and ridiculously priced.
Untrue. I use them for 10+ years for anything that’s possible (flashlights, powerbank and anything you can power with it) and they’re not dangerous if you follow SIMPLE rules. About as dangerous as a bottle of vinegar. And you can perfectly buy good cells for any application, Sony vtc5 or vtc6 are two examples, never buy cheap ones and NEVER buy from shady sellers. And btw: you shouldn’t put any battery to your keys in your pocket, that is called “stooo-pid” and makes little black holes in your thighs.
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Bose and JBL are quit pricy IMO. I got the Anker soundcore 1 for 20€ and was amazed by the battery life and the audio quality
I’m still using a Bose soundlink mini 2 and it’s never let me down. Small but sounds pretty good.
I have the original SoundLink Mini and absolutely love it - huge sound and has been rock solid for years.
I use Sonos Roam.
Bluetooth sucks, period.
Bluetooth as a protocol is fine, LDAC can reach inaudible compression levels.
The problem is that most Bluetooth speakers are consoomer oriented and don’t have good drivers.
