Customer Ratings & Reviews

Good speaker, sounds good. Quality that I’d expect from Bose.

Great sound quality. Bummer it doesn’t support Apple Music Lossless.

This is a competitively priced, high quality speaker in a crowded market. This speaker is durable, and way louder than it should be for its size (without sacrificing clarity). Bose could have rested on its laurels and slapped a Bose label to any speaker and turn a profit, but it’s clear that’s not the case. IN THE BOX The box in some respects seems smaller than the speaker. Other than the speaker you get a USB-C cable for charging (thank you Bose for moving to USB-C). SETUP I typically charge my new products straight out of the box, but this speaker had about 30% battery life out of the box. Either way, setup is as simple as connecting any Bluetooth device to your phone. You simply hold the power button for a moment, then push the Bluetooth button to go into pairing mode. Then follow your phone’s steps and you’re connected. Now you could stop there, or you can go the extra mile and download the Bose Connect app. I didn’t, because I like to limit unnecessary apps on my phone. I’ve used Bose Connect app before for my QC35 headphones (which is how you update the firmware). It gives you a little extra functionality which I’ll discuss in a moment. DESIGN I’m actually mixed on the design. I have the black model and it looks pretty darn basic. But some people might find that appealing (simplicity). And I was also a little torn on the “rubber” coating. It actually feels good to hold, but it just captures weird smudges on it (as you can see in my pictures). This probably will be of little consequence to most people and shouldn’t really affect your decision to buy it. But then, when I learned a little bit more about the coating, I came to appreciate the design, not for the looks but for protecting the speaker itself. This is labeled a durable speaker mind you. The back is a silicon, while the grille is metal and powder coated. Then you realize it’s dirt, water and dust resistant. So yes, you can use it on the beach or at the pool. Heck, it even floats (so they say, I’m reluctant to test that on purpose other than my bathtub which I haven’t done). So, when taking into account the design, there’s more to the Flex than looks. It’s meant to be taken on adventures. I also need to mention that it’s light, around 1 pound. SOUND PERFORMANCE I’m no audiophile, but I can certainly tell the difference between “puny” or “tiny” sounding speakers, and the “clarity” “range” and “bass” in others. This Bose speaker is remarkable for how loud it gets based on its size. It’s truly deceiving. And the bass, man it packs a wallop. All while producing crisp highs and midtones. From listening to podcasts, to rap music to country, I thought it all sounded wonderful. It won’t drown out a large room of people, but if you are outside or in a room with a few people hanging out and listening to music it will do the trick. One of the cooler features is that Bose has some technology in that adapts the sound depending on its orientation. What do I mean? Well, the speaker can be placed on its back (speaker grille pointing up), on its bottom (like a traditional speaker, pointing the grille in a certain direction) or you can hang it by the utility hook and it will be vertical. So the speaker adapts depending on its orientation to deliver the best sound depending on its position. This sound “optimization” if you will seems to work great because you don’t notice it. Meaning, depending on the orientation you get the same sound performance. MISCELLANEOUS The one area where this speaker falls a little short in my opinion, is battery life. It’s rated at 12 hours for medium volume. This I’m sure is plenty for one time use. But I often use my speaker here and there and don’t always charge it in between. I have a Sony Bluetooth speaker that delivers 24 hours of battery life. But that speaker is larger and much heavier, so the trade off is well worth it. Bottomline is that battery life shouldn’t be an issue for most, but some speakers deliver longer battery life. It has some other features, like connecting to other Bose Flex speakers to mirror the sound, or create a stereo (L and R speaker) effect. I haven’t tried this out because I only have one Flex, and I don’t see the point in buying two just to do that. But I guess if one of your friends has one, it could be useful. I don’t want to say that’s a gimmick, but it’s not a big selling point for me. This is meant to be a speaker you throw in your bag to go on a camping trip (or something along those lines). It can also connect to Bose soundbars, but I’m not quite sure why you’d want to. Satellite speakers I guess? Last, you can control your phone’s audio assistant and take phone calls. I don’t generally take any calls over Bluetooth speakers (preferring headphones for that) but I’m certain some people will like that feature. I haven’t tried it out to determine the quality of calls, but I’d imagine it’s solid. CONCLUSION For all the features or things this little speaker can do, it’s just icing on the cake. You don’t need them to justify the purchase. At $149, this is (not cheap by any means) reasonably priced speaker that delivers amazing sound quality, especially given its size. Its durability and IPX ratings means that it should handle the daily throws, drops, bumps that are a part of everyday life and keep on chugging.

The product was a very good buy durable and strong

Good sound I really like good quality great sound …

Sounds decent and gets loud. But the different parts of the music get lost and just mix together. I missed the return window and if I could I would return it. There is also a noticeable dead zone in the sound that can be played by the main speaker and what is played by the bass speaker. At least it has great build quality.

I was so excited when I heard this speaker was coming out and the fact you could stereo pair with a second device for seamless left and right separation. However, after buying a second device for this purpose, it is anything but seamless. Whether you use the Bose Connect app to pair them or do it manually, it will take several attempts before it actually works (speakers will disconnect from each other at random) and sadly, audio cuts out between both which is very noticeable and happens frequently. I decided to look at RTINGS.com’s speaker review for this and saw that regardless if you have an iOS or Android, the out-dated Bluetooth version that it uses (4.2) has high latency for both which is very disappointing. I took both of them back and bought my first JBL speaker (Xtreme 2) and it’s phenomenal. What I find interesting is although it’s the same Bluetooth version (4.2), it works incredibly well. That said, the Xtreme 2 was released in 2018 and the Soundlink Flex was just two months ago.. Bose if you’re listening… you’re slacking. It’s almost 2022 and you’re using Bluetooth software from 2014 in not one, but in ALL of your products. A brand with it’s strong reputation and high price tag should offer a much better user experience for their customers.

It sounds great. I didn’t expect for this little pill to sound this way. These smaller speakers are really out here shining. This is the smallest weatherproof speaker we own, so we will definitely be taking this along with us where ever we go. It’s compact, lightweight and easy to charge on the go. It also boasts a strap to tether onto something so it’s hands-free. Which makes this perfect. It’s made of super durable plastic and a rubberized surround. Which makes the unit much harder slip off of surfaces or out of hands, especially when wet. It has one large speaker on the front and a smaller one on the back. It’s sounds great orientated in both laying and standing positions but I like how the bass deepens slightly when resonating off of the surface when laying down. It fills the room. It was so easy to set up. You don’t need the app. Just go straight to Bluetooth on your phone after pressing the Bluetooth option on speaker. So you’re up and running in seconds. I did however use the app after that to see if it made a difference in setup. Honestly, it doesn’t so you can skip this step, especially if you don’t want to download yet another Bose app. They need to integrate their apps because I don’t see the purpose for me to have multiple Bose apps for their multiple products we own. The only use for the app that I can recognize is that it allows you to link multiple speakers, activating/disabling voice prompts and timers. The battery life seems reasonable. Charging the unit didn’t seem terribly bad either. Just like other products in the Bose lineup, the device will notify you of its battery life once turned on. I like that.

Good speaker with a lot of value in the sound quality.

I’m a big music lover and Bose speakers systems cover that feeling look at my history of purchases more than one type of portable Bose speakers and system, I have purchased . You can’t go wrong with Bose Quality!

Good sound, bought two to pair and adds a nice music listening experience.

Perfect speaker for traveling. Great Sound, quality and sturdy.

Perhaps one of the best portable bluetooth speakers of this size I have ever owned. USB-C is a major + for me as everything else I have is just that. I bought two to try out the party mode (some slight connectivity issues but nothing major) amd noticed a "Stereo" mode. It turned my speakers to stereo speakers (left and right speakers) AND I LOVE IT!!!

I had a ni e experience shopping with best buy so much good thank you best buy

I use it alot when im at work. In a semi noisey background and it works just fine

Great buy! I added this to my surround sound system!

Not as lound or good sounding as it did in the store. The battey life sucks its not 10 hours. Its is durrable.

Great purchase, I recommend this to anyone you will not be disappointed.

The main issue is the Bose App Sadly pairing 2 Bose speakers you will need to always use the Bose app. Yes it’s easy but the lag responsiveness to link 2 speakers successfully has issues. Will definitely return one. If you have the patience then buy 2 for stereo mode. Enjoy! =]

Excelent product I’m very Pleased with it. I will recommend to everyone!