Customer Ratings & Reviews

I have always loved Bose,not only for Quality but also Sound,Bose in my opinion makes one of the best Speakers and sound systems money can buy,and that is just what this speaker is,Loud,clear as a Crystal and the battery has lasted me 2 and a half 9 hour days at work on one charge at mid to high volume, excellent choice,yes its pricey but you get what you pay for in this world,buy one,I promise you will not be disappointed.

The Bose SoundLink Max is the latest iteration to the SoundLink family, a well respected line up of portable Bluetooth speakers. Does this one live up the name, and as its own name suggests, provide the Maximum experience? Lets take a listen and find out. The packaging is clean and straightforward, with an emphasis on minimal use of plastic or Styrofoam. Refreshingly, the speaker comes with both a USB-C cable and a high wattage charger, bucking a recent trend of not including chargers with products. Other than those two items, some basic documentation, and the speaker, there is nothing else in the box. The speaker itself looks like a grown up version of the SoundLink Flex. It has side grilles for the passive radiators, a set of buttons on the top, and the carrying handle. It’s an understated design with no flashing lights or other gimmicks, which is what a speaker should be, in my opinion. The Blue Dusk color is very on trend and looks great. Inside, the speaker features two woofers and a tweeter, and does support stereo sound, which is nice to not have to link two smaller speakers together. It also supports Bluetooth 5.4, finally moving the line away from the older Bluetooth 4 standards. Another nice include is an analog audio input, letting you connect it to any number of devices, like a turntable if you are hopping on the vintage audio trend of late. You can also use the battery in the speaker to reverse charge your phone or other device by plugging it into the USB-C port. I do wish there were dust covers on the ports to keep sand and liquids out of them, especially the aux input port. If you are going to take it outside you might want to get a couple of dust plugs for the ports to keep stuff out of there. After charging the speaker the recommendation is to connect it and use the Bose app to configure things like the EQ, apply any product updates, and customize the shortcut button. Weirdly, the shortcut button right now has just two options – configure it to switch to the line in input, or be kind of an oddly hacked up interface only for Spotify. I left it at input switching. You don’t have to use the Bose app if you don’t want to, but a few controls do require connecting it to the app from time to time. After connecting, it’s time for a listen. It’s immediate that this by far has the most bass of any SoundLink speaker to date. It’s not room shaking, as there are limits to the size and power of a portable speaker, but it is present for sure. It also has a very wide stereo sound stage, remarkably so for a smaller speaker, especially at the sweet spot of about 4-5 feet away. Bose is claiming they are using some of their virtual surround enhancements normally reserved for a soundbar in here, and there is kind of an uncanny depth to some audio tracks that does sound more like a surround sound setup than just stereo. It may also lead to kind of an overprocessed sound on occasion, with Charle Puth’s “Left and Right” (which I used to test the stereo separation) having an oddly distorted sound at some moments in the drums. This could either be an issue with the track’s encoding or how the speaker is processing it, and Bose may still be working the kinks out of how their sound processing works with this specific speaker. I found the speaker with the default EQ to be a little bright and actually a little lacking in bass when used outside. I tuned the EQ to +5 bass and -2 treble to find what I found to be a more balanced sound. It can get SUPER loud at full volume. Overall, it sounds good, which at this premium price point, it should. As anyone with other SoundLink speakers know, one feature of the SoundLink family is the ability to link SoundLink speakers together in a “party mode” to spread sound around a space. Sadly, this speaker, despite the name SoundLink, does not actually link to any of its SoundLink cousins. In fact, it uses the Bose app, not the Bose Connect app, so it sits outside of the SoundLink line and only seems to share the name and the look. That said, this speaker is quite capable of filling a space with sound on its own, and having stereo means you don’t need two speakers linked together for stereo sound. You can link it to some other Bose smart speakers as well, but it's still a little odd that the SoundLink Max can’t link to the other SoundLink speakers. Overall, this is an expensive, premium portable speaker that punches well above its size. Showing up at a party with it or using it when you have guests over will almost certainly get comments about how much sound is coming out of this still relatively compact package. Portable, modern Bluetooth and charging capabilities, and still having an analog input make for a well rounded speaker that will keep your party rocking for hours.

This is probably my favorite speaker I've ever purchased from Bose. The highs are crisp and the lows are thunderous. This speaker honestly takes every party to the next level. I mostly use it as background music at family parties but its really convenient having this speaker get as loud as it does. Super versatile and I really LOVEE the top handle. It is made of such great quality and it feels so comfortable to carry this speaker around with the top handle. Battery life is also pretty amazing. Used it at a family party for over 5 hours and only got it down to 70%.

Lets get the elephant in the room out of the way. This BT speaker is stupid expensive. But…. If you can afford it, it sounds amazing given its size. Its has a smaller footprint than the JBL Xtreme and it blows the JBL out of the water (as it should for $150 price premium). I’ve seen some Amazon reviews saying bass response is disappointing. That’s ridiculous. Bass is nice and tight. The entire soundstage is linear. It not bright and its not boomy. Yes, some bass is lost if listening outside. But thats the case with just about every BT speaker except JBL boombox. Hoepfully with time some deals will come out. I’d say its a deal at $325 and a bargain if it ever falls to $299.

Love the BOSE portable bluetooth speaker. The battery lasts a long time after it has been charged. It is light weight too and easy to move around to various locations. Great sound!

We have the smaller one as well and this one is just a better version. The battery life is great and the sounds is spectacular. Good bass for a little speaker. It is also well built.

i love that it has such big sound in such small device AND its easy to carry around

Let me just say wow, I’m blown away by the sound of this speaker. No matter what genre of music I played it sounded great. There’s two small speakers on the sides & one large across the front. It’s small enough to fit on a countertop & it rumbled the countertop & cabinets. Setup was very easy, it synced with my iPhone immediately. I still have an iPod but I wasn’t able to sync it with that. Volume controls, Bluetooth & play/pause buttons are on the top of the speaker but can also be controlled using the app. I already have the Bose app so finding the Soundlink Max was easy. There’s an equalizer in the app for bass, treble, bass boost, etc. but it sounded great right out of the box. I added a little extra bass & treble & it sounds amazing. The range is good too, I walked through my house while using Bluetooth & there was no cutting out or lost connection, you can also use it while it’s charging. So far battery life is good & I used it for a few hours today. This is very sturdy & well made, even has a rope holding the handle on. I got the Blue dusk & it’s a beautiful color. My only complaint would be that it’s very heavy! I weighed it & it’s almost 5 lbs., not sure I’d want to carry it for a long time! Other than the weight it’s an awesome speaker for parties, picnics. Highly recommend!

Excellent sound, wish it was a bit louder. I’ve been using the Bose SoundLink Max, and I’m very impressed. The sound quality is outstanding—clear, powerful, and well-balanced even at higher volumes. The bass is deep without being overwhelming, which makes it great for both indoor and outdoor use. The build quality feels premium and durable, and the battery life easily lasts through long days. Overall, it’s a high-quality speaker that delivers exactly what you expect from Bose.

I have been wanting to purchase this speaker but hesitant at regular price. At the black Friday deal finally grabbed one. Product is solid and seems exceptionally well made. Set up and app are very easy to use. Adjusted eq to my preference and great sound followed. Bass is exceptional for a small speaker. You get what you pay for with this product.Excellent sound in a weatherproof package. Plays loud and clear. Looking forward to summer pool parties jamming with this speaker.

The sound of this portable Bose speaker will blow you away. Deep bass and crispy treble across all genres of music. For all you audiophiles out there, this is your speaker! Can easily take it on the go, holds a charge for a very long time.

Really great quality for how small it is. And portable

Its a nice beefy speaker. Sounds good but for some reason to me it doesnt sound as nice as the Bose Revovle + II. Lost revovle + II in the river. I guess thats the trade off for the bose max being water proof and floats. Still sounds good, the strap comes in handy and the waterproof and floating feature is an absolute plus! It just doesnt have the punch the revovle did.

Rock solid sound. I love this Bluetooth speaker. Have great range and connectivity. Sound is very pleasing. I compared this with Sony and Sonos. Sound wise I like this one better. May be the personal preference but with Bose you can never go wrong. Super portable and feels very good in hand.

I own many Bose speakers and this portable speaker is awesome. For the size, the sound quality is clear, loud, battery life is good and indicator tells you the battery life. Would recommend purchasing a carrying case for easy travel. We took it on our Hawaii trip, excellent purchase, do recommend.

Bose speaker - of course it sounds fantastic!! Sounds great at ALL volume levels. Crystal clear music that doesn't sound like it is coming out of a speaker this size. Durable construction and actually holds a charge that lasts. Highly recommend!

Sounds quality is outstanding and doesnt diminish with increased volume. Long battery life is great to have and being able to use it while plugged in is a huge bonus over the last portable speaker I had.

Upgraded from our 15yr+ sound link that is still going strong. Love the direct charging from the usb c instead of the old charger plate. Sound is rich and long battery life. Would highly recommend

This speaker is the best speaker. Is compatible and very loud I love the texture and it has a very good batt life

An excellent price break and good value. Deals like this is what keeps Best Buy on top and ahead of all the other electronics and appliance retailers. I, for one, do certainly appreciate the goods, staff, and the customer satisfaction that Best Buy promotes. The quality of Bose products, especially construction and sound reproduction, is unsurpassed and phenomenal. Ruggedness, simplicity, and ease of operation are all equally unmatched. Tho a bit more expensive than other makes and models, this product is well worth the investment!!!