The Bushnell Wingman Mini is a portable Bluetooth speaker that's designed with golfers in mind. It's smaller and more lightweight than the Bushnell Wingman, and it has a carabiner and a built-in magnet, so you can easily attach it to your bag or golf cart. It offers many of the same features through the Bushnell Golf companion app, so you can keep track of distances around the course through the speaker. Of course, with Bluetooth compatibility, you can also enjoy your favorite tunes while out on the course.
Our Verdict
The Bushnell Wingman Mini is disappointing for music. It's a really small speaker that's designed with portability in mind, and while it's fine for listening to music on the golf course, it won't bring the impressive, detailed sound quality of more premium models on the market. Voices and lead instruments are clear and present in the mix, but its small size means you don't get the deep thump and rumble in the low-bass with genres like EDM and hip-hop. You can't customize its sound, either.
-
Little compression at max volume.
-
Doesn't get very loud.
-
Lacks low-bass.
-
No sound customization tools.
The Bushnell Wingman Mini isn't designed for watching movies, but it's okay if you just want to watch a video from a paired smartphone. Dialogue is clearly reproduced, and its low latency with iOS and Android devices over Bluetooth means you don't notice any lip-synching issues. Of course, you don't get a very cinematic feel, as this speaker doesn't get very loud and lacks a rumbling low-bass.
-
Low latency via Bluetooth.
-
Doesn't get very loud.
-
Lacks low-bass.
The Bushnell Wingman Mini is decent for podcasts. This small speaker reproduces voices with clarity and accuracy so you can follow along with your favorite shows while on the course. It has no sound customization features, but you'll likely find that you don't need them, given its out-of-the-box performance. That said, this speaker doesn't get very loud, so it's best to keep it close to you so you don't miss a beat in your shows.
-
Portable design.
-
Doesn't get very loud.
This speaker doesn't support voice assistants.
The Bushnell Wingman Mini is acceptable for outdoor use. This speaker is designed for use on the golf course, and it's small and portable enough to take with you anywhere you go. Use the carabiner to clip it onto your bag or the built-in magnet to attach it to your golf cart. It's rated IPX7 for water resistance, so it's submersible in water, and you don't have to worry about running into bad weather. It's not loud enough to fill a whole backyard with sound, but that means you won't bother other golfers on the course with your music.
-
Portable design.
-
IPX7 rating for water resistance.
-
Doesn't get very loud.
-
No multi-device pairing.
- 5.2 Music
- 5.2 Videos/Movies
- 7.1 Podcasts
- 2.8 Voice Assistant
- 6.3 Outdoors
- Updated Oct 04, 2023: Added market comparison with the Blue Tees Golf The Player in the App box.
- Updated Sep 19, 2023: Added market comparison for the Bushnell Wingman View in the Style box.
- Updated Sep 12, 2023: Review published.
- Updated Sep 06, 2023: Early access published.
- Updated Aug 29, 2023: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Aug 25, 2023: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Aug 14, 2023: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Bushnell Wingman Mini is available in Black/Silver and White/Orange variants. We tested the White/Orange variant, and you can see the label for our model here.
If you come across another version of this speaker, let us know in the forums so we can update our review.
Compared To Other Speakers
The Bushnell Wingman Mini GPS Speaker is a smaller and more portable alternative to the Bushnell Wingman. Like other speakers in the Wingman lineup, it's designed for use on the golf course, with a companion app offering some golf-related features. Its sound quality is fair enough for listening to music while on the course, but it's not quite as impressive as what you get with more premium models, and there aren't any sound customization tools on hand.
See also our recommendations for the best golf cart speakers, the best waterproof Bluetooth speakers, and the best outdoor speakers.
The Bushnell Wingman View is better than the Bushnell Wingman Mini. They're both golf cart speakers with lots of the same features to make the most of your next time out on the course. The View is larger with an added LCD display to keep track of its settings. It brings more bass, and it's a stereo speaker, unlike the Mini. However, some users may prefer the Mini's smaller design.
The Bushnell Wingman Mini and the JBL Clip 4 are both portable Bluetooth speakers designed for on-the-go use. The JBL is better for music, as it has a better low-frequency extension, so it brings out more rumble in the bass. The Bushnell is a better alternative for golfers since its companion app brings extra features for this use. The Bushnell's battery lasts longer, too.
The Bushnell Wingman is better than the Bushnell Wingman Mini. The Wingman is the larger of the two speakers, and unlike the Mini, it can playback stereo content. It boasts a longer battery life, too, and it can get louder. However, some users may prefer the Mini's more portable design. Also, the Mini's sound is more neutral out-of-the-box, which may be more suitable for some.
The Ultimate Ears WONDERBOOM 3 is better for music than the Bushnell Wingman Mini. The Ultimate Ears has a longer battery life and can get louder than the Bushnell. Plus, unlike the Bushnell, it can playback stereo content without downmixing it to mono. Its default sound is more neutral, too, which some users may prefer. However, the Bushnell is designed with golfers in mind, and its golf-centric companion app may be worth it for those who like to listen to music out on the course.
The Sony SRS-XB100 is better for music than the Bushnell Wingman Mini. They're both small and portable Bluetooth speakers, but the Sony's sound quality is better, and it offers a better low-frequency extension for more rumble in the low-bass. Plus, its 360-degree design offers a better soundstage. Its battery life lasts longer, and the speaker supports voice assistants through a paired smartphone. However, the Bushnell speaker's golf-centric companion app may be more suitable for those who want to listen to music while they golf.
The Bushnell Wingman Mini and the Blue Tees Golf The Player are both golf cart speakers with different strengths. Only the Bushnell has a companion app with course-specific features to track distances and measure your stats. Its smaller size may be more suitable for your needs, but it does come with some trade-offs in terms of sound. Unlike the Blue Tees, the Bushnell has to downmix stereo content into mono. It doesn't get as loud, either.
Test Results
As its name implies, the Bushnell Wingman Mini is a very small and portable speaker. It has a hexagonal design with rough fabric mesh and a rubber Bushnell logo on the front. The carabiner is designed to help you clip it to your bag while on the go. Plus, you can use the magnet on the back of the speaker to attach it to your golf cart. It's available in Orange/White and Black/Silver color variants. You can check out the Bushnell Wingman View if you want something larger and more premium.
This speaker is very portable. It's really small and lightweight, making it ideal for on-the-go use, especially compared to the Bushnell Wingman. Since it's battery-powered, you don't have to worry about plugging it into an outlet to use it.
The Bushnell Wingman Mini is well-built. Overall, it feels solid and sturdy, which is great for on-the-go use. It's mostly made of good-quality plastic with a fabric mesh covering the drivers inside. It's also rated IPX7 for water resistance, and you can see that it floats in water here. The white color does make it easy to see scratches and scuffs, though, which could be more noticeable over time.
The controls are simple and easy to understand. They're on the speaker's side, and while the buttons are a bit hard to press, it won't be an issue.
- Play button: Press once to play/pause music. Press twice to skip a track. Press three times to return to the previous track. You can also press it once to answer/end a call.
- Volume buttons: Press to increase or decrease the volume.
- Power button: Press to turn the speaker on/off. Press twice to enter TWS pairing mode.
- Bushnell button: You need to enter Golf Mode on the app to activate these features. Press once to hear the GPS yardage to the next hole. Press twice to hear the first custom sound bite. By default, this is a clapping sound designed to cheer you on while you're out on the course. Press three times to get the second custom sound bite. By default, this is a cheering sound. You can record a custom sound bite in the app if you want.
The LED lights also change colors and patterns to let you know the battery status as well as when you enter pairing mode. There are audible sounds when it powers on and off, when it's in pairing mode, and when it successfully pairs with a device. There's a chime at max volume but not at its lowest volume.
- Quick Start Guide
- USB-A to USB-C Charging Cable (1.98 ft / 60.5 cm)
- Carabiner
- Bushnell Wingman Mini
The Bushnell Wingman Mini is meant to be magnetically attached to your golf cart. We tested it using the built-in magnet to prop it up on a metal block to simulate real-world usage. As you can see from this graph, there isn't a huge difference between the speaker's frequency response when you clip it to a cart compared to when you lay it flat on the ground. The mids are pretty even and balanced, so voices and lead instruments are clearly and accurately reproduced. It's quite small, so it can't bring the deep thump and rumble in the low-bass like larger speakers. You don't have any ability to customize it, either.
This speaker's directivity is decent. You don't get consistent sound if you're standing behind the speaker, but that doesn't matter since it's meant to clip onto your golf cart. It does have to downmix stereo content into mono, but you can always buy a second unit and stereo pair them together if you want stereo sound.
This speaker doesn't get very loud, though that's probably a benefit if you plan to use it on a golf course without disturbing those around you. Little compression at max volume means that audio reproduction is clean and clear even as you crank up the volume.
The manufacturer advertises a battery life of over ten hours when listening to music at a normal, moderate volume. The speaker lasted over eight hours in our tests, possibly due to differences in the volume between the manufacturer and our tests. The power-saving feature shuts it off automatically after fifteen minutes if it's not connected to a device, which helps conserve the battery.
This speaker has no voice assistant capabilities, even through a paired smartphone.
The Bushnell Golf app is designed with golfers in mind, and it offers a lot more features than other golf cart models like the Blue Tees Golf The Player. You can use it to put the speaker in Golf Mode, which lets you choose the golf course you're on to access additional features. For example, you can customize the golf announcement volume and choose whether the speaker tells you the distance to the nearest hole. You can even set sound bites to clap and cheer you on while out on the course. A video of the app is available here.
You can only pair this Bluetooth-compatible speaker with one device at a time, but that won't be an issue if you want to use it with your smartphone while on the course. Its latency is quite low, too, so if you want to stream videos from an Android or iOS device, you don't notice lip-synching issues. Some apps compensate for latency differently, though.