The Bose Portable Home Speaker is a fairly small speaker with outstanding voice assistant capabilities. It has Alexa and Google Assistant built-in, and it has no trouble understanding you even if you're far away or in a noisy room. It's incredibly portable, thanks to its lightweight design and carrying handle. However, its battery only lasts around five hours, and it doesn't get very loud. Out-of-the-box, its sound profile is fairly boomy, although its companion app has bass and treble sliders that let you tweak its sound. This versatile speaker is suitable for playing most audio content and can be a good addition to your home.
Our Verdict
The Bose Portable Home Speaker is okay for music. Its sound profile is boomy, but it has a well-balanced mid-range, so vocals and lead instruments sound clear and present. Its companion app has bass and treble adjustments, so you can tweak its sound to your liking. Although it has to downmix stereo content into mono, it has good directivity thanks to its 360-design, resulting in a wide and spacious soundstage. Unfortunately, it doesn't get very loud, and there's some compression present at max volume.
- Bass and treble adjustments in its companion app.
- Balanced mid-range.
- Lacks low-bass.
- Has to downmix stereo content into mono.
- Doesn't get very loud.
The Bose Portable Home Speaker is reasonable for watching videos and movies. It has low latency over Bluetooth and Apple AirPlay, although some apps compensate differently for this. It has good directivity, resulting in a wide and open soundstage. Unfortunately, it lacks low-bass, so you don't feel the deep thump and rumble in action-packed movie scenes. It also doesn't get very loud.
- Low latency over Bluetooth and Apple AirPlay.
- Bass and treble adjustments in its companion app.
- Balanced mid-range.
- Lacks low-bass.
- Doesn't get very loud.
The Bose Portable Home Speaker is very good for podcasts. It has a well-balanced mid-range, so dialogue is reproduced clearly. It's also exceptionally portable, so you can listen to podcasts while on-the-go. Unfortunately, its battery only lasts around five hours, and you can only pair one device at a time, which might be disappointing if you like to frequently switch your audio source.
- Exceptionally portable.
- Balanced mid-range.
- Doesn't get very loud.
The Bose Portable Home Speaker is incredible for voice assistants. It has Alexa and Google Assistant built-in. It has no trouble understanding you, even if you're far away or in a noisy room. You can also mute the microphone if you don't want the speaker to hear you.
- Alexa and Google Assistant built-in.
- Short battery life.
The Bose Portable Home Speaker is fair for outdoor use. It's lightweight and incredibly portable, so you can easily bring it with you on-the-go. Thanks to its 360-degree design, it has good directivity, resulting in an open and spacious soundstage. Unfortunately, it doesn't get very loud, and there's a lot of compression present at max volume. Also, its battery only lasts five hours, which may not be enough for long listening sessions.
- IPX4 rating for water resistance.
- Exceptionally portable.
- Has to downmix stereo content into mono.
- Doesn't get very loud.
- Short battery life.
Changelog
- Updated Jul 12, 2024: We've added a comparison between this speaker and the Bose SoundLink Max in Soundstage.
- Updated Aug 21, 2023: Updated the Portability picture for greater clarity and consistency between reviews.
- Updated May 19, 2023: Thanks to user feedback, we identified that a firmware update adds Chromecast audio capabilities in the Wi-Fi box.
- Updated Mar 01, 2021: Review published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Bose Portable Smart Speaker comes in two color variants: 'Triple Black' and 'Luxe Silver'. We tested the 'Luxe Silver' variant, and you can see the label for the model we tested here. We expect both variants to perform similarly.
If you come across a variant not listed here, let us know in the discussions so we can update our review.
Popular Speaker Comparisons
The Bose Portable Home Speaker is a lightweight and portable speaker with outstanding voice assistant capabilities. Like the Bose Home Speaker 300, it has Alexa and Google Assistant built-in, and it's compatible with the Bose Music app. However, its battery-powered design makes it more portable. Its soundstage is somewhat boomy, but it has a well-balanced mid-range that can clearly reproduce vocals and lead instruments. Unfortunately, it doesn't get very loud as some other Bose speakers, like the Bose S1 Pro System.
See also our recommendations for the best waterproof Bluetooth speakers, the best home speakers, and the best Bluetooth speakers.
The Bose Portable Smart Speaker is designed for a slightly different use than the Bose SoundLink Max. While the SoundLink Max is a better choice for entertaining, the Portable Smart Speaker features excellent built-in voice integration and Wi-Fi compatibility, which sets it apart. The SoundLink Max has a longer battery life, can playback stereo content, and gets louder with less compression at max volume. It's also better built, and its IP67 rating protects it well against the elements. That said, if you're looking for a versatile smart speaker that integrates well with your home ecosystem but can also be brought on stints out of the house, the Portable Smart Speaker is still a great choice.
The Bose Portable Smart Speaker is a better speaker than the JBL Xtreme 3. The Bose offers a slightly better-balanced sound profile than the JBL and is more customizable thanks to the bass and treble adjustments featured in its companion app, meaning you can tweak its sound to your liking. It also offers remarkable voice assistant support with Alexa and Google Assistant built-in. That said, the JBL is better built and can get somewhat louder than the Bose, with less compression at max volume, so your audio sounds cleaner at louder volumes.
The Sonos Move is a better speaker than the Bose Portable Smart Speaker overall. The Sonos has a better-balanced sound profile than that of the Bose. It's also better built with an IP56 rating for dust and water resistance. It also has a longer-lasting battery life, though battery performance can vary depending on usage, and your experience may vary. That said, the Bose is smaller and more portable than the Sonos. It also has much better directivity, resulting in a wider and more open sounding soundstage.
The Bose Portable Smart Speaker is a better speaker than the Bose SoundLink Revolve+ II. The Smart Speaker has a more customizable sound profile thanks to the bass and treble sliders available on its companion app, so you can tweak its sound to your liking. It also has a fantastic voice assistant performance, with Alexa and Google Assistant built into the speaker. That said, the Revolve+ is better built and has a longer battery life, which some users may prefer.
Test Results
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