Bose has long been a huge player in the world of portable speakers – and its latest model, the Bose Portable Home Speaker, should serve to cement that reputation even further.
The new Bluetooth speaker packs wireless connectivity, a 12-hour battery life and 360-degree audio into a super compact form, coming in at just 2.3 pounds (around 1kg).
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The Bose Portable Home Speaker, which will be available in black and silver from September 19, will cost $349 / £369.95 / AED1,449 – ever so slightly less expensive than the pricey Bose Home Speaker 500. (It launches a week later in Australia, where it'll cost AU$499.95.)
No sweet-spot necessary
Measuring 7.5 inches tall, the portable speaker is wrapped in an anodized aluminum enclosure. Inside, there are three passive radiators, a high-excursion driver and a proprietary deflector that Bose says deflects "clear, lifelike sound evenly in every direction".
Despite it's small size, Bose says its latest speaker delivers powerful bass, and, "unlike conventional speakers, there’s no sweet-spot for placement or listening" – that means you can sit wherever you like in relation to the speaker, and it should still sound fantastic.
With 12 hours of battery and an IPX4 rating, it's suitable for listening to outside and on-the-go (although you probably shouldn't take it to the pool), and its rugged design means it should survive slight knocks and bumps.
If you like to listen with your hands full, you can use your voice to control the Bose Portable Home Speaker, with both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa built-in to access "playlists, podcasts, news, weather, smart home devices, and more," according to Bose.
iPhone and iPad owners will be able to stream their music via Apple AirPlay 2, while Spotify users can stream via Spotify Connect.
With all those features packed in to such a small package, Bose will surely be looking to fend off competition from the yet-to-be-released Sonos portable speaker – we'll have to wait a little while to find out which brand will win in the next battle of the Bluetooth speakers, but we're excited to find out.
- There’ll be plenty of brand new tech shown off at IFA 2019
