Bose has just expanded its Bose smart speaker family. Joining the Home Speaker 500 and 300, and the Soundbar 700 and 500 is the Bose Portable Home Speaker. If your intended use of a Bluetooth speaker is to bring around and you are a loyal Apple user, the obvious boons of the Bose Portable Home Speaker would be its battery-powered nature and compatibility with Apple AirPlay 2.
The new Bose Portable Home Speaker promised to deliver “improved 360-degree sound, deeper bass” over other portable smart speaker its size, delivered through three passive radiators, a high-excursion driver and a proprietary deflector – all while weighing at just 2.3 lbs (a little over a kilogram). In addition, Bose Portable Home Speaker also bring to the table built-in voice control, both Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, as well as Spotify Connect.
Other noteworthy mentions include a battery that is good for 12 hours of use per charge, Bose proprietary voice pick-up system that supports both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, on-device buttons for basic controls (it also works with Bose Music app too), Bose proprietary mic-off feature to prevent any chance of the device “eavesdropping”, and Bose mono-signal technology that prevents left and right channels from canceling each other out in a typical one-unit system.
Despite its classy look, the Bose Portable Home Speaker’s beautiful, seamless anodized aluminum enclosure is, believe it or not, rugged enough to sustain bumps, knocks and drops, and it is IPX rated, sealing the liquid sensitive innards from spills, splashes and rain. Rounding up the portable package is an integrated handle for easy carrying. Recharging is via standard USB-C, though you could also acquire the optional $29 charging cradle.
But honestly, I am not sure if you do want to spend more because, the asking price of $349 is, as it is, pretty steep. Expect the device to drop on September 19, 2019.
All images courtesy of Bose Corporation.
