Bluetooth speakers, Bose soundlink mini for a 40th bday present?

Not really considered these before, but have my 40th coming soon and looking for ideas for presents and since music moved away from more old fashioned methods to electronic I’ve struggled to keep up with technology (still use my 20 year old technics separates (bought with a student loan) with a 3.5mm jack)
Whilst I don’t want people to break the bank or waste money I was in the Bose outlet shop today and really liked the look and sound of the soundlink mini
Is there anything else I should consider that has a comparable or better sound and a similar build quality but is cheaper
Really liked the portability and dock charging, along with the build quality but only really after something for moving around the house and garden, I’m no longer a sound quality snob but still would like something with a good range that looks (understated / simple is probably the words) and sounds decent and is easy to use

I’m working with someone who has the Bose playing in our office and it sounds pretty good to me. Thinking of getting one myself and I’m normally a bit of a hifi snob.

I have had one of these in the autumn and love it:

http://www.whathifi.com/cambridge-audio/go/review

Not Bluetooth but I’m a big fan of minirig. Sister in law so impressed with its performance outdoors she got one too.

http://www.sonos.com/en-au/sonos-shop/products/play1?r=1
http://www.whathifi.com/sonos/play1/review
Sonos Play 1 seems to tempting as an alternative, in the end removes the need for the directly connecting the music device, not sure on the portability down the garden though but a very expandable system.

Sonos play isn’t really a portable bluetooth speaker as you say; it’s easy, but you could just get a bluetooth adapter for your normal proper hi-fi and enjoy sound that isn’t limited by being that sized.

I own a soundlink mini and I have a friend with the cambridge audio version (the smaller US triangular one) I’d wager that there’s probably not enough in it to justify the price difference.

I think the soundlink mini is still the gold standard, but not by a huge amount. It is, however, a very nice THING. In the way that your scott carbon frame will probably be better than a lynskey titanium frame. But you still want the ti frame.

Also, if portability is the prime factor, the bose wins – it’s small enough for you to think “sure, I’ll put that in my carryon for this flight”, whereas pretty much everything else wouldn’t come with you.

Also worth considering:

Meant to give the bose a run for its money and a lot cheaper. The bose is however better than most at full volume.

UEBoom is pretty good (mono unless you have a pair). Got one for my son’s birthday. Works well. Sufficiently loud and reasonably balanced for that sort of thing.

Ideal for garden as it is somewhat water resistant.

The Bose is very good….only thing I don’t like is that it uses a proprietary charging cable, so if you take it on holiday, it’s yet another cable and plug to take

There’s a Denon one worth giving a try if you fancy something else (Envaya or Envaya mini).

I ended up with the Cambridge audio G2 as a chuck in the suitcase or around the house speaker, the sound is good, but limited based on size. It isn’t as bass heavy as the soundlink mini which overcompensates a little in my experience and as it was on offer in John Lewis at the time £80 vs £170 for the Bose it was an easy decision to make.

I found the UE boom tinny and lack lustre compared with the G2 and no where near the Bose in terms of quality.

The JBL Flip 2 is now under £40 @ Amazon.

The Bose is pretty good – and that is from a Bose hater…

It can benefit from a slight amount of EQ to raise the upper midrange/top a little and cut a bit of the bass, but it has a very ‘tuneful’ bass.

Think of it as a mini club sound system and play music accordingly for best results. Some acoustic stuff works but others are more processed sounding.

The resale on the Bose will be more if you ever decide to change it.

+1 UE boom

The updated UEBoom, has quite a bit of bass compared to a lot of others, SQ is better than most other BT speakers.

We have three of the Cambridge Audio Go speakers (one for each of my girls) and they’re really good.
Very solid, good build quality, can charge your phone from the usb port, 3.5mm jack if required, looong battery life and a little too loud for my liking 🙂
I would certainly buy again… British too 😀

I was looking to buy the Bose but went for the Harmon Karden Esquire. It’s a little bigger and I prefered the sound. It also came with a travel bag included.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/audio/portable-audio/portable-speakers/harman-kardon-esquire-jbl085-portable-wireless-speaker-black-21837720-pdt.html?srcid=198&cmpid=ppc~gg~~~Exact&mctag=gg_goog_7904&s_kwcid=AL!3391!3!45114900575!!!g!73797881855!&ef_id=VRpyMQAAAVsSQyVp:20150331100849:s#cat-0

The JBL Flip 2 is now under £40 @ Amazon.

Snapped one up myself at that price..

Was delivered this very morning.. astounding quality for £39 inc delivery (its usualy close to £100). Ability to recharge from any standard samsung type charging cable a bonus too.

That JBL Flip demo demonstrates nicely the extra tunefulness and weight of sound of the Bose.

The JBL is a lot cheaper, but the SQ is nowhere near the Bose.

BOSE all the way for me. And I usually hate their stuff.

I’ve had the first gen Bose sound link & my sister has the updated version
Lovely sound, quite heavy bass ( I like that )

I’d buy another without a second thought

I’m listening to my Bose right now. It is epically good with voice. If you are a Radio 4 listener, you are going to love it…

I’d say it sounds quite “valve-like”

The battery lasts for a full day but yes, proprietary cable is a bit of a pain when travelling.

Rachel

Have a look at one of these
Get a 5 star review on what HiFi.
Must admit the sound is really good.

The Bose is pretty good – and that is from a Bose hater…

Agreed. Although I bought the Smaller Sony, SRS-X2 to take on holiday and stream Radio from by Blackberry. Sound quality is very good and the NFS just works.

Can’t comment on any of the competition but that Bose is the best bit of tech I have bought for years.