Bose SoundLink Max review

If you have never thought of giving your new wireless speaker a pet name, other than ‘Kitchen’ or ‘Garden’, the Bose SoundLink Max might just inspire you to change your mind.

Instead of the usual, rather dry serving suggestions, Bose’s product team has gone to town with the Max. During the set-up process for its wireless speaker, you are presented with no fewer than 15 potential serving suggestions for your new pride and joy.

Given the brand’s origins, there’s an American theme to many of them; our highlights include S’more Music, Tailgater, Workout Warrior, Thumper and, our particular favourite, Porta Party.

We only hope as much thought has gone into the all-round performance as it has for these affable names. Let’s find out.

Design & build

The Bose SoundLink Max is a ruggedised, rubberised rectangle of a wireless speaker. It is perhaps more practical than it is pushing the envelope where design is concerned, but there’s something to be said for its simple, understated appearance.

In the flesh, though, things improve and the SoundLink Max is nice and tactile, with large sections of the main body wrapped in smooth-to-the-touch silicone. The material also makes its way onto the cute carry handle which twists and locks into fittings on top of the main unit.

At 2.13kg, the Bose isn’t super-light, but moving it from an indoor to outdoor setting shouldn’t strain the wrist and, thanks to that soft handle, it’s nice to hold and carry around. It also makes the SoundLink Max feel like a premium product, which is handy since it carries a premium price tag of £399 / $399 / AU$599. This places it in the ballpark of rivals such as the Dali Katch G2 (£329) and Sonos Move 2 (£449 / $449 / AU$799).

The top section of the speaker includes all the playback pairing and volume controls which you access by pressing the relevant icon. The silicone surface has just enough give so your finger goes down and prods a button hidden underneath. There’s something quite satisfying about pressing them – each one has a slight recess that helps guide your finger into position.

The silicone wrap goes around the bottom of the wireless speaker too, where you will find four feet (they are more like slightly raised bumps) which will help give the Bose a bit of stability.

The black finish of our review sample is rather subdued, but we think it will probably resist marks and scraps better than most, although a more fetching Blue Dusk finish is also available. We are slightly surprised Bose doesn’t have a couple of more fun colours up its sleeve to broaden the appeal, though.

Features

The Bose SoundLink Max supports Bluetooth 5.3 and has a claimed range of 30ft (9m), which we find accurate in an outdoor setting.

It charges via USB-C. You get a cable in the box if you are in the UK, but it appears you also get a USB-C charging plug in the box if you buy in the US.

Battery life is a claimed 20 hours, but users might find this varies slightly depending on how you use the speaker. Pressing and holding the power button will prompt a voice to tell you how long is left.

Listening at maximum volume will drain the battery quicker, as will using the built-in battery to charge an external device such as a smartphone or laptop. But it’s a handy feature to have if you find your phone low on juice with no power socket nearby.

The SoundLink Max will power down to save said battery after 20 mins, but you can change the auto-off timer in the settings of the Bose companion app. Pressing and holding the play and volume buttons will toggle the feature on and off.

Inputs are kept to a bare minimum with just USB-C and a 3.5mm auxiliary socket on the rear of the speaker.

The buttons on top include a play/pause button which can also be used to control music playback – the usual double press to skip forwards and a triple press to skip back.

Its IP67 rating means the speaker is water and dust-proof, according to the Bose website, which we are slightly surprised by, given the exposed inputs on the back of the speaker. Some rivals put them behind a water-tight cover, but we are offered no such protection here.

If the SoundLink Max detects moisture inside, the battery light will blink amber and white to warn you, and you will have to wait for it to dry. The guide recommends you shake the speaker, allow it to air dry or point a fan (not a hair dryer) at the USB port.

Besides the tactile carry handle you also have the option to go for a longer rope carrying-strap, but at (£45 / $45 / AU$75) it isn’t cheap and we’re not sure it’s really necessary.

The Bose has Bluetooth multipoint so you can have two devices connected simultaneously and switch between them at your leisure. One thing you can’t do, though, is answer calls through the Bose – there is no built-in mic. But, in all honesty, this feels like a feature that has died out in recent years and shouldn’t really be a deal-breaker.

The Bose app doesn’t offer many customisation options, but there is a three-band EQ for bass, mids and treble and you also get an assortment of bass and treble boosting/reducing preset sound modes to choose from.

Sound

And these settings come in handy because, out of the box, the Bose sounds bassy. Very bassy. We can imagine it’s something that will impress on a showroom floor where the speaker might be fighting for attention among other rivals – but for us, it’s too bombastic.

That’s why during testing, we turn the bass setting down to around minus five or six, which still gives us more than enough in terms of quantity but also improves the quality of sound to make it better balanced and less overpowering.

Once we tweak this setting, we leave the rest alone and just let the Bose get on with the job of entertaining us. Which it does extremely well.

The Soudlink Max shouldn’t have any issues getting the party started – thanks, in the main, to its lively, punchy delivery. It’s in its element rocking along to Guns N’ Roses Welcome To The Jungle. The wireless speaker’s expressive midrange enthusiastically sprays out Axl Rose’s wailing lead vocal, while every thwack of the band’s drum kit is dispatched with force and vigour. There's an energy to the band’s performance that is easy to tap into and makes for a hugely enjoyable listen.

We switch to a bit of dance music in the shape of Visions by Lane 8 and there’s a great sense of timing to the track, with the electro beats hitting with substance and tight edges, which give the song enough definition to stop and start in all the right places. Poorer quality wireless speakers can suffer from sludgy and slow bass, but there are no such problems here, thanks to the Bose’s speedy, agile delivery. The fluid, wavey, synthy highs layer the top of the track with crisply defined edges that give the song plenty of sparkle.

There’s a fullness and richness to the sound that is easy to get on with. The character displays more natural warmth than the likes of the Dali Katch, which is more transparent and digs out a bit more detail but in comparison sounds quite lean and malnourished. The Bose puts much more meat on the bones and more weight behind mids and lows but still manages to keep things sounding balanced.

If you listen to a lot of talk radio, there’s plenty to like in the way the Bose delivers voices. The richness and solidity on display means they sound natural and engaging whether you are indoors, outdoors, relaxing with an audiobook or listening intently to live sport.

Verdict

You can’t really ask for much more from the Bose SoundLink Max. Given the source material most people will be using – i.e. music or a podcast beamed over Bluetooth from a smartphone/tablet – the Bose doesn’t need to be ultra-transparent in its delivery.

A rival such as the Dali Katch G2 has the edge in this regard, but what makes the Bose stand out is that it is unfussy and hugely enjoyable to listen to whatever you play through it. It produces a consistent, exciting and involving sound which will keep you entertained for hours. Add to the fact it is great to use and rugged enough to withstand the elements, and the SoundLink Max puts itself forward as an extremely attractive package.

SCORES 

• Sound 5
• Features 4
• Build 5

MORE:

Read our Dali Katch G2 review

Also check out our Sonos Move 2 review

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