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- Review count2
- Helpfulness votes39
- First reviewFebruary 20, 2016
- Last reviewFebruary 22, 2016
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- Average rating3.5
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- First answerFebruary 20, 2016
- Last answerFebruary 22, 2016
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Fretless's Reviews
SoundLink® Mini Bluetooth® speaker II delivers full sound with dramatically deeper lows than you'd expect from a speaker that fits in the palm of your hand. And because it's wireless and ultra-compact, it's easy to take Bose® sound anywhere. With the built-in speakerphone you can take calls out loud with clear sound. And voice prompts make Bluetooth pairing easy. The SoundLink® Mini II can play unplugged for hours and be charged from most USB power sources.
Customer Rating
4
Great sound quality and soundstage for the price.
on February 22, 2016
Posted by: Fretless
To make a long story shorter, not trusting the possibly tweaked sound tracks used for demo bluetooth speakers, I went into BestBuy with my phone and tablet to demo speakers with MY music, which is lossless and a mix of hard rock, metal, goth, classical, country, jazz, instrumental and vocal, to decide with what I actually listen to.
I paired with several speakers in my budget range and below, including the Charge2+, Bose SoundLink Color, Beats Pill+, UE Boom 2, Altec-Lansing Mini Life Jacket, Altec Lansing Boom Jacket, Fugoo Style and Bose Soundlink Mini ll.
They all paired relatively easily except for the Fugoo and Charge2+, but remember these are store display models that have really been abused.
I paired with several speakers in my budget range and below, including the Charge2+, Bose SoundLink Color, Beats Pill+, UE Boom 2, Altec-Lansing Mini Life Jacket, Altec Lansing Boom Jacket, Fugoo Style and Bose Soundlink Mini ll.
They all paired relatively easily except for the Fugoo and Charge2+, but remember these are store display models that have really been abused.
The biggest surprise for sound quality and volume for price was the Bose Soundlink Color, but it lacked the battery life and other features I wanted, but great speaker below my top 2 picks.
Sound quality, adequate bass and adequate volume being my priorities, the JBL Charge2+ and Bose Soundlink Mini ll came out on top after an hour of sampling tracks in the store. The problem was listening in the store was not the same as my normal listening environments and that can make a huge difference, not to mention I was having a problem deciding between the two. I bought both, knowing I could return the one that lost my comparison.
At home, in a large living area as well as a medium sized bedroom, side by side, placed one foot from a wall. They both paired easily and quickly with my tablet and phone, with both supporting pairing of more than one device at the same time. The Charge2+ sounded great with fairly accurate playback, great bass and volume. The Bose had that with better soundstage, more depth, detail and better vocals over most all genres I played. The tracks just sounded more natural and fuller than the Charge, but it was still close.
The main differences to me and a couple of friends listening with me was the way the two handled sub bass at high volumes and the Bose's broader sound stage. The Charge tends to distort and clip sub bass at volumes above 75%, which I had also read about in many other reviews in my research, whereas the Bose rolls off the bass instead of distorting, which makes it much more pleasant to listen to at high volumes. We also noticed a little more forwarding of vocals with the Bose.
On rock tracks with a lot of complexity and several instruments involved, it became harder to really give an advantage to either, maybe even leaning towards the Charge. The Charge was also able to play a little louder, but at the price of distortion with the bass.
The Bose averaged around 8 hours of playback at an average volume level of 60%. The JBL averaged around 9.5 hrs, keeping in mind that both will improve after a few charge/discharge cycles of the battery.
I really wanted the Charge2+ because I preferred the look and saving $50, it being a great sounding speaker and heads above the others I demoed in the store, except the Bose. In the end I chose the Soundlink Mini ll for the better soundstage and depth, not to mention much smaller size, which helps when throwing in my pack.
To be honest, I don't believe many people would notice enough difference between the two to justify the extra $50, especially listening to lower bitrate mp3 like many do, but I could. I don't often need to play my music with a speaker like this above 75%, so the distortion of the bass with the Charge2+ would not normally be an issue for me. If I had never listened to the Bose, but still listened to the others I tried, I would have been happy with the Charge2+, but I did listen to the Bose Soundlink Mini ll and in the end, I had to have that detail and soundstage.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+25points
25of 25voted this as helpful.
This JBL Charge 2+ portable speaker features a Bluetooth 3.0 interface with social mode, so you can wirelessly link with up to 3 compatible Bluetooth-enabled devices simultaneously. A USB port enables you to charge select devices.
Posted by: Fretless
To make a long story shorter, not trusting the possibly tweaked sound tracks used for demo bluetooth speakers, I went into BestBuy with my phone and tablet to demo speakers with MY music, which is lossless and a mix of hard rock, metal, goth, classical, country, jazz, instrumental and vocal, to decide with what I actually listen to.
I paired with several speakers in my budget range and below, including the Charge2+, Bose SoundLink Color, Beats Pill+, UE Boom 2, Altec-Lansing Mini Life Jacket, Altec Lansing Boom Jacket, Fugoo Style and Bose Soundlink Mini ll.
They all paired relatively easily except for the Fugoo and Charge2+, but remember these are store display models that have really been abused. The biggest surprise for sound quality and volume for price was the Bose Soundlink Color, but it lacked the battery life and other features I wanted, but great speaker below my top 2 picks.
Sound quality, adequate bass and adequate volume being my priorities, the JBL Charge2+ and Bose Soundlink Mini ll came out on top after an hour of sampling tracks in the store. The problem was listening in the store was not the same as my normal listening environments and that can make a huge difference, not to mention I was having a problem deciding between the two. I bought both, knowing I could return the one that lost my comparison.
At home, in a large living area as well as a medium sized bedroom, side by side, placed one foot from a wall. They both paired easily and quickly with my tablet and phone, with both supporting pairing of more than one device at the same time. The Charge2+ sounded great with fairly accurate playback, great bass and volume. The Bose had that with better soundstage, more depth, detail and better vocals over most all genres I played. The tracks just sounded more natural and fuller than the Charge, but it was still close. The main differences to me and a couple of friends listening with me was the way the two handled sub bass at high volumes and the Bose's broader sound stage. The Charge tends to distort and clip sub bass at volumes above 75%, which I had also read about in many other reviews in my research, whereas the Bose rolls off the bass instead of distorting, which makes it much more pleasant to listen to at high volumes. We also noticed a little more forwarding of vocals with the Bose.
On rock tracks with a lot of complexity and several instruments involved, it became harder to really give an advantage to either, maybe even leaning towards the Charge. The Charge was also able to play a little louder, but at the price of distortion with the bass.
The Bose averaged around 8 hours of playback at an average volume level of 60%. The JBL averaged around 9.5 hrs, keeping in mind that both will improve after a few charge/discharge cycles of the battery.
I really wanted the Charge2+ because I preferred the look and saving $50, it being a great sounding speaker and heads above the others I demoed in the store, except the Bose. In the end I chose the Soundlink Mini ll for the better soundstage and depth, not to mention much smaller size, which helps when throwing in my pack.
To be honest, I don't believe many people would notice enough difference between the two to justify the extra $50, especially listening to lower bitrate mp3 like many do, but I could. I don't often need to play my music with a speaker like this above 75%, so the distortion of the bass with the Charge2+ would not normally be an issue for me. If I had never listened to the Bose, but still listened to the others I tried, I would have been happy with the Charge2+, but I did listen to the Bose Soundlink Mini ll and in the end, I had to have that detail and soundstage.
My Best Buy number: 0766396942
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+13points
14of 15voted this as helpful.
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Fretless's Answers
SoundLink® Mini Bluetooth® speaker II delivers full sound with dramatically deeper lows than you'd expect from a speaker that fits in the palm of your hand. And because it's wireless and ultra-compact, it's easy to take Bose® sound anywhere. With the built-in speakerphone you can take calls out loud with clear sound. And voice prompts make Bluetooth pairing easy. The SoundLink® Mini II can play unplugged for hours and be charged from most USB power sources.
Can two blu tooth Bose speakers be used at the same time using the same source for music(iPad for example) ?
I am wonderig if I can use a second speaker in an adjacent room while playing music from my Iphone, etc. Can two Blu Tooth Boste speakers be linked somehow? LIke one in the kitchen and one in the dining room at the same time?
Thanks for any assistance you can provide...
Thanks for any assistance you can provide...
No, the Soundlink Mini ll does not support pairing to other devices except the music source. If your phone supports pairing to more than one device at a time, you could get the same results you're shooting for.
8 years, 2 months ago
by
Fretless
This JBL Charge 2+ portable speaker features a Bluetooth 3.0 interface with social mode, so you can wirelessly link with up to 3 compatible Bluetooth-enabled devices simultaneously. A USB port enables you to charge select devices.
What is the range for this speaker?
JBL claims 30 feet. I've been able to control the Charge from a bedroom when the Charge was in the living room (20-30 feet) with no problems. It will also depend on the device you have it paired to. My wife's iPhone6 will lose the pair from the bedroom but my BlackBerry will keep it. It could just be her individual phone though. My Asus tablet and Dell laptop keeps the pair from the same locations.
8 years, 2 months ago
by
Fretless
This JBL Charge 2+ portable speaker features a Bluetooth 3.0 interface with social mode, so you can wirelessly link with up to 3 compatible Bluetooth-enabled devices simultaneously. A USB port enables you to charge select devices.
Can you pair more speakers with this?
I have the JBL Charge 2+ can I pair it with another JBL Charge 2+ or even a third speaker to get surround sound?
In my owner's manual I saw no indication that you can pair with other speakers or "daisy chain", nor did I see that it could in many reviews I read before purchasing the Charge2+. I have never tried it. I do know the UE Boom has that ability, but I don't think it sounds as good as the Charge2+. I think you would be happy with the Charge2+, it's a great speaker, but if you want better soundstage and detail, try the Bose Soundlink Mini ll. I ended up taking my Charge back and keeping the Bose. I had purchased both. For $50 less though, the Charge2+ is hard to beat.
8 years, 2 months ago
by
Fretless