Customer Ratings & Reviews

I will say this is an insane speaker. Straight forward bluetooth. No wifi or vocie assistant. Its designed strong and packs a punch. Its the perfect beach and pool speaker. It is not intended to be a home speaker which is why it lacks the sonos features. Bose does it again. Big sound. Small design! It is a luxary purchase as it had an intended function as an on the go speaker not a home speaker.

TLDR: For anyone looking for a portable Bluetooth speaker in the price range, you will most be happy with your purchase. As an owner of Bose Soundlink Color II, I was pretty excited to try out Bose’s latest offering. Right of the bat, the speaker gives a much fuller sound. With the larger size, you get a lot more bass than the Color II. Setup of the speaker was simple. Bose recommended performing a factory reset before pairing for the first time (holding + and – button for a few seconds). After resetting, I was able to connect the speaker to my iPhone. Next, I highly recommend downloading the latest Bose app and adding the speaker. The app has a few built-in guides that explain most of the speaker’s functionality and customizations you can perform. As a Spotify user, I like the fact that I can change the Shortcut button to directly launch Spotify. One thing I will say is that initially, I thought the sound from the speaker was a little harsh. Thankfully within the app you can customize the EQ. After a good amount of experimentation, I was able to find a configuration that sounded good to me. For reference, my settings are: Bass: +1 Mid: -3 Treble: +3 While I haven’t done any testing in this area, the speaker is IP67 rated, so you should be able to take it just about anywhere and not have to worry about the speaker getting wet or full of dust. The speaker also has some sensors to determine if it is wet, so you don’t plug it in while there is still some moisture in the USB port. Having an included USB-C cable and charger is a nice touch. You can also use the speaker as a power bank and charge your phone through the USB port. You can remove the carrying handle, but I am not sure why you would. Overall, after a bit of tweaking of the settings, I am happy with the speaker and would recommend it to most people. While it won’t replace my home theater setup, it does make for a good experience on the go.

Couldn't wait to get my hands on the new Bose Soundlink Max. Unboxing was as easy as it gets. After pulling the unit out of the box, I did a quick factory reset by holding the + and - buttons at the same time for about 5-10 seconds to make sure it was at its factory settings. I also already had the Bose app up and running on my iphone since I have other Bose products throughout the house that I control. If you don't have the app on your phone, I highly recommend doing that. It's very intuitive and makes it easy to connect via bluetooth and gives you control of volume and equalization of the device to your preferred sound quality settings. The speaker came charged at about 30%, so I would recommend charging it for the full 5 hours as recommended. Product has both a USB-C and auxiliary port, which also comes with the USB-C charger. Bose states the charge has a 20 hour battery life which is pretty exceptional. I have about 6 hours of use so far and battery life still seems good. Note: (I have not tested for the full 20 hours yet). One thing I like about this speaker is the ability to have two phones dual linked to the Soundlink Max. This is a feature I haven't seen before, but it comes in real handy when I'm busy grilling and my wife can control the music playlist without grabbing my iphone. The handle makes it super easy to transport from one location to another and reminds me of the old boom boxes I used to carry around in the 80's and 90's but with a more compact feel. Let's talk about the sound. This for me, is why I rated this new Bose portable speaker a 4 star rating. Since I own a lot of different speakers in my home like Sonos, Bose, and JBL, which all have great Sound quality in my opinion, I naturally have pretty high expectations. I will say the clean sound clarity which is well known in all Bose systems was consistent. The Bass in my opinion based off the size of the speaker was decent, but lacked punch. I was expecting a little more for the price point. Here are my final thoughts. You can never go wrong with a high quality and reputable brand such as Bose and with that, usually comes a higher price point. There are a lot of positive features with the new soundlink Max at the same time keeping the product simple, compact, and well made. If you are looking for a little stronger cleaner punch in the bass, I think you might find something out there and pay a little less.

Great sounds! deep base but expensive!! compared it to my soundcore motion boom plus and tbh its actually louder than this soundlink max!.. yes go on youtube and see reviews but all are done with in 2 feet distance. i placed both speakers against the wall in my garage and walked away about 20 ft. had the volume set the same on both and the montion boom plus was way louder!. will i keep the Bose yes.. only because i was able to price match and had some rearwards points. if it wasn't for the savings i would of returned this speaker the next day and stick with my soundcore speaker. buy it and try the distance review..

The SoundLink Max bolsters Bose’s reputation that “If it’s a Bose, it sounds awesome.” A three-band equalizer is included in the smartphone app. It has a few presets, but also allows manual setting of bass, midrange, and treble. Once pairing has been established, it connects automatically on power-up. A second device can be paired, and you can switch between the two. The thick, comfortable carrying handle just barely kept the speaker from fitting in the space I had intended. The handle is easily detachable, so that wasn’t a problem. The sound quality is unbelievable for a device this size. The downsides are few but not severe: FIRST: The only instructions actually included with the unit is inside the box. As you can see in photo 1, you are instructed to 1) charge the unit (without telling you exactly how you know when it is fully charged), 2) press the power button, and 3) connect to the unit with your smartphone and download an app for it, using the QR code. In my experience, Bluetooth devices need to be connected fairly quickly, before the pairing times out. This is exactly what happened to me, as I had to sign into the newly downloaded application, go back to my settings to select the unit, etc. Download and set up the app FIRST. SECOND: There is no owner’s manual. There was a 24-page booklet with regulatory information in seventeen languages. At the top of the first page, there is a QR code linked to Bose’s support website. [see photo 2] The website has everything, but you have to follow at least a couple links for every piece of information. Fortunately, it is not terribly difficult to find the link to the 40-page Owner’s Guide, but a link to that would have been very useful without having to chase it down. THIRD: When powering-up, the speaker “thumps” and announces its battery level. It is annoyingly loud. The announcement can be disabled in the Bose smartphone app, instead playing just the “thump” on power-up. It is still loud, but not as obtrusive. Overall, the SoundLink Max is an incredible speaker. Typical for Bose, the sound quality is unmatched in any other device in its class.

Purchased this on release, and it is a great product. It sounds fantastic for a speaker this size and with how portable it is. Biggest issue is the price. Really should be $150 cheaper. You’ll enjoy it if you buy now, but you will wnjoy it more if you catch a sale!

I bought this product with the expectation that it would be a bass power house. I can for sure tell you it beat my expectation. Though its not the loudest kid on the block it for sure delivers crisp sound and amazingly good bass for its size of speakers. Now given its multiple speakers its battery life isnt as great at high volume. Now if you have it at a decent medium high volume it will last a good 6 to 8 hours on an single charge. Im a diesel tech and it delivers perfectly in a loud environment like mine. Made with good quality and a good battery. I cant forget the connectivity, with a long range i can walk awayy with my phone about 20 feet and it still plays really well. In essence the down side is the battery does drain quick at high volume but thats due to asking it for everything it has. Not the loudest but delivers great bass Not fully portable but great size for its sound. I will definitely continue to invest in Bose products.

Love the handle and size, good sound. Color is ok.

Its a decent speaker, but only really good at 75 percent. Pricey but you can take it just about anywhere.

Great product. I was however a little disappointed with the sound. The louder it gets the sound quality decreases. Great battery life and easy to use.

Sound is amazing and really does put out a lot of bass. Battery life lasts multiple days of full volume use. 4 stars because the ability to sync with other Bose products is not available until a software update.

Great speaker sound is amazing battery life good as well

Great sound quality. Is it expensive, yes but it’s worth the money. You could wait for the price to drop. There’s a little delay in the aux using a dj controller but other than that it’s a good product.

The Bose Soundlink Max Portable Bluetooth Speaker Is One Of a Kind. It Distributes Amazing Sound And Bass In a Small Package. My Only Issue With It Is The Fact That It Doesn't Have a Built-in Microphone To Answer Incoming Calls But Overall It's a Good Product From Bose.

I love my new Bose Bluetooth speaker. I have it on my night stand so I can listen to my rain and thunder sounds at night. I also put on some upbeat music when I cleaning my bedroom. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because I first have to manually turn on the speaker so it can then connect to my phone. With my other Bluetooth speakers, including the very first sound link I can connect to the speaker with my phone.

Good quality and graet sound but if you turn the volume all the way up the sound gets a little distorcionaded. But the materian for the handle and grip is amazing

Almost perfect. Sound quality is amazing for a speaker this size, no distortion at louder db. Speaker does a good job of creating an immersive soundstage with the left and right speakers, that throw sound. App works great, very flexible EQ, bass is heavy. Here’s what I don’t like. Battery life is sub par. That’s it.

I am very satisfied with the sound quality of the SoundLink Max. However, I am very disappointed with the lack of transparency of Best Buy. I purchased the speaker using the "open box" (rated in "Excellent" condition) process and the speaker arrived without charging accessories, which I then had to purchase separately. Again, the lack of honesty and transparency was very disappointing.

Great speakers sounds pretty loud for a small speaker great acústics and the best part is you can equalizer it

Sounds really good. We have had several Bose Bluetooth speakers in the past. Bought this one hoping to us the Bose app to sink our two sound link speakers through the app on party mode. Doesn’t seem to work. Can play one or the other only.