A speaker that floats sounds like a gimmick until the first time you knock one into a pool. The SoundLink Flex 2nd Gen is IP67 rated, silicone-wrapped, drop-resistant, and genuinely buoyant, which is a specific set of decisions about where Bose expects you to use it. It’s about eight inches wide and 1.29 pounds, runs Bluetooth 5.3 with multipoint and aptX, charges over USB-C, and Bose rates the battery at 12 hours. PositionIQ adjusts the sound depending on which way up you’ve left it. There’s a programmable Shortcut button and a speakerphone.
This is the best-sounding speaker of its size I’ve come across, and I don’t think that’s a close call. It’s a genuine pint-sized party speaker, and it collects editor’s-choice awards at a rate small speakers usually don’t. It’s balanced and punchy with real instrument separation, which small speakers usually can’t manage. Two honest caveats. The bass is a touch thin out of the box until you spend a minute in the app EQ. And push the volume near the top and it gets excitable, with clarity dropping and the mix muddying.
Ruggedness is why you’d choose this over something that sounds similar indoors. It shrugs off drops, dust, and a metre of water, and mine has become the default thing I throw in a bag for a trip. Stereo pairing two units is a genuine upgrade rather than a novelty. The disappointments are real though. Real battery comes in around 7 hours against the 12-hour claim, which is a big gap. The buttons have no tactile differentiation so you’ll press the wrong one in the dark, and the app is thin.
Bluetooth 5.3 with multipoint and Snapdragon Sound on compatible Android phones. Two 2nd Gen units pair in Party or Stereo mode through the app. One thing to know before ordering: **first-gen SoundLink Flex units cannot stereo-pair with 2nd Gen ones**, because the two generations use different apps, so an existing one at home won’t team up with this. Bose’s own support pages also document intermittent dropouts as a known issue. The Shortcut button is programmable but does very little of interest.
Buy this if you want the best sound you can get in something you’ll take to a beach, a pool, a campsite, or a shower without a second thought. It’s the speaker for people who are hard on their things. Skip it if you need long battery, since just over seven real hours is short, or if you want the cheapest decent option, because it isn’t. The obvious rival is the JBL Charge 6, which lasts longer, or Bose’s own SoundLink Plus if you want bigger. For sound per cubic inch though, this is the one.
Pros
• Balanced, punchy sound that beats its size
• IP67, drop-resistant, and it actually floats
• PositionIQ adjusts tone to how it’s sitting
• Multipoint plus aptX and Snapdragon Sound
Cons
• Measured 7 hours 3 minutes against a 12-hour claim
• Gets harsh and muddy near maximum volume
• Buttons are impossible to tell apart by feel
• Won’t stereo-pair with a first-gen Flex
Our score: 8.2/10
