This Bose Portable Speaker Is Nearly 20% Off Right Now

A lot of Bluetooth speakers try to impress yourself with apps, voice assistants or complicated sound modes, but the Home Bose SoundLink takes the opposite approach. This is a simple, stylish speaker that focuses almost entirely on its looks and sound. At $179, down from $219, its lowest price yet, according to price tracking tools…it becomes easier to appreciate this restraint.

The metal frame and fabric-wrapped body give it a clean, user-friendly look, and weighing two pounds, it feels sturdy without being tied to a single location in your home. The physical buttons on top cover everything you need: power, pairing, playback, and volume. It even handles phone calls, and the microphone works well enough for quick chats. You never feel like you’re juggling menus or waiting for an app to load because there isn’t one.

This simplicity is reflected in the sound. Bose does not offer equalizer adjustments or preset profiles here, so what you hear is exactly what the engineers wanted. For a single driver speaker, the sound is surprisingly full, note this PCMag Review. The bass hits with enough weight to give modern pop tracks some impact, although very deep bass is out of reach, which is typical for a speaker of this size. Bluetooth 5.3 keeps the stream steady, and multipoint pairing is useful if you like to switch between a phone and laptop. There’s also a USB-C audio input, which is rare in portable speakers and handy if you want a wired, lag-free connection. Pairing two units manually unlocks Bose’s stereo mode, which expands the soundstage and gives more space to the music, although it requires a second speaker and a specific button sequence.

That said, there’s no wifi, so you can’t use Spotify Connect or multi-room audio. There’s no voice assistant, which could be a problem if you rely on hands-free control. And without a waterproof rating, it’s not the kind of speaker you can take outside in a drizzle or leave near a bathroom sink. The battery lasts around nine hours on a full charge, which is good but not competitive with some larger models.

Despite everything, the Home SoundLink achieves the one thing that many speakers overcomplicate. It delivers rich, enjoyable sound without any additional setup or software.