Bose Has a New Portable Speaker with Serious Vintage Vibes

The tiny portable speaker has old-school flair.

Published October 1, 2024

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Bose has added a new portable Bluetooth speaker to its popular SoundLink family — and it’s completely different from the rest.

The SoundLink Home has an entirely new design that combines metal and fabric, which gives it an old-school “chic” appeal. It lacks any app compatibility, so it should be straightforward to use. And, as it doesn’t have a water-resistance rating, it’s meant predominantly to be listened to indoors.

Like I said, it’s different.

Bose SoundLink Home

$219 at Bose

Metal body, fabric grille

The SoundLink Home is the first portable speaker in Bose’s SoundLink family to have a fabric grille. Bose has combined this with a brushed anodized aluminum body — that doubles as a build-in stand — and I got to say, it looks pretty cool.

As for sound, the SoundLink Home is a front-firing speaker — featuring one full-range transducer and two passive radiators — that plays mono sound. According to the company, it delivers “crisp, clear sound [with] enough bass to fill any room of your home.”

You can pair two SoundLink Home to play stereo sound — each is designated as a left and right channel. You do this by placing them in close proximity and pressing a button on each speaker (because there’s no app).

A portable speaker for the home

Unlike many portable speakers designed for the home, the SoundLink Home lacks a voice assistant and other “smart” capabilities that come with Wi-Fi connectivity. It’s meant as a simple-to-use Bluetooth speaker that you can bring with you from room to room.

That said, Bose’s SoundLink Home does have some modern conveniences. It has a two-way USB-C port that supports wired audio playback, so you can plug it into your laptop and use it as a computer speaker. No Bluetooth required.

Additionally, the SoundLink Home has a built-in microphone that you can use as a speakerphone for calls.

As for battery life, Bose claims that the SoundLink Home can get up to nine hours on a single charge but only 2.5 hours when played at max volume. It also takes four hours to fully recharge, which isn’t super fast. But given that it shouldn’t ever be too far away from a power source, this probably won’t be that big of an issue.

Price and availability

The Bose SoundLink Home comes in two different finishes: silver or grey. The speaker costs $219, thus falls between ultra-portable SoundLink Flex ($149) and significantly larger SoundLink Max ($399).

The Bose SoundLink Home is available now.

Additionally, Bose has released a second-generation model of its SoundLink Flex. The smaller portable speaker is the same size and price as its predecessor but has improved audio, app compatibility and a new customizable shortcut button. It’s also available in several new finishes.