Bose Soundlink Mini II Review – Still the GOAT of Bluetooth Speakers

The plan was that I would pair it with the Google Home Mini thing that I had recently been given by Google. And I figured that between the smart speaker and a decent Bluetooth speaker, I’d have a pretty good setup to rock some tunes in the kitchen.

Both, of course, have iterated numerous times on their Bluetooth speaker range since the SoundLink II was created with this array of models, including.

On a recent trip to the local electronic store, and after doing a whole lot of research online, I was quite excited by the idea that it was time to upgrade the SoundLink II to a new unit.

I turned to Sonos and tried their One and One SL units, which I figured would be a comparable comparison, and also tried the latest models from Bose as listed above.

I also spent some time with a couple of UE Booms that friends owned and had brought along to parties at various times over the last couple of years. It wasn’t my first foray into portable Bluetooth speakers having already owned a couple before, whether those were purchased or gifted through my associations with Headphones Canada.

None had really excited me, which is why I thought it was finally time, six years ago to finally upgrade to something decent.

I also bought an Alexa Echo for the kitchen, as I figured having an integrated tall-standing speaker might give me a little bit more bench space than the Google Home and Bose Companion.

Having the Bose certainly was convenient in that I could pick up the speaker and walk out with it, but sometimes a minimalist look gets the partner acceptance factor (PAF) easier.

So after trying out the Bose, the Sonos, the UE, and Ultimate Ears, and even now six years on, I cannot see any improvement or reason that I would purchase one of these units over the existing Bose SoundLink Mini II that I have.

It’s nothing against the new units. They sound great as do the new Harman Kardon portable Bluetooth speakers, but I just don’t see that there’s enough difference in any of them to make the upgrade necessary.

Here’s what I (still) love about the Bose SoundLink Mini II

For a start, it is very portable and very solid. The metal casing and the docking station, which was an optional extra at the time is an easy traveling companion.

The only negative is the added weight, but when I throw it in a suitcase for either a weekend or a longer trip away, I have confidence that it’s going to arrive at the other end in good shape.

The battery life is more than sufficient for anything that I need and I don’t need the dock. When I travel, I can charge it from the micro USB port. In fact, on a film shoot yesterday, I had the SoundLink playing in the background throughout the day to keep the mood on the shoot a little more vibing.

And the unit ran for around six hours solid with still 40% battery life left. I consider this pretty impressive for a unit that’s now about six years old and has had a lot of use.

In terms of portability around the house, it’s such an easy unit to pick up, put out by the barbecue, take out around the front when we are entertaining playing lawn games, or similar. And its current permanent residence is actually in the bedroom as it’s great to use to fall asleep to music, or even when I’m listening to music on the weekend while having a nana nap or similar.

The Bluetooth pairing is simple enough that if it doesn’t connect to a device on its first go, you can simply press and hold the pairing button and quickly connect to a new unit. It automatically pairs to two devices when you turn it on.

So, be aware of this because if I’m connecting my phone and one of my kids’ iPads connects to it, there can be an interesting array of sounds when all I’m expecting is some Dave Matthews to come out of the speaker.

The volume is more than I would need, and only once have I taken this into a situation where I couldn’t get enough volume to fill the room. Admittedly, this was a large room for a children’s party with about 10 kids screaming and about eight adults talking over the top of the screaming kids. And as it was really just meant for ambient noise, I don’t think we needed to worry about sound quality.

The punchline

And here’s the punchline and why I still think this is the GOAT, on top of all the other things, including durability, battery life, and portability, the sound quality on this is still really quite superb. You may not love the Bose sound signature, but when it comes to Bluetooth speakers, I think the SoundLink II is one of their standout, most impressive Bluetooth speakers to date.

And while it is an older unit that may no longer be available on shelves, if you do see this for an affordable price, second-hand, or even new on Amazon or similar, I would still consider it a worthy accessory to your home or portable lifestyle.

The deep bass, the clear meds, and the not-perfect but perfectly acceptable treble mean that when you are listening to it in any situation, you can both feel the music and enjoy the music. The bass is not overly inflated as with some Bluetooth speakers that I’ve heard. And so, overall, after the six-plus years that I’ve owned this, I give the Bluetooth speaker GOAT award.

If you own one, and you’re a fan, let me know in the comments below. And if you just have any general questions about why this gets the GOAT award, you can also file those questions away in the comments below.

This post was last updated on 2025-03-20 / Some images from Amazon Product API & some links may be affiliate links which may earn us a commission from purchases.