So like I have said multiple time already, I am very impressed by the Bose Soundlink Plus, and I actually think that this speaker sounds better than the Bose Soundlink Max, expect it doesn’t get as loud. So if you’re thinking about getting either the Bose Soundlink Plus or the Bose Soundlink Max, lets compare these two speakers and lets see which one is right for you.
Regarding pricing, both of these speakers are pretty expensive when compared to their direct competitors. The Bose Soundlink Plus has a retail price of $270 which is a lot if you compare it to its direct competitors like the JBL Charge 6 or the Sony ULT field 3… and the bose soundlink max has a retail price of $400 which is a lot when compared to its direct competitors. Nonetheless if you want to pick either of these two speakers up they’ll be linked down below or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button. And if you want to further support the channel then you can always watch some of the related videos in the description down below.
So first theres the design, both of these speakers feel very luxurious and very durable thanks to their silicone wrapped bodies and powered coated front grill. Both of these speakers are also dust and water proof and they both easily float in water. But size wise, these two speakers are very strange when compared to their direct competitors. The Soundlink Plus is a mid sized speaker, but this speaker is noticeably larger and denser than its direct competitors, the JBL Charge 6 and Sony ULT Field 3… and traveling with this speaker isn’t a conviente. But then theres the Bose Soundlink Max which is a little bigger than the Plus… but this speakers is noticeable smaller than its direct competitors, the JBL Xtereme 4 and Sony ULT field 5. Now traveling with the max is a little more conviente than with the plus cause it has a built in carrying handle, and if you want you can attach a shoulder strap which is sold separately… now I do feel the Max should come included with a shoulder strap… but more importantly, with the plus you cant swap out its built in loop. But overall, the size difference between the Plus and Max is very small, which I do find to be very odd. But the plus is less convenient than the max cause of its lack of a handle or shoulder strap.
But when it comes to battery life, these two speakers are the same, they both have an advertised battery life of 20 hours, and real world use with both of these speakers playing at 80% volume, they are both going to be good for about 10 hours of playback time. But obviously, 80% volume on the Max is going to be a little louder than 80% volume on the plus.
And to charge these speakers, they both create via a USB C port as they should and you can also use their USB C port to charge your own devices which I feel is super conviente for a portable bluetooth speaker. However you cant use this USB C port as a weird connection but you can use the Max with a wired connection thanks to its audio jack.
And when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, both of these speakers can be connected to 2 devices at the same time so you and a friend can both be DJ, latency is not an issue for this speaker so you can use it to watch videos on your phone and when it comes to audio codecs, they have support for SBC, AAC and snapdragon sound, however you do have to be an android user for that.
But with all of that out of the way lets talk about sound. When it comes to speaker setups the Bose Soundlink Plus has a frontward firing driver, a frontward firing tweeter and dual passive radiators that shoot out the front and out the back of this speaker. Where as with the Bose Soundlink Max, this speaker has dual drivers which are angled out a little bit, a single frontward firing tweeter and dual passive radiators that shoot out the sides. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test, both of these speakers are playing at 75% Volume while unplugged with their stock EQ’s.
Sound Test
So when it comes to sound quality, I actually prefer how the Bose Soundlink Plus sounds over the Bose Soundlink Max. Specifically with the Bose Soundlink Plus, this speaker sounds much fuller in the mids than the max. My problem with the Bose Soundlink Max is that is sounds hollow for some reason, but that isn’t a problem for the Plus. However when it comes to max volume performance, as you’d expect the max gets louder than the plus… but not by much more. I feel the the max is good for a like a 10 person get together where as the Plus is good for like an 8 person get together. So overall, if you’re trying to choose between the Bose Soundlink Max and Bose Soundlink Plus, I would actually go with the Plus here cause you’re going to get better sound… and the plus gets almost as loud as the Max, but while being a little smaller and more importantly, more affordable.
But finally lets talk about pairing these speakers up with other speakers. Now with both of these speakers, if you have two of the exact same speakers then you can wirelessly pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode, but they have to be two of the exact same speakers.
Or if you want you can pair either a Bose Soundlink Max, Bose Soundlink Plus, or Bose Soundlink flex 2 together and get them to play in sync, but you can only have a total of two speakers paired together… which is super limited. So if you plan on growing your collection of speakers, then bose wouldn’t be my first pick.
But with all of that being said, if you’re trying to choose between the Bose Soundlink Plus and the Bose soundlink Max, I recommend that you go with the Bose Soundlink Plus cause I do feel that this speaker sounds better than the Max cause it sounds fuller in the mids. Now it doesn’t get as loud or has a much bass as the Max… but the Plus is able to keep up, but more importantly this speaker is a lot more affordable than the Bose Soundlink Max. And feature set wise, the Bose Soundlinks Plus has all of the same features as the max expect you cant attach a shoulder strap and it doesn’t have an audio jack. But overall I does prefer the Bose Soundlink Plus over the Bose Soundlink Max… and the Plus does give me hope for the Bose Soundlink Max 2.