Hot on the heels of the best wireless speaker 500, the $259.95 House Speaker 300 from Bose is smaller sized and less expensive, but still handles to load a strike. Its modest dimension may appear out of sync with its cost, yet it provides some pretty effective audio outcome. A companion app makes setup and also appointing presets easy, and also the overall procedure is instinctive. At top quantities, some effective bass can be a bit way too much for the driver, which accentuates low-mids as well as lows quite a bit. If you're looking for the best Bluetooth speaker with support for both Amazon Alexa as well as Google Assistant, the Home Speaker 300 comes in at a close 2nd to our Editors' Selection, the Sonos One.
Pros: Effective audio output with abundant bass depth and shaped, crisp highs. Works with Alexa and Google Assistant.
Cons: In some cases distorts on deep bass. Play/Pause can have a small hold-up.
Profits: The Bose Residence Speaker 300 deals Alexa and also Google Assistant voice control in a small, effective bundle.
Design
Measuring 6.3 by 5.6 by 4.0 inches (HWD) and weighing in at 2.1 pounds, the Residence Speaker 300 is portable sufficient to look mobile, yet it does not have an interior battery. Offered in black or white, the speaker's oval, the upright structure features a wraparound audio speaker grille that expands from the base and beyond the halfway point of the front panel.
The front-facing panel includes a slim status LED band, and also ahead, there's a control pad packed with touch-sensitive controls, consisting of a main play/pause button flanked by plus/minus switches for volume. To the left and also right of these, there's an Activity switch that summons your voice assistant of selection, a mic/mute button, an aux switch for switching to the 3.5 mm wired input on the rear panel (no cable television is included), and also a Bluetooth switch for switching to Bluetooth streaming. There are additionally six phoned number preset switches on this panel, which can be designated to numerous radio feeds in the application.
The default setting for the House Audio Speaker 300 is Wi-Fi, as well as the Bose Music application (for Android and iOS) walks you through the quick setup process. When the audio speaker is attached to your Wi-Fi network, you can include music solutions like Amazon, Deezer, Pandora, Spotify, and others. To utilize either Alexa or Google Aide, the Bose Music app strolls you via a fast arrangement with the aide of your choice, and after that, you're ready to go.
Bose Residence Speaker 300 inline
The home display for the application includes shortcuts to regional radio streams, podcasts, as well as different internet radio stations as well as feeds. Naturally, you can additionally play your very own locally saved songs wirelessly, from any kind of compatible computer system or tool on your Wi-Fi network, or through Bluetooth. The speaker likewise supports Apple's AirPlay 2, as well as there's an AirPlay tab in the app, yet you can likewise just pick tracks on iOS devices and hit the AirPlay button to stream to the speaker.
Like a lot of smart audio speakers, the Home Speaker 300 has no speakerphone function. We located its built-in mic to be fairly responsive when releasing voice commands to Alexa. When playing and also pausing music by means of Alexa, we noticed hold-ups of a second or much longer. The delay is much less apparent when streaming sound by means of Bluetooth, however, it's still there.
Performance
Internally, the mono House Speaker 300 makes use of a down-firing chauffeur that has its audio spread by a reflector. Bose claims the audio speaker's DSP (electronic signal handling) uses proprietary reasoning that maintains hard-panned left and right data from vanishing from the mix.
On course with extreme sub-bass content, like The Blade's "Silent Shout," the Home Speaker 300 can have some small distortion at leading volumes. The DSP does an admirable work of maintaining most bass from distorting, even at higher quantities, however, some tracks confirmed also effective for the enclosure itself. Thom Yorke's brand-new "Runwayaway" additionally has some bass deepness at the end that made the speaker audibly shake and also rattle. It was uncertain at times whether the chauffeur was distorting or the unit was rattling, yet the net result doesn't actually matter-- you hear it.
Related stories How We Examine Speakers
Expense Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, offers us a better feeling of the Home Audio speaker 300's basic audio signature. The drums on this track sound full and also round, but not overdone with deep bass improving. At top quantities, the drums absolutely sound more powerful than they would certainly on a level action system, however, and Callahan's vocals obtain an extra layer of low-mid splendor. In fact, the bulk of the bass deepness is not in the deep lows, however in the lows as well as low-mids.
At modest quantities, it seems enhanced but enjoyable, as well as balanced with the higher frequencies in the mix. At top quantities, the bass push can feel a little bit too strong-- there's no distortion, but it simply seems full and also excessively rich parts of the mix that do not need it. Fortunately, the highs and also high-mids are fairly sculpted, also, as well as we hear the assault of the higher register percussive hits and also the acoustic strums plainly together with the improved lows. This is the sort of track the House Speaker 300 seems more at home with, instead of songs with major sub-bass depth that its chauffeur had not been developed to the task.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loophole receives an ideal high-mid existence which, in addition to the low- and low-mid enhancing, produces a punchy, effective smack. The sub-bass synth hits that stress the beat are supplied with decent push, yet there's no subwoofer-like driver to genuinely supply the deepness. At top volumes, there's no distortion on this track, as well as the vocals are provided cleanly as well as plainly, with probably a little even more sibilance than we're utilized to hearing.
Instrumental tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, audio lively as well as complete through the Home Audio speaker 300. The lower register instrumentation is offered some included splendor and also depth, but the higher register brass, strings, as well as vocals have an intense presence that keeps things well balanced, in spite of the increasing and also shaping taking place in the highs and also lows.
Normally speaking, the Home Speaker 300's most remarkable sound feat is its capability to the job at a high quantity-- this portable audio speaker seems much larger than it is. It might not load the bass strike, but it absolutely supplies the richness and power of a larger design.
Final thoughts
The Bose Residence Speaker 300 is a strong smart speaker, and also a much better value than the larger 500 version. It supplies an effective mono output and also ought to easily fill up most areas with clear, remarkably bass-strong sound. Like numerous Bose products, it's priced on the high side, and also the Sonos One remains our Editors' Choice for delivering similar sound high quality and also the capability for $60 much less. If you're searching for something more effective (and want to boost your spending plan accordingly), the Google Home Max and the Marshall Stanmore II Voice are, in several means, the remedy to the small, rounded, mono clever audio speakers we're seeing lots of nowadays.
Comments