Bose has introduced the latest member of its SoundLink family of Bluetooth speakers and headphones, the $149 SoundLink Flex. It’s available starting October 13 at Bose.com and other retailers in three colors: Black, white, or blue.
The SoundLink Flex’s IP67 rating for water and dust resistance makes it a pretty good pool and beach companion, and should it actually go for a kerplunk, it will float back to the surface of the water so you don’t need to grab a mask and snorkel to retrieve it.
But the feature that sets the SoundLink Flex apart from the huge assortment of portable Bluetooth speakers out there is Bose’s claim that it’s the first Bluetooth speaker to know which way it’s oriented, enabling it to adjust its sound accordingly. Bose calls this “PositionIQ,” and it can sense whether the SoundLink Flex is sitting upright on a countertop, lying on its back, or hanging from its built-in fabric loop.
Its battery will last a claimed 12 hours per charge, and it uses the USB-C format for charging. The SoundLink Flex can be stereo paired with a second SoundLink Flex — or any other Bose Bluetooth speaker — or you can connect multiple speakers to play the same content using Party Mode.
It also features Bose’s SimpleSync technology that lets it connect to any Bose soundbar or smart speaker for synchronous playback when at home. The speaker weighs just one pound and has a silicone rubber back panel and powder-coated steel grille to protect its internals from drops or bumps.
Bose also recently introduced the latest model in its QuietComfort series, the $329 QuietComfort 45 noise-canceling headphones, and also announced its first Dolby Atmos soundbar, the $899 Bose Smart Soundbar 900.
