Bose has a well-known range of SoundLink speakers of different types and sizes. Now, here’s a twist to add to the lineup. The Bluetooth SoundLink Revolve is a six-inch cylindrical pod of a speaker that fires in all directions. No matter where you are in the room, you’ll hear it. Put it close to a wall for some sound to bounce off or just tuck it away somewhere and even plant it in the middle of a gathering and you can be assured of pleasant and good quality sound.
The ₹19,900 Revolve may look small but it’s heavy, assuring you that there’s plenty of technology inside to drive the music. It isn’t booming, it isn’t pounding and thrumming with bass — it’s just the clean balanced sound Bose listeners will know.
A larger version of this product, the Revolve + is 7.5 inches tall and gives you bigger and better sound, obviously, but at ₹24,500 costs more as well; so take your pick depending on your needs. Bose is actually demonstrating what it’s like to buy two of either of these and getting stereo sound as well as filling a room with a larger sound.
Put it down anywhere
The Revolve speaker is special in many ways. It’s a good looking device, especially the grey lux version. It has a design that belongs definitely in current times. It looks like one of those smart home products, really, and will look perfectly nice wherever you put it. While the Revolve is portable, it isn’t one of those products you sling over your shoulder or slip into a bag and go listen on the metro or anything. It’s portable in the sense that you can pick it up and take it from one room to another or outdoors and put it down to add some music to whatever you’re doing. The Revolve+ has a handle — which should have been the case for its smaller version too, but isn’t. When I had it playing and visitors came in, the speaker immediately attracted curious attention both for how it looked and how nice a little thing like that could sound. On the bottom of the speaker is a threaded connector to allow it to be mounted on a stand or tripod — if you’d care to accessorise it.
Bump and splash proof
As you move it , you don’t have to handle it too gingerly because the speaker is actually kind of bump-proof and can easily take a tumble or two. It’s also splash resistant so you can plant it by the side of the pool (not inside) and even spill water on it. The touch controls on top don’t get affected and nor does the solid body of the speaker.
The top of the speaker is made up of a soft synthetic material and houses buttons for power, pairing, taking calls, volume and changing the playback source from aux to USB. You can also trigger Siri or the Google Assistant. Siri can change tracks and take other music related commands. I didn’t find phone calls particularly clear: the volume at my end was low and my voice was described as being ‘clipped at the edges’ by my caller.
One of the nicest things is that you get voice confirmation when you press the buttons, including the percentage of battery remaining. The battery lasts about 12 hours and you can plug in and play it while it’s charging, in any case.
Two to tango
If you can pick up more than one of these speakers, you can put them in different places for a stereo effect and for more room-filling sound. As a single speaker though, the smaller Revolve is really a personal listening device rather than something to have a big party with. The emphasis is on clean and balanced sound, which you can take the time to enjoy rather than thumping loud music for a party where people just want sheer volume and are not quite, at that moment, appreciating sound quality. If you’re thinking of general listening and perhaps a party, the Revolve+ is the better of the two options, especially a pair. It’s to connect more than one speaker that the Bose Connect app comes into use but one can’t help wish it had more functions.
All said and done, I really like the Revolve for its excellent sound quality. High frequency sounds sparkle. Mids and highs sound very rich and pleasing and the bass is realistic and well-rounded rather than being artificially boosted. If you don’t want to close yourself into big headphones and yet listen to music for sheer enjoyment, this is a good product. It adds rather than overwhelms. The Revolve+ is much louder and has far deeper prominent bass though I must say I expected it to be much larger than the regular Revolve.
Price: ₹19,900 (Revolve) & ₹24,500 (Revolve+)
Pros: Excellent sound quality, water resistant, sturdy and bump proof, great build and good looks, good battery life
Cons: Slightly pricey, no carrying handle for the smaller version, phone calls not very clear
(The article first appeared in The Hindu BusinessLine.)