Bose SoundLink Revolve+

LIGHT THE WAY TO GREAT SOUND WITH THIS OMNIDIRECTIONAL SOUND LANTERN.

THERE’S BEEN A shift in Bluetooth speaker trends recently, with many models moving towards a 360° design that aims to project sound uniformly in all directions. Designing a genuinely omnidirectional speaker is a more complicated engineering feat than the traditional directed stereo system, however, and vendors’ efforts don’t always pay off. The main difficulty is that increasing a sound’s projection angle will reduce the volume at any given point, meaning the system will either need a bigger speaker to produce the same sound, or you’ll have to sacrifice on overall volume.

Bose has chosen to risk the 360º route with its new SoundLink Revolve and SoundLink Revolve+ speakers. The bigger of the two speakers, the Revolve+, is the one we’ve tested here, and although it shares the same omnidirectional acoustic deflector system as its more compact sibling, that’s powered by a bigger downward-firing 3.6-inch full-range driver, longer bassy radiators, a more generous battery — plus a lantern like handle on top to make it easier to carry (or hang, if you wish).

Those internal improvements combine to make this a louder and warmer unit overall, and when comparing the Revolve+ to other brands’ similarly-sized Bluetooth speakers, this lantern design really shines with clean and precise mids and highs and some of the warmest, full bodied bass tones we’ve heard on a Bluetooth unit of this size.

The powdery black or grey aluminium body, durable rubber trimmings, tripod mount connection and IPX4 splash-proofing makes it stylish and durable enough to handle outdoor parties, and the Bluetooth connection, NFC pairing and adjoining app add ample functionality and tweakability.

Yes, the Bose SoundLink Revolve+ is pricey, but for its size, it’s also the loudest and best sounding omnidirectional Bluetooth speaker we’ve come across.