Bose launched its new range of portable Bluetooth speakers a while back. We received the SoundLink Revolve and Revolve+ for a test drive at the Review Central Labs. While there is no dearth of Bluetooth speakers out there on the market, when the name “Bose” is attached to anything, you expect top notch quality.
And the SoundLink Revolve and Revolve+ speakers deliver just that – brilliant audio performance in a portable package. The speakers’ cylindrical design is key to delivering its 360-degree sound. Bose has included a full-range driver firing downwards into a patented diffuser plate, inside the sturdy aluminium casing.
The driver aims to spread the sound out evenly in all directions, thus creating beautiful audio performance. The speakers also come with two passive radiators inside. These are responsible for reinforcing the lower frequencies and hence, they are placed opposite to each other to cancel out any vibrations.
The speakers feature rounded bottom and top, which are both made of rubber. The top has all the operational buttons moulded into it. These include on/off, Bluetooth, volume up, volume down, aux input and a multi-function control. The multifunction control can be used for play/pause or held down to connect with Siri or Google Assistant.
The speakers also come with a microphone for voice commands. You can also use the Revolve and Revolve+ speakers as a speakerphone. And Bose has not only used the rubber as a design cue. The rubber helps the Revolve and Revolve+ attain an IPX4 water-resistance rating.
The speakers are perfect for your day out at the beach or pool-side parties. The Revolve is compact enough to be carried around in a backpack. The Revolve+ is the bigger sibling and it might need a separate bag to carry around. Nevertheless, both the speakers are quite portable.
With the Revolve, you get around 12 hours of listening time, while the Revolve+ offers around 15 hours of non-stop music on a single charge. At the back of the speakers, you get the micro USB charging port and a 3.5mm jack which can be used to hook the speakers up to other music sources.
The free Bose Connect app is worth downloading for updates. The app also lets you check the speaker’s battery level and enabling Party Mode. The Party Mode lets you connect two Revolve speakers to play in tandem or as a stereo pair.
The Revolve and Revolve+ has memory for pairing with eight devices, which can be cycled through without having to go through the Bluetooth pairing procedure each time. This is done just by a short press of the Bluetooth button. You can also stereo-pair two Revolves or set them in a multiroom party mode, all playing the same music.
A quite unusual feature included with the speakers is the standard tripod thread included at the bottom of the speakers. The tripod thread allows you to pop your Revolve and Revolve+ off the ground on a tripod. This is a unique inclusion and we haven’t come across any Bluetooth speakers on the market that let you do that.
The sound quality from the Revolve and Revolve+ was awesome. It was detailed and spacious, with good release of the treble and upper mid-range. The vocals sounded more natural and less boxed in. Bass performance is also quite good, when compared with other Bluetooth speakers out there on the market.
The 360-degree sound is quite outstanding. Even at higher volume levels, the Revolve and Revolve+ maintain the brilliant sound quality, without sounding distorting. The Bose SoundLink Revolve and Revolve+ speakers are definitely one of the best looking speakers out there on the market. These speakers truly earn a recommended thumbs-up from us.
Price:
Bose SoundLink Revolve – AED 799
Bose SoundLink Revolve+ – AED 1,199
