When the SoundLink Flex speaker launched, Bose made some bold claims about its new Bluetooth speaker, particularly its bass performance. But it mostly lived up to the hype and is arguably the best-sounding wireless speaker for its compact size. A second-gen model quietly arrived in October 2024 that adds a few new features, including a new customizable shortcut button, Bose app compatibility (you can now tweak the sound profile with an equalizer and create a SimpleSync connection with another compatible Bose product) and support for the AAC and AptX audio codecs. It’s also equipped with Bluetooth 5.3 instead of Bluetooth 4.2. While those aren’t major upgrades, they do make an excellent portable Bluetooth speaker slightly better.

The second-gen SoundLink Flex is available in black, blue dusk, sandstone and a new alpine sage color. Like the original, it’s equipped with Bose’s PositionIQ technology to automatically detect the speaker’s orientation and deliver optimized sound based on whether it’s upright, hanging or flat on its back.