Sound QualityThe Bose Portable Home has overall very good sound quality. Bass has good impact but is a bit boomy and prominent and doesn't go deep. Midrange is a bit thin, etched, "metallic" sounding and slightly grainy. Treble is fairly extended but is bit smeared, sizzly and prominent. Does a decent job of recovering room ambience and is a bit congested. No significant difference between WiFi and Bluetooth sound quality. Provide adequate listening volume for a medium to large sized room.
Versatility
Versatility is good. It's a stereo speaker, That has multi-room support. Digital Assistants: Supports either Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. Wireless: WiFi supports dual-band and this unit has Bluetooth but lacks wireless output to another speaker and speakerphone functionality. Communications: Amazon Alexa - Lacks support for calling, texting and messaging on this unit; Google Assistant - Has support for calling but lacks for texting and messaging on this unit. Digital Assistant Muting: Has a dedicated button to disable the digital assistant by muting its microphones. Audio Connections: Lacks an analog audio input. Audio Tailoring: Has user adjustable treble and bass controls. OS Support: Android and iOS. Portable: Has a built-in rechargeable battery for portable use. Other connections and features: Lacks a USB device port. Display: Lacks a display. Streaming by voice command: Supports voice command of many common streaming services such as Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Tune-In and iHeart Radio. Voice ID: Amazon Alexa: No, but can be setup with an Amazon device only in the account then carries over to non-Amazon device. Google Assistant: Yes, supports voice identity.
Ease of Use
Overall ease of use of the Bose Portable Home is very good. Wireless setup: Setup requires an app downloaded to a device or device connection, easy and intuitive - need instructions (may be included in app), may or may not involve inputting WiFi network password, and account setups. Console controls: Volume control has a non persistent graphical position marking and has a index "marking" via verbal command and acknowledgement. Lacks volume control label or symbol but some other markings suggest (+/-) that it is a volume control. Audio mute: Well marked, well placed, clear indication when it is engaged and mutes the line input. Microphone mute: Well marked, well placed, clear indication when it is engaged. Source selections: Requires app to be installed, app installation is straight forward. Once app is installed switching between inputs is fairly intuitive. App remote: Volume control has graphical position marking but lacks specific index markings. Volume control is well marked, but not prominent due to position. Mute: (app remote) Dedicated control but the marking is not the most obvious, clear indication when it is engaged and mutes line in if it exists. Voice transport controls: Natural language control of transport (Play/Pause/Skip/Mute), volume controls and source selection was easy and intuitive.
