This review turned out to be tougher than I expected since I was expecting the Big Jambox to easily come out on top but the Soundlink put up a pretty good fight. Both speakers are similar in that they are compact and very portable, run on rechargeable battery and connect to your music player wirelessly using bluetooth.
From the two speakers right off the bat I’ll say the Big Jambox is the better sounding of the two. There is no question about that. I played a variety of music ranging from Mumford & Sons and Zulu Winter to 16 Bit Lolita’s and Guy J when testing the speakers out. Switching between the two speaker was very easy using the iPhone and so I was easily able to compare the same songs on both speakers. In each and every case the Big Jambox topped the Soundlink when it came to the sound quality. The Jambox always sounded richer, had deeper lows as well as clearer highs. To top it off the Jambox could also go a lot louder than the Soundlink.
So you’d think there was a clear winner here but there isn’t. The thing is although the Big Jambox did sound better than the Soundlink the difference isn’t that dramatic in most cases. Because I was switching from one speaker to another instantly I was clearly able to distinguish the differences but if I had heard the two speakers on different days for example it would be a lot more difficult to distinguish the differences.
What I think clearly separates the two really depends on what you’re planning to use the speaker for. A friend of mine was looking for a speaker to take when traveling and use in hotel rooms, the Bose Soundlink would be the one to recommend in this case because although slightly taller its lighter and more compact so will fit easier into a suitcase. On the other hand if you have a gathering and want a portable speaker you could move out onto the balcony or onto the beach than the Big Jambox is the one I’d go for.
Design wise I personally prefer the colorful and chunky Big Jambox over the Soundlink. It comes in a variety of colors and it just looks funkier than the classier and more conservative looking Soundlink. The Soundlink has a 6 hour battery life while the Jambox has an astounding 15 which is why I’m guessing the Jambox is much heavier. Both speakers are selling for the same price of KD99 here in Kuwait.
So which one is better? Sound and design wise the Big Jambox is the clear winner for me. But the Soundlink does sounds pretty good as well and comes in a more compact and lighter package. For my needs though, I’d go with the Big Jambox.
Jawbone Big Jambox is available at Blink [Here]
Bose Soundlink is available at Xcite [Here]
9 replies on “Review: Bose Soundlink vs Jawbone Big Jambox”
the only problem with my big jambox is that after a while you’ll get dents in the metal mesh and the paint starts to chip off. other than that its great
Why no Pink Background???? I demand the picture to be changed …lol….
Red doesn’t go with magenta so shot it in front of a blue backdrop 🙂
Yhaaaaaaaa I knew it…=) told you Mark
I would travel with SMALL JAMBOX dough, it is much smaller and gives perfect sound for a hotel room or beach outing. Unless you want to get kicked out for disturbing. =)
How would you compare it to the pricier B&O Beo 8?
You can’t since they don’t directly compete. The Beo 8 costs like 4 times more, is much much larger and doesn’t run on batteries. The Beo 8 sound wise also blows these two out of the water but again it’s because they’re different products.
Something that you could somewhat compare these 2 to, would possibly be the Creative D100! It’s brilliant at what it does, and is definitely louder than the soundlink atleast, since that’s the only thing I’ve compared it to! Creative is known for their quality in sound as well (not dissing Bose) so that isn’t something that you’d be sacrificing on! Same features as both the above, only diff being it’s a wee bit bigger than the 2! Best factor is the price; it’s 1/4 the price of either! Bought it from Xcite, used it for my travels, and still loving it! Uses batteries as well as an adaptor, and we never changed the batteries since the beginning of the trip (10 days), but we did use the adaptor as well! I’d give it 4 days for only battery usage, but the little beast is still howlin’!
Just some additional food for thought. A good review, but it leaves out one of the biggest reasons I went for the Jambox. Feature comparison and bang for the buck. The Jambox also gives you a 3D simulation which is excellent, and when paired with a phone can become a speakerphone.. Additionally, there is a lot of additional application material available on the Jawbone Jambox site, which gives additional customization. Not knocking the Bose, but is pretty mono functional, while the Jambox does its thing and a whole lot more.
what is with everyone saying the Jawbone looks better? I think it looks awkward and irritating. Also, I compared the sound with the two and could not tell much difference except the jawbone gets louder, but with the (little) extra volume comes a flat tone. I personally think the Bose looks classy, the cheeky look of the Jawbone will fade really fast…