Bose Soundlink Flex SE vs Marshall Emberton, Sound test and Opinion: use headphones 🎧 

Ur review means so much to people like me, thorned between which to purchase between emberton and flex.. your review is more comprehensive

An awesome guy doing awesome review. I already have Emberton but planning to buy Bose as well after watching the video

Scott, great job as always. I always appreciate the extra production efforts you take, to provide a solid comparison and review.

Smart Simple. Direct practical opinion review. Used general terminology. I like the way this review was done. Made my purchase alot easier! Thanks man!

Marshall Age 50, from India. Most neutral and beautiful review. Most of the reviewers generally impose their own judgment as best one. Your review is out of the box. Thank you for this.

Beautiful review, great sound recordings when listening via headphones, and thank you so much for auditioning some decent music ! Hard to pick between them, both are great units for their price and portability, so it comes down to taste and the individual. I do like the classic look of the Marshall, on the other hand the smooth edges of the Bose makes it somewhat more robust/portable… I’d be very happy with either. I have the Bose Soundlink mini 1, which is superbly sounding/portable for my needs, and I also have the B&O Beolit 20 which gets a continuous 2 hour workout at 100% volume every single week with my dance group.

very good analysis i wouldnt discard adding the statistics on a 2nd video based on age and music genre with some popular examples

was listening to soundlink flex, emberton 2 and flip 6. I do agree emberton at certain songs do give a more immersive feeling with songs of more instruments, but my ears just feels fatigued because of the treble i think? Soundlink flex gives a more natural sound and much better clarity and oh with a better bass. I went with the soundlink flex, hope i made the right purchase!

This review really helped me make the right choice. Enjoyed your review.

Scott, thank you for the great review! It gave me all the details I needed to decide between these two. Definitely Marshall for me! I listen mostly to Jazz with some Classical, and I am 60 :)

Excellent & exactly - nailed it!

This is by far the best comparison video I’ve seen yet. First, the mic/recording is of very high quality. Second, the songs were a good mix of different styles. Third, he actually played the same parts of each song on both speakers. I can’t tell you how many ones I listened to they just jump to the other speaker at a different point in the song so it’s hard to truly determine how each speaker is handling each nuance in a song. And I agree with his analysis. I can definitely see this being a generational thing. I’m 47 and will be listening mostly to rock, jazz, r&b, instrumental, and some pop. These two are my decided choices and was struggling to make a decision. I was leaning towards the Marshall, but at my work we have an extensive merchandise catalog to shop with earned points and the Bose went on a crazy good sale to where I had enough points. The Emberton was quite a bit more…881 vs 605. So I’ve ordered the Bose. In my RU-vid listening journey I found the Bose does everything well where some songs do fall very flat with the Emberton.

I appreciate that you take into consideration that different genres will sound differently on the two speakers.

Thanks so much for demoing some acoustic music and natural vocals in addition to more modern styles, and for doing a high quality recording! Most reviewers just play some crappy house music and record with their smartphone mic, so you don't get any idea of how the speakers actually perform. I'm still surprised how similar those two are. Both sounded pretty good, better than many, but not mindblowing either. I slightly preferred the Marshall for its richer mids, but the treble was a bit better on the Bose, giving the vocals some more air. I'd consider both of them, and I'd also be interested in how they compare to the EarFun Uboom L and the B&O Beosound A1. I had its predecessor, the Beoplay A1, and I was very impressed by its sound. But I gave it away, and now I'm looking for a speaker again.

Helpful Thank you👍

wow, very good comparison. They are both excelent boxes meant for different public

Best comparison video Ive seen for these two speakers. I definitely listen to more pop and R&B music and I just ordered the Bose. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! 👏🏼 great video!

There you go, I watched several videos from speaker testers, and you are the first to point out that the choice depends on the style of music you listen to.

The Marshall Emberton is a stereo speaker compared to the Flex which is mono. The only flaw on the Emberton is that the right channel is in the rear and the left channel is in the front. But the Emberton is amazing, and you can find it on clearance at many places now because the Emberton II is now out, which sound wise is the same with just some new features.

Thanks you for your review. I hope you can review the new marshall middleton vs bose flex.

Great review thnx man

The emberton is for indoor outdoor near your house, the flex even you can use it indoor too, it it more useful in outdoor while walking, jogging, hiking or in the beach to carry anywhere, while listening to your favorite musics. But i like it both.

Hi man! Can You Tell me if the Soundlink Flex SE has IP67 ? ... It's just that i don't find any features for that especific model

Wondering if mic on flex also works as smart speaker like asking airi something. Or does the phone speaker take over?

Gen Xer here - Great comparison! Tough choice, I have historically preferred boosted highs and lows (the famous "smile" EQ) but I'm training my ear to appreciate more mids. Based on your samples, I think the Bose is just too scooped in the mids. Even though the Marshall lacked some crispness in the highs slightly, I preferred the more flat tone.

From what I understand the SoundLink without SE can also be a speaker phone? Is that correct? That's a big difference in my purchase potential

I listen to almost every genre of music. I think they both sound great from what I can tell in my headphones. Both are $130 currently in my area. Im torn haha. It may just come down to looks (Marshall wins hands down). Excellent review!

55 year old coming from 14 year old Sharkk Boombox that fit my sound preference , I found replacing with new bt speaker very difficult. I tried Anker Motion + , Soundcore Upgraded Boom , Soundcore 3 , JBL flip & Charge 5. All failed to provide full balanced sound way over bassed for my lisenting - 70s , 80s & 90s. Classic Rock/Rock/Metal/soft rock/ Alternative. Marshall Emberton 2 was only speaker that made such music truly work. Solid base , strong mids/highs. Everything comes together making full balanced sound excellent listening experience. Expensive buy but worth it. I Would of tried Bose flex if it had better bt connection & battery life. Bose @ 75% volume provides 5-6 hour play time with sporadic bt4.3 connection. It all sucks

Marshall has a warmer more analogue sound. The Bose has a crisper and clearer sound more digital sound.

I preferred the timbre on the Emberton, I turned 34 yesterday.

Definitely Marshall suits my ears more! All thanks to your wonderful video. I am 25 yo

Both good; yeah, the Marshall has an older school sound with deeper bass, and the dynamics are really good for string sounds. The Bose has a much bigger and wider soundstage, is smoother and arguably more musical. It’s a matter of taste, which one you might like better they’re both at the top of the heap

Great Review! I bought both the Bose Flex and the 1st gen Marshall Emberton right around the beginning of December 2022. I didn't intend to by the Emberton but it was on a great Black Friday sale that I could not pass up. I figured if I didn't like the sound quality, I could return the Emberton, but after a few minutes, I realized that I was keeping both of them. It's a tough call to say which one I like best, or which one sounds better. I listen to a lot of classical, besides rock, pop, blues, jazz. Classical overall sounds better on the Flex, it just carries it over better. For the other types of music, the Emberton is preferable a lot of times. The one thing that is frustrating about the Emberton - if you are listening to a portion of a song that is quieter, or doesn't have a lot of instruments playing or no vocals, you have to crank up the volume on the Emberton to get the music to carry over the speaker adequately. And then when there are louder passages with more instruments, added percussion or even vocals added, then you have to turn the volume down, because it's too loud. I don't have this issue with the Flex, the Flex seems to produce the quieter and louder portions of music more consistently and evenly. On the other hand, The Emberton sounds better with a lot of rock, pop, Jazz and blues. But sometimes the Emberton also crosses over and a lot of piano, guitar, and instrument solos sound better on it. Both are great choices, and just for reference, I am slightly over half a century old.

I have 1 normal Flex and Im very happy with it. Im an adult. I haven’t heard any Emberton IRL

me for bose but loves emberton got em both

Try the Anker Soundcore Motion Boom! They Sound Amazing! Great Review I use BT speakers all the time!

Does bose bluetooth 4.2 matters anywhere???

I’m in the older side and bought flip 6 and a Marshall, in my opinion the Emberton ll sounds more clear than the flip. I’m also gonna try it against the Bose and then decide which one to keep

Good day. I understand that everyone has a different sense of sound, but still, which is better, whose sound is closer to the original, without exaggerated bass or highs, balanced - emberton2 or bang & olufsen beosound explore or bose flex? It was not possible to listen to marshall and bose at the same time, and in general to listen to bang & olufsen, my feeling is that the flex plays better than the flip6. Or Sony better? Which?

thanx

The Marshall sound more analogue, the first track sounded like a studio monitor is was so crisp, it’s a really great speaker. Personally I prefer the digital wider and more atmospheric sound of the Bose and it makes jazz sound amazing. Also when I go analogue, I rock out my hifi and turntable. I’m in my 40s

I am 70 years old got to go with the Bose, not feeling the Marshall Jazz is my thing 🎵🎶🎼🎹

Emberton sounds more lively

I have the marshall it good it better replicate music than jbl. I heard bose is Cleaner sound. marshall is what I think is better I am 40. that said I am going to buy bose flex cause they can be link together.

It's the Bose all day... not even a contest in the sound quality area...

Listening to both speakers on your video, I agree with your conclusions. The Bose is 'brighter' in my mind. And less pleasing. I was about to purchase the Bose before watching/listening to your video. Great job!

Bose. 💯

Among them which one is better for watching movies, Please tell me. Clarity is my preference.

Fair enough. But let's say someone is gifting you a Bose flex or Bose revolve 2. Then which would you pick?

Bose all the way beats any other brand for this size and catagory

What is different about the normal Flex and the Flex SE?

The buttons on top of the Bose are rubber .

Hi Scott now Emberton is at $ 90 and bose is at $100, which one should buy

I found the mids lacking in the Bose so I would choose marshall. I'm in my 50's 🙂

Ugh I freaking hate when there's people spreading rumours that flex se sounds worse than flex... Now when I bought it I also didn't know that I bought I worse speaker... I was fine not having mic, but I would be pretty upset if the sound was also different.

If you love listening 80's songs..go for marshall 😊

❤Worth it bose

Emberton's bass is sharp!

for me i agree to bose

bose sounds wider

Emberton won the clarity & a little bit lack of bass...

Bose sounds clearer

Marshall 👍👍👍

your opinion same like me..that mean i am old already🤣

Sell either one and get a Zeppelin Air Wireless if you're that bothered about sound quality.

Marshal looks like a dated speaker design bulky and very old fashioned

The first sound test liked the Marshall ..the rest, I preferred the Bose...I tested the large Marshall (shoebox size)..& thought it ran second to my large Bose (same size)...( I see you like to manipulate women) 😅😅😅

bose has better sound somehow.

U just showed a refurbished speaker at reduced price what gives??? What’s SE?? I thought it was just SOUNDLINK FLEX??

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