Just want to say thanks. Ordered a supposedly authentic BOSE on line, then stumbled on this vid while waiting for it to be delivered. Turned out it had all the indicators pointed out here for fakes. Contacted BOSE and confirmed the serial number was unavailable, and told that to the auction website. Got full refund and bought real BOSE direct from the company. Might not have gotten the best price, but am really happy with my speaker. So thanks again.
This comparison video is still inconclusive without a full teardown, comparing the construction of the drivers and passive radiators, plus the amplifier section. Differences will be subtle, but the benefits you get from those differences are why you're paying for the original Bose unit. If the drivers are cheaper (smaller magnets, less robust cones/suspensions), then the music won't have the same impact, and if the passive radiators are cheaper, then there may be more bass distortion from the replica. If the amplifier section is different, then the replica may not play as loud.
My original Bose Soundlink Mini is playing as well today as it did years ago when I purchased it. People are amazed when they look around for the stereo system and discover that what they are hearing is coming from the small speaker sitting on a shelf behind my bar. Fact is I have two of them and they were only $160 each at the time of purchased. These speakers are really great outside when you place them in the corner of the patio and the sound bounces off the walls.
I got my Bose Mini for $170 on craigslist from a dude said he had bought this one for his sister in law as a gift but then he changed his mind. After watching this video I'm feel relief because the one I got is the original one. Phew!
my bose speakers is still alive..will reach 4 years by May i think..it is as good as before..maybe just a minor issue like it will sometime take a minute to connect to bluetooth..other than that, i love it! worth the money you paid for
***** I recommend choosing a Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker .I've used. it's very good, i buy it on coupon links:-->> amzn.to/1Ihm3tk only $179.00 & FREE Shipping at home for you. -great sound -perfect size -holds a charge for a long period of time (no specifics, sorry) -easy to set up -feels rugged
Instead of buying fake Boses, go buy a JBL Charge 2 for the same price. Better sound than the Bose Soundlink Mini, can go louder, has the ability to serve as a spare battery to charge your smartphone, and probably has better build quality than the Bose clones.
they are both real Bose products. difference is - region of world (POWER SUPPLY, label Design) - factory rejects (sold for recycling, not meant for consumers) - model revisions/prototypes (outdated/improvements made...) you normally don't see these on the market, reselling scrapped/recycled products are illegal TM infringement. and they will not honor warranty on said Items (#s are recorded, and only from authorized retailer sales) they might offer 10% discount toward new purchase. many companies do this and try to insure it's recycled (FIXING it costs more than new Production)
I just bought one from Amazon (on offer) and it seems like it has higher treble / flatter bass than my friend's copy (which he bought from the Bose retail store). I wonder if Amazon are selling lower quality copies in the offer.
Ozzy same with me. i live in Croatia and i wanted to get one from amazon but my dad has a musical store for all kind of speakers guitars everything about sound and music. And he needed to order some Bose products so he ordered one Soundlink Mini 2 for me instead of me buying it off Amazon. Now i dont know if Bose products that are shipping to European countries are less quality, but my Bose speaker i think is alot quieter and has less bass than my friends one. Maybe thats just in my head cause i havent listened music on his speaker for a long time so i forgot how it actually sounds or maybe because i use S7 for connecting and he was using iPhone 7. i think you can turn up alot louder when playing off an iOS device than when you listen on an Android device
True, I got the logitech c920 on sale for 29 GBP, and it had scratch marks and video quality ain't that good, not even talking about auto-focus. At least the mic is pretty good when you turn down to 70%. But I got an AKG d5 so it's kind of useles :)) Still, like it tho.
Why the fuck would anyone buy the fake?!... It's like driving a fake Mercedes Benz. You can't afford the real Bose then go buy a JBL or something. Honestly people are so stupid sometimes mostly:-D
Haha, "go buy JBL or something". As if JBL wasn't a vastly superior brand of speakers than Bose... (I'm talking REAL speakers, not these puny, tinny BT boxes).
@Leavethe gun. Honestly people are stupid? Like buying the Bose Hype? For years, their spokesman was an 80 year old Paul Harvey. Bose will NOT show their speakers frequency responses, because they are not, accurate, detailed or efficient. Bloated sound, over eq'd small tweeders. I don't condone fraud, but, Bose is way overrated, and pricey. Don't compare Bose to a Mercedes, Mercedes will post their information on performance, not hide behind this illusion on how a human hears a live performance.
I recently purchased Bose mini sound Link 2 directly from Bose. Bose warned about counterfeits. I have the genuine article. Thanks for the video and honestly.
The original is made in Mexico, the fake one is made in China Look closely at the safety label as he peels off the rubber base... they sneakily changed the 'manufactured in' locations to Korea for the cells and China for the device, probably to cover their asses a bit.
Both are original, just a different version, they put one of them on sale to clear their inventory for the updated one, replica quality will never be close to the original, if they can make it that good then they should better make their own brand.
+day1971 incorrect, that left one is indeed a fake lol. the thing is it's not as reliable as the real one. you have a warranty and a brand that stands up to the price point of 200+ dollars. with the fake, you're pretty much fucked if something goes wrong. and authentic is always better quality.
Hey mayiandjay, thanks for this detailed description of a fake and original Bose SoundLink Mini. Honestly, I'm stunned the way it has been copied. Authorities must track down the manufacturer of the fake one and law enforcing agencies must nail him right away. I just hate such manufacturers! Luckily I had bought my SoundLink Mini in January this year from a Bose outlet here in New Delhi and since then I'm pretty much satisfied. Thanks once again for sharing this.
I bought the same clone in Thailand for about $15. And I also bought a JBL Charge 2 clone for $7. The JBL looks the same as original but lacks the bass and driver movement of the original. Either way, great video comparison!
richcera i work at target in electronics. Someone tried returning a discontinued bose product the other day. The guest service people don't know the difference of a bose product to an iLuv system. They call up electronics department to confirm. Trust me, we care very little about looking at tiny detail as the charging pins. Sometimes i barely glance at an item. Good idea on your half. I have friends at best buy, and they care less than i do.
*Great system .* *Its good for its small size, and surprisingly good for low end sound. Way better than the beats pill I returned .* >>>>>>Get it on: amzn.to/1gpqfvd
#Amazing sound and #Bluetooth connects immediately to my MAC. *Wish I had purchased long ago on: **amzn.to/1pGF11D** .* Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker
The top button panel: the text doesn't line up the same. The replica is more centered while the og is a little lower and the buttons are a little bit larger and the print on them are off too. From what I see in the video
I was also fully expecting the knockoff Bose SoundLink 3 to have the legendary Chinese female voice blasting "Zhe Blewchoos dewis iz reddy to pail. Zhe Blewchoos dewis iz connected-uh successfullay. Auxiliary motor. The radio motor. Music play motor. You have a car."
Royale with cheese you know the Chinese copied that's all they do because everything is built there they have the blue prints damn and I thought it was bad in America back from slavery when all those white dudes were stealing slave inventions
I have the mini Bose.. and the sound link 2 and they are amazing... If you want to know the battery level you only need to hold the power button pushed for 2-3 sec... And the power led it's going to light with the specific colour... Abd you can do this when it's on or off...
@@abeeftec Passive radiators are non-powered speaker drivers that act as a hybrid between a bass reflex port and a normal speaker driver. They are tuned to a certain frequency where they pretty much increase the amplitude of the rear waves of the powered speaker drivers. Essentially making the lower frequencies louder without having to add another speaker driver.
Well i dont like bose speaker but 1st - on the back it has passive radiator, i didn't seen any mini bluetooth speaker having separate bass speaker, an actual driver - not a passive radiator or something else, and 2nd author of video says that they sound the same, so why the heck pay 100 dollars to get a tiny bit of bass if they work and sound the same :)
Umm thats not a sub on the back, its a passive radiator i believe. Also, the bose soundlink mini lowers the volume to give preference to bass, so it has more bass, technically.
Danke! Gutes Video! Wenn mann erst einmal die Unterschiede kennt, ist es einfach aber eine wirklich gute Kopie. Mein Freund ist drauf reingefallen! Der Unterschied im direkten Vergleich ist gewaltig. Aber es fällt nicht jedem sofort auf wenn er nur die Kopie hört.
Amazons link for *Bose Soundlink Mini Speaker* www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_ss_tl?rh=i:aps,k:bose+soundlink+mini+speaker&keywords=bose+soundlink+mini+speaker&ie=UTF8&qid=1538622499&linkCode=ll2&tag=tegaco-20&linkId=01f05088b088cedb1a15b2f50dc70740&language=en_US
You can get The Bose Soundlink Mini so cheap in the US. In Europe, when I bought mine, it was almost EUR 200 :(. But anyway, great sound quality and battery durability.
+Pao Xiong If they do happen to open it and compare the serial number on the item and on the box, that's a serious federal crime (in the USA) just so you know.
The funny thing is that Bose uses cheap paper drivers and relies on acoustic chamber resonance and post-equalization to achieve their full sound. The clone likely has better drivers and doesn't need to rely so heavily on resonance and EQ, resulting in a much clearer sound.
Daily Hatred you are right ! It was worse.. And i have already given up on that speaker and now I have brought Zoook armor XL BT speaker.. I think it's better then bose! It have 30W output and it costs only 50$! Just Google or RU-vid it.
Well, Bose are anything but high quality products. They are built for cheap and sold for a premium. I wouldn't waste my money on anything Bose made, you can buy serious gear for less or equal amount of money.
Does anyone know what a a real subwoofer is? People keep talking about a subwoofer in these little crap speakers. Im just trying to say call it what it is, the back is a passive radiator and the front is a full range driver. A subwoofer should without issues be able to take you down to the 22Hz range. I wish people would stop wasting money on crappy speakers!
Tim Draper A subwoofer is like a loudspeaker that gives low bass frequencies in a certain way. A passive radiator is different, but with passive radiators the speaker(s) pulls air force into the fake driver making it move causing it to have a subwoofer sound quality or the like.
Maybe is just that Bose has it's manufacturing process in china as well but engineered elsewhere, which makes sense and it's the same with 98% of the market. Also, since we haven't seen if there are big differences in the components used, we cannot assume that it's a copy.
Maybe it's placebo, but I think the real one sounds a bit better. Although I think what's really being tested here is the quality of OP's camera mic, my internet connection, and my stereo rather than the actual sound quality of each unit.
I'd really much like a better sound quality comparison. Turning volume all way up is not a good comparison as the (original) Mini distorts quite noticeably when volume nears the top. Don't get me wrong it's loud enough for most listening situations even above normal casual listening levels but pushing it it's not build for. It has that extra room to be able to have acceptable level on silent recordings but it's not build as a party machine for more than two or so. Also if taking the replica apart I wonder how close they've gone. How close a replica are the passive radiators - are they just as soft suspended, equal travel length etc. The same for the drivers are they equally soft suspended and do they have just as long travel as the original (the original at the time of introduction had double the travel of any other driver) and do they have large powerfull magnets (very important for both efficiency and sound quality) etc. One thing I don't believe they've copied is the DSP (digital sound processor). It's a very important part of the reason the original has such exceptional bassfor it's size. In other words it alters the signal to the drivers to compensate for the caracteristics of small units. For a driver to deliver significant amount of bass below it's resonant frequency it has to be boosted (yes I simplify it a bit I know) and as small drivers naturally has higher resonant frequency they don't go as low - even though they might have the travel to be able to move the required amount of air for the given volume. The copy could come a long way with just a simple equalizer (even an analogue one between D/A and amplifier chip) but things get complicated if you want to be able to turn up the volume without heavy distortion and you'd still miss the last bit of sound quality. Could be fun taking an original taking it apart and feed the signal from the electronics to a pair of larger hifi speakers instead of the original drivers. It'll sound bassy beyond belief as those speakers naturally better reproduce bass without any active compensation and I believe it may even sound wierd too depending on how heavy processing they've done. A passive radiator is actually very distorting (you just don't notice it that much in those frequencies) so they might even do some compensation the that too. Doing the same with the electronics from just about any other bluetooth speaker will result in very good natural sound as they don't do any DSP but merely basic amplification - compared to the original drivers - remember being bluetooth especially non apt-X and quality of D/A converter and onboard amplifier are still limiting factors.
I just bought one off ebay where the seller is located in China. It was $42 with free shipping. Item description says "open box" but when I messaged the seller about a possible fake they responded saying it's a "refurbished" model. I'm skeptical to proceed with the purchase