A few months ago I bought the Home Smart Speaker, what seems to be a cross between the 360 and the Sonos Move. I couldn’t bring myself to shell out for the Move, when I got the Bose speaker for £270 on offer.

I’m not an audiophile, but I know the difference between muddy (Echo Plus) and clear & deep (Bose). I cannot overstate how brilliant this speaker is indoors and out. I love the build quality, ease of connection, and the sound.

I’ve used this in the park at 50% volume, indoors at 75%, and it has rocked. The bass is solid, the response lively and the battery life incredible!! I love it. Everyone who hears it is amazed by the solid sound it produces. IMO it blows my Sonos Play:1 out of the water when you take into account how portable it is.

Alexa integration: brilliant. Google assistant: average. Google won’t play BBC radio stations, apparently there’s a known problem integrating with BBC Sounds. It works fine playing through the app but trying to ask Google to play BBC radio 6 comes up blank. No such issue when Alexa is the smart assistant of choice.

I have loved this speaker for the last 6 months. The battery life is my joy number 1, then sound quality, then build quality. It’s making me seriously consider a Bose equivalent of a Sonos Beam - more research required. Not being beholden to one ecosystem (Sonos/Alexa) has its drawbacks, sure, but for the price I’m not sure you can beat this speaker.