Bose Soundlink Mini: spot the fakes

Bose is an American electronics company known for the quality, design and innovative technologies found in its products. In particular, it is considered one of the best brands on the market in terms of quality Bluetooth speakers. However, this strong reputation is attracting the attention of counterfeiters, who are starting to design counterfeit products with the aim of trapping Bose aficionados.

Bose Soundlink Mini knock-offs are generally very well made by counterfeiters. However, there are still a few small details that will enable you to recognise them.

Step 1: The Bose logo

As the packaging is remarkably well reproduced by counterfeiters, let's go straight to the logo on your connected speaker. Look at the alignment of the "BOSE" logo on the front of your speaker. You'll see that compared to a real Bose speaker, on a counterfeit Bose, the logo isn't properly aligned. This is something that would never happen on a genuine Bose speaker. Also look at the quality of the Bose logo printing - it's obviously far better on genuine Bose speakers.

On the left, a counterfeit Bose, on the right, a genuine Bose loudspeaker.

Step 2: The connectors

Next, check the connectors on the charging cradle supplied with your Bluetooth speaker. The connectors on genuine Bose Soundlink Mini speakers are spring-loaded, while fake Bose Soundlink Mini speakers are rigid. Just touch them to find out.

On the left, a fake Bose loudspeaker, on the right a real Bose loudspeaker

Next, check the other connectors on the charging cradle. They should be flat and not recessed into the charging cradle of your connected speaker.

On the left, a real Bose loudspeaker, on the right, a Bose counterfeit.

Step 3: Your speaker grille

Let's move on to the speaker grille. At this stage, you need to check the quality of the rubber around the grille of your connected speaker. This is another reason why the price of the Bose speaker is justified. It uses top-of-the-range, quality materials. On Bose Soundlink Mini knock-offs, not only are the materials used to make the speaker grille of mediocre quality, but they're also not uniform. Keep your eyes peeled.

Here's where you need to look, observe the irregularity of the rubber on the fake Bose speaker in the image on the right.

Step 4: The weight of your speaker

This is a tricky detail to analyse if you've never owned a genuine Bose connected speaker, or simply a weighing scale. But you should know that there is a difference in weight between a genuine Bose speaker and an imitation Bose. It's not huge, but the real Bose speaker is slightly heavier.

Stage 5: Printing

Check the quality of the printing on your Bluetooth speaker. On the front with the logo, but also at the bottom of your speaker, or when you remove the bottom cover, check the quality or simply that there are no printing errors. The printing is obviously of very good quality on real Bose speakers and is very easy to read compared to imitation Bose speakers.

On the left, a real Bose loudspeaker, on the right a Bose replica

On the left, a counterfeit Bose Soundlink Mini, on the right, a real Bose speaker. As you can see, the information is not listed in the same order. Some counterfeits have none at all. 

Step 6: The sound

This is a very important stage in your authenticity analysis, as it will confirm the first steps. The Bose brand is renowned not only for its design but also for its exceptional sound quality. Test your Bluetooth speaker and you'll know straight away whether it's a fake Bose speaker or a real Bose speaker thanks to the sound quality.

Buy your used Bose speaker with Obvy

When a brand has a certain reputation, counterfeiters start producing imitations in order to rip you off. This is the case with the Bose Soundlink Mini speaker. If you want to buy a second-hand connected speaker on a classified ad site, use Obvy to secure your transaction.

Our secure payment solution, designed to eradicate scams between private individuals, offers you a number of features that allow you to carry out a transaction with complete peace of mind. Not only can you trace your transaction, but if you realise that you have purchased a counterfeit, you can return the item to the seller and get your money back.

We've also written an article to help you spot counterfeit Bose QuietComfort headphones.