Our major issue is the bass. The SoundTouch 20 is capable of diving right down to the depths, but the sound isn’t balanced. Both the Sonos and Bose SoundTouch speakers allow you to send music wirelessly, though they work a little differently.

Scale, power and volume distinguish the SoundTouch 20 from its little brother, the SoundTouch 10, and they are more than decent for its price and size. A tiny tab on the right leads you to the options, where you can browse for music. You can also add extra SoundTouch devices for a multi-room system.The Sonos App will allow you to set up and manage new speakers as you expand your system. If you are using an iOS device, you can use Sonos Trueplay (which is built in to the iOS app) and it will use your device's microphone to calibrate your speakers for optimum performance in whatever room you set up your Sonos. Keep in mind, though, Trueplay is only available on iPhone and iPad. It's important to know the free versions of services (like spotify, Google Play Music, etc.) will not work with the apps on either systems, so if you're planning on getting the best experience from your streaming services, you should be prepared to upgrade to the premium versions. A workaround for the Bose system is to stream via Bluetooth from the streaming app of your choice; however, this means you won't be logged in through the speaker's controller app, so you may only be able to stream on one speaker at a time. With the exception of Trueplay, the Sonos and Bose app experience are pretty similar. One important difference between the apps is the integrated services each system supports. Supported Services

Have a library of your favorite albums and artists? Connect your laptop or NAS drive to have access to your stored music libraries.

Bose SoundTouch 20 - Pros & Cons

Ask Alexa to control your SoundTouch system. Be sure to use the name you gave your system in the SoundTouch app. For example, if you named your system “Kitchen,” try these commands: When you set up your first Sonos speaker, it will use your home's Wi-Fi to create its own, dedicated wireless network called SonosNet. This wireless system exists outside of your home's Wi-Fi and is the primary method your Sonos system will use to communicate with other speakers in the system and to stream music. SonosNet will reduce congestion on your home Wi-Fi, and will allow you to easily add additional speakers, making it simple to expand your home audio system. Play the same music throughout your home with “Play Everywhere,” or listen to different music in different areas, it’s up to you. The SoundTouch® app lets you control one or multiple SoundTouch® speakers in your home, from any room. Personalize your home with “living” presets like Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” or Pandora’s “Thumbprint Radio.” Always have a fresh list of favorites a touch away, without having to even find your phone. Content comes from whatever device you’re using for control, or from networked computers. Web-based streaming is limited to Pandora and internet radio stations.

The audio performance is good, but not amazing. Sound is clear and volume is never an issue, going louder than you’d ever need it to without hardening. There’s still room for improvement in the sonic and streaming service department, but right now it shapes up to be a good value option for those who are after the whole works. Whether you want to play music from your computer, smartphone, or tablet, either streamed from the Internet or your own collection of songs, the Bose SoundTouch app is there to serve as the friendly but strict gatekeeper. The free software for PC, Mac, Android, and iOS controls and programs the SoundTouch 20 and any other SoundTouch speakers you want to use. And AirPlay works too—if it's on and connected, it will be available both through the SoundTouch app and through iOS and iTunes as an AirPlay device. The alternative is to use AirPlay, which is in your computer’s iTunes or on iOS devices. There’s no Bluetooth, so Android users should be wary.

Once connected, the SoundTouch software is basic across all platforms, but easy to navigate. The default-screen is the same six numbers that you find on the main unit. The Bose SoundTouch 20 is a mixed bag. We like the idea of preset buttons, and being able to play our networked library with relative ease. The Bose SoundTouch 20 adds additional features over the entry-level SoundTouch 10 while still offering exceptional, room-filling, audio. The design of the SoundTouch 20's speaker casing naturally produces punchy bass balanced through the high and midrange frequencies pushing through the SoundTouch's transducers. This means you end up hearing clean bass and warm high and mid-range frequencies. Both Sonos and Bose make superior audio products. The wireless speakers in the Sonos family and the Bose SoundTouch lineup will give you great performance and will be easy to build a whole-home audio system from. The main difference comes in the app experience, and specifically, the way the apps integrate paid music streaming services. Sonos has a much larger offering of supported platforms to stream music through their app. Bose only has a handful currently, however, you can access internet radio stations right from the speaker after you've configured the speaker's preset buttons, which could be appealing to some users.

It looks fine on a phone (the control app is free on iOS and Android), but it’s a poor use of space on larger screens. Experience your favorite music from one or many SoundTouch® speakers, with the SoundTouch® app. SoundTouch® is a family of wireless speakers for your home that play the same music throughout, or different music in different rooms. These presets offers instant access to your favorite music without needing your smartphone,tablet, or computer on-hand. It's an incredibly handy and simple feature that combines the ideas of a multi-room audio system with a dedicated Internet radio device. Unfortunately, you can't set any of your favorite playlists from other streaming music services like Spotify if it's not available on the app.It’s a comfortable listen – insightful and clean – and while it may favour a club beat, doesn’t turn its nose up to the more folksy sound of a man and his guitar. In theory, you can plug in an iOS device or computer and just transfer your current settings over, but this didn’t work for us. If you're planning on managing your streaming music through paid services like Apple Music and Spotify, then the Sonos family of speakers offer the best support. Which is right for you? We have reservations about the sound, however, and the limitations with compatibility are hard to swallow. Proceed with caution. To set up the SoundTouch 20, you need to plug it into your computer through the included micro USB cable and run the SoundTouch app. It's an incredibly simple process that walked me through configuring the speaker to access my Wi-Fi network, registering my iTunes library, and setting up my Pandora account. It was painless, but there was no option to set up the SoundTouch 20 wirelessly with my iPad.