Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have both. Here is my thoughts: 1. Appearance: SoundLink 3 has a old-timer classic look. The silver part of the box is paint sprayed mesh. the black parts around have a fine texture on it. The top is soft rubber. The whole thing feels like a old radio (in a good way) with a modern touch. I personally like it better than the jawbone box or UE style, which is way too future-ish young-kids looking. SoundLink 3 is also pretty heavy. Won't be a good choice to carry around. All in all, very solid build. SoundLine Mini reminds me the Iphone. It is a whole piece of Aluminum, as least looks like it. Also heavy for its size. but much more portable. 2. Sound quality: Low Volume: SoundLink3 sounds better than SoundLink2 hands down. When played at same low volume, soundLink3 is MUCH better than soundLink2 in my opinion. The sound is much more clear, vocal really stands out. the high pitch is better, but still not quite there. The mini actually sounds the best at low volume. SoundLink 3 has a "deeper/wider/thicker" sound than the mini, but some how the mini sounds more "clear" at low volume and my ear find it very pleasing. When I say low volume, I mean put it on my office desk. close the door and listen to it when working. High Volume: SoundLink 3 can get really loud. I can not bear how loud it gets when I crank it up. but I never liked loud music so keep that in mind. For my life, I will never need that much noise. But you may want it. when turn the volume up, SoundLink 3 start to sounds better than the Mini. I am impressed it can go quite loud without much distortion. I am not saying mini is not loud. To me, Mini is good enough for my medium size room, I don't even need to turn it up that much for it starts to feel too loud. I don't know why I would ever need SoundLink 3's loud volume. Unless I want to throw a pool party. Base: The base on the Mini is just amazing. I still can not believe how such a small thing can pump out that much base. Very good. The main complain I have about UE boom box and Jawbone is they do have better high but the base is just lacking. But that again is a personal preference. My friend loves his UE box and complains every time when he hear my mini saying "too much base no high." But I like the base a lot, the music is "fuller". My opinion, UE & Jawbone sounds tin-can-ish. I don't want that much high with no base. But again "sound better" is your feeling, so listen to them and make your own decision. SoundLink 3 has good base, too. also it can maintain a clear layer of sound with that base. the base is not as heavy flavored as the mini. At low volume, I think mini has a more noticeable base. At high volume, soundLink 3 start to catch up. Conclusion: 1. If you like full base like me, go for Bose, if you likes high pitch better UE boom may be better. it is cheaper than Mini, and has a microphone you can make call, also has a cool app. I totally don't care about those. I want better sound for music. 2. For bose, SoundLink 3 can get much louder than Mini and it sounds better at high volume. If you want loud music so your office mate next door can go complain to the boss, chose soundLink3. If you only need to fill a medium office/living room with clear music, go for mini. 3. don't forget mini is 100 less than SoundLink 3. For me, if I can only keep one, I will keep the mini, it is good for all my needs. But I will keep both, I may start a party in the hall way, you never know. --Update-- One more thing: Do you know that the Bluetooth devices you use to connect to those speaker make a difference? I used Samsung Note phone, Iphone, Ipad & Kindle HDX to test the same song on SoundLink3, they actually sounds different form each device. Which is very strange. Isn't this suppose to be digital? Anyway, They are obviously different to me. The best sound actually comes from my Kindle HDX, Ipad and Iphone are OK, Samsung note sounds the worst. So if you have more than one bluetooth device, try pair them all and find out if they really sound different or I am just crazy.