Sonos under fire – Bluesound’s Flex speaker gets serious streaming smarts and a great new look

Bluesound's popular premium Bluetooth speaker gets a makeover inside and out

Bluesound Pulse Flex speaker in black on a bookshelf
(Image credit: Bluesound)
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The 2025 Bluesound Pulse Flex gets an attractive makeover and can be used solo, in stereo, in a surround system, or as part of a multi-room setup.

It has Hi-Res and lossless audio support, extensive streaming integration, and a powerful integrated amplifier.

Bluesound is one of Sonos's key rivals in the multi-room audio market, and the Pulse Flex is the firm's most popular wireless speaker. Now it's been given a makeover and a big audio upgrade with a compact design that belies its power.

You can use the Pulse Flex in several different ways – on its own as a normal wireless speaker, as part of a stereo pair, in a surround system with Bluesound's other speakers, or amongst a multi-room setup.

There are three colour options to match your décor, too – white tan, black charcoal and white pebble grey.

Bluesound Pulse Flex speaker colour options shot on a white background

(Image credit: Bluesound)

Bluesound Pulse Flex speaker: key features and pricing

The Pulse Flex has a four-inch woofer and a three-quarter-inch tweeter powered by a SmartDSP amplifier, and it supports Hi-Res Audio of up to 24-bit/192kHz with MQA decoding and DSD256 playback.

It has dual-band Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth with aptX HD, and wired inputs – including USB-C and a combination optical/analogue input.

The software here is Bluesound's own BluOS, which enables you to stream from over 20 different music services, plus internet radio and personal libraries via BluOS's Controller app. The speaker also supports Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect, Roon, and AirPlay 2.

Bluesound is big on smart tech and the Pulse Flex works with smart home control systems from the likes of Crestron, Control4, Nice, RTI and others. It also works with third party IR remotes and voice assistants too.

We really rate Bluesound's speakers, with models such as the compact Bluesound Pulse M winning the full suite of five stars in our review: they deliver "substantial, insightful and enjoyable sound" with impressive muscularity.

If you're looking for a stand-alone speaker that can also play its part in a surround or multi-room setup, the new Pulse Flex is a serious contender.

The Pulse Flex will be available from December 2025 with a recommended retail price of £279 / €299 / $349 (about AU$570).

Carrie Marshall
Carrie Marshall

Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).

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