Bose S-1 battery issues

[Hugh Robjohns]

Just a quick update: My S1 has been returned with a note to say the fault I described (and videoed) could not be replicated by the service department in Belgium.

Bizarrely, though, it goes on to say, "During the testing process it is possible that routine servicing or updates to the latest hardware/software have resolved the problem."

I'm not sure what to make of that! Did 'routine servicing or hardware updates' involve replacing the battery pack or charging board before any testing? Seems a definite possibility...

Anyway, it is now working properly and the firmware is reporting as the same current edition I had already loaded.

[Rob Kirkwood]

So, my Bose S1 battery testing hit 12 weeks yesterday - & I've called it a day.
Here are the results, & how I did the testing...

I bought my S1 Pro brand new just under 18 months ago from a UK supplier. Until lockdown it had been used (& recharged) every week. The only change I've ever made to it has been an upgrade to firmware version 7.1.5 (there is now a more recent version).

So, I fully charged it Saturday 4th April, & put it back in it's bag. Since then it's never been reconnected to the mains, & has only been out of its bag & switched on briefly to check the battery charge as described below.

I began checking battery level (with the Bose App on an iPad via bluetooth) every few days - as time went on I dropped to just testing weekly.

The App shows battery level in lumps of 10%, and by Thursday 30th April it had dropped to showing 90% charge - so actually somewhere between 90-99%.

My original plan was to keep going until it dropped to 80% - but the App has continued to show a 90% charge up to & including yesterday Saturday 27th June (= 12 weeks on from charge). For me, a charge level between 90-99% after 3 months is perfectly fine, so I called a halt to my testing.

As a further test, before plugging it back in, I decided to run pink noise through it to discover how long the battery would last - this would give some idea whether the battery really did still have a decent charge, or whether the App was showing 'optimistic' levels after the firmware change.

So, pink noise in (generated on a loop within Cool Edit Pro) at a level that pushed the S1 reasonably well, but was tolerable for us elsewhere in the house with the S1 bundled up in a couple of thick sleeping bags . I'd also buried a mic with the S1 & recorded that to another DAW so I could check exactly when it stopped working, in case we went deaf . I expected it to run for maybe 4-5 hours.

Surprisingly, after 8 hours we were running out of time to let it continue - so I called it a day at 8 hours 5 mins! According to the Bose App, the battery then still had 20% charge, although the icon was showing red... so maybe it would have continued for another couple of hours, or maybe there's some battery protection that would have cut it off before then?

finally, I dragged out my cheapie sound level meter just to see what level I'd actually been driving the S1. So with the S1 back in free air (it had got pretty warm while wrapped up), & again fed with the same pink noise at the same level, I got a reading at 1 metre of 80dB (C weighted, slow response).

8 hours plus is quite impressive, double what I was expecting, & I think suggests that the firmware changes have really made some battery life improvement, rather than just cheating the figures.

Rob

[Sam Spoons]

The App shows battery level in lumps of 10%, and by Thursday 30th April it had dropped to showing 90% charge - so actually somewhere between 90-99%.

Actually that represents between 81 and 90% as it doesn't register 90% on the app until it has fallen to 90%, the next increment is when it falls to 80% when it will show 80% in the app.

However that is all pretty academic as 80%+ charge remaining after three months is perfectly usable. And 8 hours 'in use' batter life is excellent.

Good that yours does not have the issue

[Hugh Robjohns]

Good report of some thorough testing there's Rob. Encouraging results.

[JohnStan]

Hi guys, I am new to Sound on SoundCloud. Have a question about the Bose S1 Pro and it’s long term battery life. Mine is about a year and a half old and I play an acoustic guitar through it daily and play lots of music through it as well for my sons violin lessons. Has been a fantastic piece of kit so far but I’m pretty sure my battery is dead or dying out. It will no longer accept a charge that I can tell. I have never kept it in extreme conditions and usually never drain the battery completely. I probably use it 70% plugged in and 30% off of battery. Anything I can do to get it back accepting a charge? Can’t pay $100 for a new one right now and can’t find a cheaper version. Thanks, John

[resistorman]

Batteries can only accept a finite number of charge cycles. Not sure if keeping it plugged in counts toward that, but if I’m going to be using mine plugged in for a long time I take the battery out.

I doubt there’s any third party batteries out there.

Have you tried Bose support?

[James Perrett]

The battery performance goes down with more charge/discharge cycles. The standard specification is that the capacity will fall to 80% after 1000 cycles which is around 3 years of daily use.

Given the experiences of various users on this thread it looks like Bose are doing something odd with the battery which could possibly mean that the battery is being continually discharged and therefore reducing its lifespan. However, I would expect it to last longer than a year and a half unless you are using it so much that you are charging it more than once per day.

[JohnStan]

Thanks guys for the information, was definitely expecting it to last for much longer! I even still have cheapy Bluetooth speakers for 5 + years that are still holding their charge to this day. Highly disappointed that it hasn’t lasted longer with the reputation of quality with Bose! I was also looking for my paperwork/warranty earlier and can’t find it yet... hopefully I’ll be able to and see if they can get me a replacement. Thanks again for your replies! John

[Sam Spoons]

There's a guy over on the AGF (DavidE IIRC) who has had issues with his S1 Pro's, demonstrated that the batteries were the issue by borrowing a couple from a mate, Bose have said they are within spec and refused to replace them.....

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=574980&page=7

[Mark A]

Wow, i have been reading all 12 pages for half an hour now. Thank you guys for all the info.

If you guys can help with your experience, I would appreciate it.

I just bought the S1 pro on Dec 28th, 2020, its manufacturing date is April 27, 2020 and the FW is 7.1.8.

I actually bought it for a new years party and also as I continously listen to music and have outdoor gatherings/parties often.

So I had it fully charged on the 29th, didnt use it on the 30th, and played it on the 31st (did not check battery percentage then). I had the volume at max, and connected it by bluetooth to the phone, and would slightly lower the volume from the phone whenever the red light would blink indicating distortion or clipping.

The issue is that the speakers went flat after around 4-4.5 hours which is ofcourse disappointing. So currently I dont know if the reason was because I left it unused for approximately 2 days (according to this forum with the current FW this shouldnt be the reason since that issue was fixed) or because I used it continously at the max volume. Does anyone have any experience with continous operation at max volume? How long would it play?

I have started testing it in the past 2 days. Played it at 50% volume and while I couldnt play it continously but overall it lasted for about 10 hours. Now i am resisting the temptation of playing it to check drainage when I am not using it.

One last thing, when i was purchasing it, I was told by the salesman at Bose that it would last 6 hours and not 11 hours as mentioned on their website, which again I found very weird.

Let me know your thoughts guys, thank in advance!

[Sam Spoons]

The battery drain issue is separate from battery life, the Bose webpage says "up to 11 hours" and IIRC, 7 hours at full or close to full power has been mentioned. That sounds reasonable and is, actually, remarkable given the size of the batteries and the power the S1 Pro can produce. I'd say 4 ½ hours flat out having used it the previous day is pretty good and it's unlikely that the 'battery drain issue' has had any impact.

The FW update has solved the issue for some people but did not for others, there's a long thread here https://community.bose.com/t5/Portable-PA/S1-Pro-battery-draining-when-not-in-use/m-p/506557#M174126

[Mark A]

Thanks for your reply Sam!

I actually didnt use it the day before the 31st. So I had it fully charged on the 29th but actually used it on the 31st. However I did not check the battery percentage before using it on the 31st, and this is why I am confused to the reason behind it playing only 4.5 hours.

Reason 1: battery might have drained and became less than 100% when i started it on the 31st.
Reason 2: it was full battery but due to the max volume and power, it can only.last 4.5 hours

Do you think that 4.5 hours even if it was fully charged still seems acceptable? Also, have you had any experience playing it continously at max volume?

Thanks again!

[James Perrett]

It is often a good idea to give the batteries a few charge/discharge cycles to allow them to reach full capacity. The S1 battery almost certainly uses more than one cell in its battery - if the cells become unbalanced you'll end up with lower battery life. Some batteries can automatically rebalance the individual cells if you leave them on charge - I don't know if the S1 includes this feature.

[Sam Spoons]

If the battery drain issue is to blame it will be very obvious after a few days as the app has enough resolution to show up >10% loss of charge. if you lost a significant amount of charge in 48 hours then you'll have a good idea in a week or less. Both my S1 Pro's now maintain >90% charge after 30 days so*, while that isn't exactly 'fixed' it is livable with.

I'm not really in a position to play one loud for 7+ hours so I can't confirm if your 4 ½ hours run time is reasonable or not, it may be worth a search, or even question, on the Bose forum.

* The first one lost >90% in a week which is how I discovered I had the issue.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Reason 2: it was full battery but due to the max volume and power, it can only.last 4.5 hours

THIS ^

Playing commercial music flat out with a small peak-average ratio means the amp would have been trying to put out something approaching maximum power continuously.

At lower powers, and/or with more typical 'live music' having a much greater peak-average ratio the power consumption would have been much lower and the battery life greatly extended -- as you've already found.

Do you think that 4.5 hours even if it was fully charged still seems acceptable?

Yes.

Also, have you had any experience playing it continously at max volume?

No. It seems to me that if you need to play it flat out, you have the wrong speaker for your application!

[Hugh Robjohns]

Bumping this old thread to ask other S1Pro owners what the situation is currently with their batteries. Have the discharge problems gone away? Any other issues?

Secondly, anyone tried the Bose Sub 1 (or Sub 2) with the S1Pro yet?

H

[Sam Spoons]

I haven't tried the sub though I would like to give one a go. WRT the battery drain issue I got one of my S1 Pros out last week for the first time in a fair while but, as it had been plugged in for a few hours in the last few days it was, obviously, full. It'll have been standing for a week or so when I get home so will check it then.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Thanks Mr Spoons.

[Rob Kirkwood]

Haven't tried any sub with my S1Pro.

Also haven't used my S1 for many weeks (over a year at an actual gig) - so just got it out the backpack. Due to lack of use the S1 had obviously put the battery into sleep mode... fed it some mains for about 20 seconds to wake the battery up again, & the battery indicator now gives me 4 flashes - which is fine by me.

Not very scientific, I know

Rob

[Sam Spoons]

Scientific enough The app will give you greater resolution but four flashes means it hasn't fallen below 75% charge remaining after 30 days which is what I'd expect.

[Wonks]

How do you clean greasy dairy products off your S-1? I have buttery issues.

[Rob Kirkwood]

Where's Aunty Sam when you need him/her/they?

[SteveSinger]

Having just bought a 2nd hand MONTARBO L206 I have been reading these posts...

Reason I bought the Montarbo - slightly higher SPL - is it uses readily available 18650 batteries rather than proprietary expensive ones....

Did any S1 Pro buyers demo the Montarbo unit?

[Sam Spoons]

Welcome to the forum

AFAIK the Montarbo was not available when I was in the market and bought my Bose S1 Pros (the JBL Eon 1 was the only alternative and it didn't actually appear until after I had bought the first Bose). The Montarbos are considerably louder than the Bose if the figures are to be believed, 114dB/SPL compared to 103dB/SPL for the S1 Pro. I did audition the JBL Eon 1 when I was having trouble with the battery issue with my S1 Pro but the sound was harsh and pretty nasty in the high mids so I decided to persevere with the Bose. The battery issue seems to have been sorted now and was never a problem with the batteries but with the way the speaker managed them. I do like the idea of standard batteries but I'm guessing that the battery/charge controller must be built into the speaker? Also how does it sound (see above re the JBL)?

[SteveSinger]

Hi Sam

TBH - I have no idea how it sounds yet! I bought it blind off FB marketplace and my mate picked it up for me in Swindon

I've heard Montarbo stuff in the past and they sounded good. I own some Italian SR Technology stuff - amazing.

The only -ve ( unless it sounds crap!) is the battery life - only 4 hours. But who in Thier right mind busks for more than 4 hours?

No app - but I can live without that.

And there's no dedicated rucksack type back. But it mite squeeze in the Bose one as Thier v similar size.

Gotta be better than my Laney AH4x4 (which actually doesn't sound bad)

I'll let you know how it sounds.