I've had my SoundLink Mini for a little over a year now and I still love it!It was originally purchased because I was moving cross country. I wanted digital music/audiobooks, but didn't want to sink any money into my 15 year old minivan in terms of updating the audio system to accommodate Bluetooth. Getting a new stereo unit - even a reasonably priced one - installed in my car would be costly, particularly if I paid to have them hook the new unit up to the controls on my steering wheel. And why would I want that functionality removed during an upgrade? Then I thought - what if I sell this car soon? Or it's old... what if it dies? I figured I could spent a couple hundred bucks on a nice Bose portable unit and get something I could use *after* my trip, whether or not I was in the car, and I was right.The SoundLink Mini is a little base-heavy, but it still has a decent range. It is a single speaker, which I don't believe can be linked to another unit to create stereo sound, so there is also that sound quality loss. There is no way I am anything but a sound layman, but most people will probably agree with me and find that this unit sounds amazing for what it is. Where SoundLink Mini really shines is in a clear and loud audibility!I used this unit, sitting on my dashboard or nestled on the console between the driver/passenger seats for a 2000+ mile cross country drive. We listened to music - electronica type stuff to keep my going while my driving partner slept - but mostly we listened to audiobooks. And even over the sound of the road, which is HORRIBLE in the Mid West where the roads are in terrible condition and/or under construction, everything was loud and clear as a bell.Sometimes I still take the SoundLink Mini with me in the old van - cause it works great - but mostly it gets to sit by the bed to play meditation music, or to the kitchen to play "while you work" music. And if it sounds great in the car, it sounds *fantastic* when you set it up in your home with a wall, nice cubby or something behind it, as the sound comes out the back as well as the front of the unit. With the right acoustics this thing will blow you away.Bluetooth works pretty well. The SoundLink pairs/syncs easily to both of my Kindles and to my iPhone. During playback, it does occasionally have hiccups to the connection (which usually sound like a little pop along with a very brief seizure to the sound), but that varies according to unit placement and what is going on in the environment. We have Wi-fi-- multiple iPads, iPhones and Kindles, computers in a large multi-story environment... the "toobs" probably get a bit "jambalaya" sometimes.The unit holds a charge quite well. Even at a rather high volume (such as needed for driving on the freeway/highway, for example) the SoundLink Mini may well give you a good 6-7+ hours of playback. Mine did. I barely needed the car adapter even when pulling 8-10 hour days. While I have yet to use it for those kind of durations since the initial purchase and use, the unit barely ever needs charging, and charges pretty darn quickly. It also can playback while charging on its little pad. I have zero complaints in the battery-life department.In terms of durability - even though I tote this around the house and in the car - I am very gentle with it. I try to never let anything brush up against the meshy metal front or back of the unit. I also bought, and have never once removed, the original Bose cover (in a somewhat ugly orange which I may someday replace with a nice Mint!). The case really provides protection for the brushed metal part of the case - excluding the mesh where the sound comes out - so I would suggest one if you have any worries, but otherwise with careful handling the SoundLink Mini should last a long time and the case would just be extra insurance against normals bumps. The SoundLink feels like a brick, in terms of weight as well as sturdiness. The only thing which may be considered somewhat flimsy is the charging pad/plug, which are thin plastic and don't have the quality feel of the rest of the unit, but I haven't had either give out on me yet, either.Added a pic of my SoundLink Mini, with cover and showing the charging base and cable. (Note: You can see a bit of my old JBL Creature Speakers - still love those guys and haven't been able to consider replacing them because for their age they sound pretty great and I love their Pac-Man ghostie look! :D )Hope all this info helps!