The Bose Home Speaker 500 is a wired-only speaker designed for home use. It has Google Assistant and Alexa voice assistants built-in, and the manufacturer advertises improved voice pick-up technology that can detect your voice commands even in noisy environments, They also promise a wide, room-filling stereo sound with bass and treble adjustment options found via the companion app, so you can tweak the sound to your liking.
Our Verdict
The Bose Home Speaker 500 is satisfactory for music. This speaker has a fairly neutral sound profile out-of-the-box, with a balanced mid-range that reproduces clear vocals and lead instruments, though they can sound a bit dull. It also lacks a thumpy low bass, which can be disappointing if you love bass-heavy genres like EDM. Fortunately, there are bass and treble adjustments in the Bose Music app to help you adjust its sound more to your liking.
- Amazing soundstage performance.
- Bass and treble adjustments.
- Some compression at max volume.
- Lacks low bass.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 is decent for videos and movies. Thanks to its 360-degree design, it has great directivity, so audio sounds consistent from different angles. It has a balanced mid-range that reproduces dialogue clearly, though it sounds a bit dark. Unfortunately, it struggles to reproduce a thumpy low bass, so you don't really feel the deep rumbles in action-packed scenes. Also, while it gets loud, there's some compression when you play it at max volume.
- Amazing soundstage performance.
- Bass and treble adjustments.
- Some compression at max volume.
- Lacks low bass.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 is okay for podcasts. Its balanced mid-range reproduces clear and accurate dialogue, though it sounds a bit dull or veiled due to the underemphasized treble. However, there are bass and treble adjustments in the Bose Music app to help you tweak its sound. While it gets pretty loud, unfortunately, there's some compression present when you play it at max volume.
- Amazing soundstage performance.
- Bass and treble adjustments.
- Some compression at max volume.
- No multi-device pairing.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 is incredible for voice assistant support. It has Alexa and Google Assistant built-in, which you can activate using your voice. It can hear you clearly even if you're in a noisy setting or far away. You can also mute the microphone, which is handy.
- Built-in Alexa and Google Assistant.
- Excellent far-field performance.
- Some compression at max volume.
The Bose 500 speaker is wired-only, so it isn't really suitable for outdoor use.
Changelog
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Updated Nov 28, 2024:
We mentioned the Bose SoundLink Home in the Battery section of this review.
- Updated Mar 05, 2024: We've updated this review to ensure the content and language are consistent with our other speaker reviews. We've also added relevant comparisons to similar speakers.
- Updated Nov 27, 2023: Added market comparison with the JBL Authentics 200 in the Dynamics box.
- Updated Apr 04, 2023: Added market comparison for the Marshall Woburn III in the Wired box.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Bose Home Speaker 500 comes in 'Triple Black' and 'Luxe Silver' color variants. We tested the 'Luxe Silver' variant but expect the other color variants to perform similarly. You can see the label for the model we tested here.
If you come across another version, let us know in the forums, and we'll update our review.
Popular Speaker Comparisons
The Bose Home Speaker 500 is a wired-only speaker for home with built-in Google Assistant and Alexa capabilities. It has a similar design to the Bose Home Speaker 300 but is a bit larger and has an LED screen on its front. It offers an outstanding voice assistant performance and is compatible with the Bose Music app, which has bass and treble adjustments for sound customization. While it lacks the ability to operate on battery power, like the Bose Portable Smart Speaker, it makes up for it with better directivity and a cleaner sound at max volume.
See also our recommendations for the best Bluetooth speakers, the best home speakers, and the best speakers for iPhone and iPod.
The Sonos Era 300 and the Bose Home Speaker 500 are both premium home speakers with similar feature sets. They're both reasonably well-built, can get quite loud, and feature both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. However, the Sonos has a more balanced default sound profile and features Trueplay Advanced Tuning room correction to get the most out of your acoustic space. While the two have a comparable soundstage performance, the Sonos supports Dolby Atmos Music for an extra immersive sound via certain subscription services. That said, the Bose has less compression present at max volume and has better voice assistant integration, with built-in support for both Google Assistant and Alexa.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 and the Sonos Era 100 are similar wired speakers designed for use at home. They're both well-built and feature both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth compatibility; however, the Bose has the edge in a few key areas. It has better voice assistant integration, with built-in Google Assistant capabilities, and it does a better job of picking up your voice commands. It also has lower AV synchronization error with Android and iOS devices, so it's better for watching movies and videos. However, the Sonos has a slightly more balanced mid-range with a room correction feature that tunes its sound profile to the acoustics of your room.
The Bang & Olufsen Beolit 20 and the Bose Home Speaker 500 have different strengths. If you're looking for a voice-enabled home speaker, the Bose Home Speaker is a better choice. It offers fantastic voice assistant support with Alexa and Google Assistant built-in. It also has better directivity, resulting in a more spacious and open-sounding soundstage. If portability and bass reproduction are more important to you, the Bang & Olufsen is battery-powered with a removable carrying strap to help you carry it. Its sound profile is better balanced, with its 'Optimal' preset enabled, and can produce a more extended low-bass.
The Bose Smart Speaker 500 and the JBL Authentics are wired home speakers with different strengths. They're both similarly well-built and have great, intuitive control schemes. However, the JBL has a more balanced default sound and can get louder with less compression artefacts present at max volume. That said, the Bose has a better voice assistant performance and can pick up commands even in noisy environments. It also has better directivity, so audio sounds consistent from different listening angles.
Test Results
The Bose 500 is a wired-only speaker that's meant to sit vertically. It has a very similar design to the Bose Home Speaker 300, but it's a bit bigger and comes with a display screen on the front. The display shows the time as well as information about the music you're listening to. It comes in two different color variants: 'Triple Black' and 'Luxe Silver.'
This speaker isn't very portable. It's wired-only, so you must keep it plugged into a power source to work. It's also a bit bigger than the Bose Home Speaker 300, so you can't carry it around with one hand. However, given this is a home speaker that's designed to stay in one place, this won't be much of an issue for most users.
This speaker has a fair build quality. It has an aluminum body with a grille to help protect the drivers, as well as a plastic top with tactile buttons. There's also a color LED screen on the front. Overall, its build feels solid and durable. However, it doesn't have any advertised rating for water resistance, so be careful if you plan to use it near water.
The controls are great. There are tactile buttons to help you adjust the volume and play/pause your audio. You can also press the AUX button to activate the input once a device is plugged into the speaker. Pressing the play/pause button twice skips ahead to the next track, and pressing it three times skips back to the previous track. There's also a 'Voice Action' button to activate the voice assistant, a Bluetooth pairing button, and six preset buttons you can program using the app. The mic mute button stays red when it's turned on, which is handy. The color LED screen also displays volume adjustments, pairing information, and information about the track you're listening to.
This speaker has fair frequency response accuracy. It has a fairly neutral sound profile, so vocals and lead instruments are reproduced clearly and accurately. However, they also sound dark due to the underemphasized treble range. This speaker also struggles to reproduce a thumpy low bass. However, the app has bass and treble adjustment features to help you customize its sound more to your liking. If you're looking for a speaker with a more extended low bass, consider the Denon Home 350.
This speaker has an amazing soundstage performance. This stereo speaker has impressive directivity thanks to its 360-degree design, resulting in an open sound that sounds consistent from different listening angles. For a speaker with an even better soundstage performance, check out the Sony SRS-RA3000.
This speaker has decent dynamics. It gets pretty loud, so it's suitable for using your speaker in a large room or at a crowded party. However, some compression artifacts are present when you play it at max volume, especially in the bass range. If you're looking for a home speaker with a better dynamics performance, check out the Yamaha MusicCast 50 or the JBL Authentics 200.
This wired-only speaker doesn't have a battery. If you're looking for a home speaker that has a battery, consider the Bose SoundLink Home.
This speaker has an exceptional voice assistant performance. It has built-in support for Alexa and Google Assistant, which you can activate using your voice. However, using Alexa only, you can directly make commands to other Bose smart products, Amazon Echo products, or anyone in your contacts list. Bose advertises that this speaker features superior voice pickup technology, utilizing an array of eight microphones under the surface. As a result, the speaker can hear you clearly even if you aren't very close to it or if you're in a noisy setting. You can also mute the microphone if you don't want it to hear you.
The Bose Music app is good. Though it doesn't have a full graphic EQ like the Ultimate Ears HYPERBOOM, there are bass and treble adjustment sliders to help you customize its sound more to your liking. You can also use the app to pair it with other Bose Home Speakers to play audio across different rooms in your house or at a crowded party. However, unlike the Ultimate Ears, it can't pair two speakers in stereo.
This speaker has an AUX port to wire your smartphone to the speaker. There's also a micro USB port on the bottom, but it's just for servicing the speaker. Check out the Marshall Woburn III for a speaker that connects to your TV over HDMI ARC.
This speaker has great Bluetooth connectivity. While it doesn't support multi-device pairing, it has low AV synchronization error with both Android and iOS devices, making it suitable for watching videos and movies. However, some apps compensate for latency differently, so your real-world experience may vary.
This speaker is Wi-Fi compatible and supports Apple AirPlay and Google Chromecast. It has low latency via AirPlay, so audio and visuals remain in sync when watching videos or movies. You can also use Chromecast to cast audio from music streaming services without video, like Spotify or YouTube Music Premium. However, you can't use it to stream videos from most video streaming services and video players like YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, and VLC.