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 Amazon Echo Studio 2025 and the Bose Home Speaker 500 are both solid home speakers, and choosing between them will come down to your existing smart home setup and future needs. The Amazon has a more balanced default sound, with a punchier bass range and a bit more treble detail that can make listening to music a bit more engaging. That said, the Bose's performance in most other areas is superior. It can get louder with less compression, has better directivity, and is compatible with wireless streaming protocols like Chromecast and Apple AirPlay. If you already have an Alexa-ready setup, then Amazon's Alexa+ and Alexa Home Theater compatibility will be an asset, but otherwise, the Bose works with Google Assistant too, while offering a comparable voice recognition performance.
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 Apple HomePod (2nd generation) are both wired smart speakers designed for home use. Only the Bose supports Bluetooth audio playback, and its bass and treble adjustments make it more customizable than the Apple. However, its low-bass isn't as extended as the Apple's, so you don't hear as much rumble in bass-heavy music. The Apple speaker is well-suited to users who already own products in their ecosystem.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 is a slightly better speaker than the Sonos Five, though they have different strengths. The Bose offers exceptional voice assistant support with Alexa and Google Assistant built-in and does an excellent job of hearing you when you're far away and in noisier environments. It also has fewer compression artifacts at max volume and has a wider sounding soundstage than that of the Sonos, thanks to its 360-degree design. However, with its Trueplay feature turned on, the Sonos has a better-balanced sound profile that can produce a thumpier and punchier bass than that of the Bose.
Test Results
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