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 it can hear you clearly even if you aren't close to it or are in a noisy environment. Out-of-the-box, it has a fairly neutral sound profile suitable for listening to lots of different types of audio content, and it also has bass and treble adjustment features in its app to help you customize its sound.
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.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 is decent for videos and movies. Thanks to its 360-degree design, it has an open soundstage that can immerse you in your audio from all angles. It has a balanced mid-range that reproduces dialogue clearly, though it may also sound 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.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 is okay for podcasts. Its balanced mid-range reproduces clear and accurate dialogue, though it may sound 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.
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.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 is wired-only, so it isn't really suitable for outdoor use.
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 it 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.
This speaker isn't very portable. It's wired-only, so you have to keep it plugged into a power source for it to work. It's also a bit bigger than the Bose Home Speaker 300, so you may not be able to carry it with one hand.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 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 you should be careful if you plan to use it near water.
The Bose 500's 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 that 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.
The Bose 500 has fair frequency response accuracy. It has a fairly neutral sound profile, so vocals and lead instruments are reproduced clearly and accurately. However, they may also sound a bit dark due to the underemphasized treble range. This speaker also struggles to reproduce a thumpy low-bass. However, there are bass and treble adjustment features in the app 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 wired-only speaker doesn't have a battery.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 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. 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 adjustments 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.
This speaker has an AUX port so you can wire your smartphone to the speaker. There's also a micro USB port on the bottom, but it's just for servicing the speaker.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 has great Bluetooth connectivity. While it doesn't support multi-device pairing, it has low latency 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 it supports Apple AirPlay. It has low latency via AirPlay, making it suitable for watching videos. However, it doesn't support Google Chromecast.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 comes in 'Triple Black' and 'Luxe Silver' color variants. We tested the 'Luxe Silver' variant, but we 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 discussions so we can update our review.
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 it's a bit larger and comes with an LED screen on its front. It offers an outstanding voice assistant performance, and it's also compatible with the Bose Music app, which has bass and treble adjustments for sound customization. See also our recommendations for the best Bluetooth speakers, the best home speakers, and the best speakers for iPhone and iPod.
The Apple HomePod and the Bose Home Speaker 500 are very similarly-performing speakers, so depending on your listening habits, you may prefer one over the other. The Apple has a better soundstage performance and a more neutral sound profile out-of-the-box. However, the Bose offers bass and treble adjustment features and a mic mute button. It also supports Bluetooth, while the Apple only supports Wi-Fi.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 is a better speaker than the Amazon Echo Studio. The Bose is better-built and it has a better soundstage performance. It supports Apple AirPlay, and it has lower latency when paired with iOS and Android devices over Bluetooth. Also, its voice assistant does a better job understanding you in noisy settings. However, the Amazon gets louder with less compression at max volume.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 is a better speaker than the Sonos One Gen 2. The Bose has a better soundstage performance, and it gets louder with less compression at max volume. It also supports Bluetooth, and its voice assistant performs better in noisy environments. However, the Sonos comes with the Trueplay tuning feature, and it can also be paired with a Sonos soundbar.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 is a better speaker than the Google Home Max. The Bose is better-built and it has a better soundstage performance. Also, its voice assistant does a better job understanding you when you're in a noisy environment. However, the Google has a more neutral sound profile out-of-the-box.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 is a better speaker than the Bose Home Speaker 300. The 500 is better-built, and it supports stereo content. Its LED screen displays the time and information about the track you're listening to. Also, it gets louder, though both speakers have some compression when you play them at max volume. However, some users may prefer the 300's slightly smaller size.
The Bose Home Speaker 500 is a better speaker for most uses than the Denon Home 350. The Bose has better controls, a more immersive soundstage and it has outstanding built-in Alexa and Google Assistant support. It also has lower iOS and Android latency via Bluetooth. However, the Denon can get louder and you can connect two units to create a stereo pair. It can also reproduce more low-bass, which some users may prefer.
Retailers' prices | Amazon.com | BestBuy.com | B&H |
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Triple Black |
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Unavailable
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Luxe Silver |
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Unavailable
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