Bose Home Speaker 500 vs Sonos Five

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Aug 14, 2024 02:05 PM

See Bose Home Speaker 500 Review

Bluetooth Yes

Wi-Fi Yes

Speakerphone No

Voice Assistant Yes

Battery Powered No

Bluetooth No

Wi-Fi Yes

Speakerphone No

Voice Assistant No

Battery Powered No

Our Verdict

Bose Home Speaker 500

Sonos Five

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.

Variants

Home Speaker 500 (Luxe Silver)
Home Speaker 500 (Triple Black)

Five (Black)
Five (White)

Review

See Sonos Five Review

Check Price

Luxe Silver

Home Speaker 500

Black

Five

Triple Black

Home Speaker 500

White

Five

Main Differences for

Music

Threshold

0.10

Music

7.3

7.5

Frequency Response Accuracy

6.9

8.2

Dynamics

7.2

5.0

Soundstage

8.7

7.5

Full Comparison

Music

7.3

7.5

Videos/Movies

7.1

6.3

Podcasts

6.6

6.3

Voice Assistant

9.1

2.9

Outdoors

5.6

4.7

Design

Style

Style Photo

RGB Lights

Show Text

Portability

4.3

3.6

Dimensions Photo

Volume

226 in³ (3,702 cm³)

671 in³ (10,996 cm³)

Weight

4.9 lbs (2.2 kg)

13.9 lbs (6.3 kg)

Power Source

AC Only

One-Hand Carry

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Build Quality

6.7

6.4

Build Quality Photo

Material Quality

Great

Good

Water Resistance

Dust Resistance

Unspecified

Impact Resistance

Unspecified

Floats In Water

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Controls

8.0

7.0

Controls Photo

Controls Photo 2

Ease Of Use

Great

Feedback

Great

Music Play/Pause

Yes (Tactile)

Call Answer/End

Volume Up/Down

Yes (Tactile)

Track Next/Previous

Yes

Yes (Tactile)

Microphone On/Off

Yes (Tactile)

Additional Controls

Yes

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In The Box

In The Box Photo

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Sound

Frequency Response Accuracy

6.9

8.2

Frequency Response Graph

Slope

-0.62

1.16

Std. Err.

3.50 dB

3.96 dB

Low-Frequency Extension

55.0 Hz

23.4 Hz

High-Frequency Extension

17.0 kHz

18.8 kHz

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Raw Frequency Response

Raw Frequency Response Graph

Binaural Recording @ 1m

Binaural Recording @ 2m

Soundstage

8.7

7.5

Directivity Graph

Directivity Index

2.41 dB

4.17 dB

Stereo

Yes

Yes (when horizontal)

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Dynamics

7.2

5.0

Dynamic Range Compression

SPL @ Max Volume

90.5 dB SPL

94.0 dB SPL

DRC @ Max Volume

2.19 dB

7.30 dB

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Active Features

Battery

0.0

Battery Life

N/A

Charge Time

N/A

Power Saving

Charging Port

No Battery

Battery Powered

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Voice Assistant

0.0

Alexa

Built-in (Wi-Fi Only)

Google Assistant

Built-in (Wi-Fi Only)

Speakerphone

Siri

Voice Assistant

Yes

Voice Activation

Yes

Microphone Mute

Yes

No Microphone

Far-Field Performance

Excellent

No Microphone

Ambient Noise Performance

Excellent

No Microphone

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App

7.7

9.3

App Picture

App Name

Bose Music

Sonos S2

iOS

Yes

Android

Yes

EQ

Bass/Treble

Stereo Pair Mode

Yes

Party Mode

Yes

Multi-Room

Yes

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Connectivity

Wired

Aux Input

Yes

USB Audio

Other Ports

Yes

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Bluetooth

8.2

0.0

Bluetooth

Yes

Bluetooth Version

4.2

No Bluetooth

Bluetooth iOS Latency

57 ms

N/A

Bluetooth Android Latency

88 ms

N/A

Bluetooth Range

195.2 ft (59.5 m)

N/A

Multi-Device Pairing

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Wi-Fi

8.1

7.6

Wi-Fi Version

Unspecified

Wi-Fi 3

Wi-Fi Frequency Band

2.4GHz & 5GHz

2.4GHz

Wi-Fi

Yes

Apple AirPlay

Yes

AirPlay Latency

45 ms

15 ms

Google Chromecast

Yes

Chromecast Latency

N/A

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Check Price

Luxe Silver

Home Speaker 500

Black

Five

Triple Black

Home Speaker 500

White

Five