Bose® - Home Speaker 500 Wireless with Built-In Amazon Alexa Voice Control - Triple Black

Sound: The sound is very detailed and clear, with adequate amount of bass that gives warmth to the sound but it doesn't overly saturated. The speaker is oval-shaped because it has a set of speakers firing to the right and left to provide stereo sound from a single speaker. It's the sound expected from a Bose product and does not disappoint. We have other smart and Bluetooth speakers in the house and this is by far the best sound. It has great soundstage (Where we hear the sound comes from, in stereo), something I could not discern from other speakers Industrial design: The whole speaker, besides the top and bottom, is made of a single piece of thick aluminum, giving it a nice heft. The bottom is rubberized and the top has touch-sensitive controls and a 360-degree mic array. In the middle of the speaker there is a nice LCD screen that provides cover image for the song and additional information like artist, album, song name or station name. There is also a 'light bar' on top of the screen that lights in different colors and directions based on different actions. Controls: All the controls are touch-sensitive, and they work really well. There are seven presets (programmable via an app or holding the button), volume controls, a single play/pause that also doubles as skip forward and skip backwards, for which I would have preferred individual buttons, aux and Bluetooth (input) buttons, and two buttons for Alexa: One to mute the microphones, and an action button that causes Alexa to listen (or stop) without invoking the Alexa word, or use it to stop an alarm or timer. Initial setup: The initial setup requires the 'Bose Music' app on iOS or Android. It doesn't work with PCs. Install the app and follow the step by step guide. It's very simple and worked well the first time, although there can be too many steps that includes creating an account with Bose if there isn't one, then configuring the speaker on Wi-Fi and then adding music services. Some steps require logging into the Bose account again and then to the music service to authorize them. It didn't fail and some steps can be done later on. Bluetooth: I have to say, this is one of the best Bluetooth implementations I've seen for how well it sets up and controls. If there is no BT device connected, it goes into pairing only when in BT mode. Once paired (with an iPhone), the speaker can control the volume (ie, change the volume either on the phone or the speaker and they are both in sync). Prev/Play/Next controls work as they should and the screen will display artist, album and song (It didn't display the image on my tests). It can connect to multiple devices and each device can be removed individually via the app, which by the way can also control the speaker while in BT mode to change songs, play/pause and volume. Alexa: There is support for Amazon Alexa (No other assistants, at least for now). It's not required by any means to use the speaker, but it works very well. It's able to pick up commands even when music is playing, much better than the older Echo speakers we have. This is an 'Alexa-Enabled' speaker, so while Alexa works very well, it doesn't do everything an Echo can do. It supports alarms and timers but doesn't support communications (Drop-in, calling phones or Alexa contacts does not work), and this seems to be a limitation on Alexa on any non-amazon device, not specific to Bose speakers. App and streaming services: - Tune-In is already included and doesn't need nor allow a login (so no Tune-In favorites, but they can be set on the speaker). - Amazon Music (Of course, since it supports Alexa). - Pandora. - iHeartRadio: Radio stations that used to be Clear Channel are no longer available on TuneIn, and require iHeartRadio accounts. Presets can be set for iHeart stations or the rest, including NPR stations, via Tune-In. - Spotify - SiriusXM (Requires streaming plan) - Deezer And that's it. Currently there is no support for Apple Music (Except via Bluetooth), Tidal or other music services, nor podcasts outside of the above or for audiobooks. Apple AirPlay 2 support was announced by Bose for 'early 2019'. Also, support for Google Assistant (and perhaps Chomecast Audio) would be coming later on as well, but it's not currently present either. Other integrations: There are currently no integrations with Smart Homes or IFTTT, however, at developer.bose.com, there is a statement of upcoming integrations. Also, if you already have the older Bose SoundTouch speakers, this speaker runs on a whole different platform. There is no integration whatsoever with SoundTouch speakers. Control app: Bose Music is a new app specific to the new 'Bose smart speakers', with a modern, card-based design. It works very well, and supports personalized accounts on each phone (ie, each household member uses their own Amazon, Spotify, etc. accounts, not a shared account like in other platforms). Speakers can be grouped together on demand through the app. It's a premium speaker at a premium price. It's design is excellent and sounds fantastic for the type of speaker it is. And while it's network platform is evolving, Bose will deliver, as they depend on getting these products right.

I was curious to try this out as I was looking for a good speaker with Alexa built into it. I was extremely impressed with the sound quality and how reliable the mic is on the Bose 500. Pros - Deep Base / Great Sound Reliable Strong Mic Screen Display TuneIn Channel Buttons Non-Listening Mode Cons - No Battery No Shutdown/Turn Off Option App Functionality No Equalizer ::Setup:: It is pretty much plug in play right out of the box when using your Bluetooth to connect. However afterwards when trying to setup to the network through the app it became very challenging. If you have your SSID hidden / custom network configuration you will need to go through the "Alternate setup method". There are no instructions that comes with the device so I had to go to their support website. After a few key combo steps "AUX and Play/Pause buttons for 5 seconds" I was able to successfully setup via browser option. :: Sound / Mic :: The sound quality is amazing at all levels of the volume. I tested at 20% , 50% and 100%. The speaker can go so loud that I found I only needing to play it at 40% in loud environments. There was no distortion even at level 100% which was very impressive however good luck trying to get the MIC to pick up your voice when calling for Alexa. Speaking of the MIC I was very impressed at how well it picks up while the speaker is playing music. Even at 50% when calling for Alexa the speaker would pick up and obey the command. My only issue is there is no equalizer, you have a basic "Bass / Treble" option to increase by number but its very basic. Luckily it is not really needed with great sound quality right out of the box. :: Bose Music Application :: The application itself has 5 categories you are able to swipe between. Home provides Presets and recently played section that makes it easy to setup those presets. Amazon Music is perfect for searching for music to play on the speaker "If you are subscribed to service" TuneIn allows you to search for all the available channels you can play/set as your presets and is a really great feature. Bluetooth/Aux is pretty much to allow you to see what devices are connected to it via Bluetooth/Aux. The issue I have with this application is when trying to customize settings its very hidden and have to go through loops to locate / change / set. The adjustments only allows Base / Treble and does not have an equalizer which is a huge miss as this speaker has incredible ranges. Settings allows for the basic Product Name change/ display and voice assistance setting. If they were to allow more customization for the display screen that would have been a great addition. Overall I really enjoy this product and find myself always using it to play music, ask for Alexa or turn on my smart lights. I would recommend this product for whoever wishes to have a great speaker that would be able to clearly pick up asking for Alexa at high volumes.

Bose® - Home Speaker 500 Wireless with Built-In Amazon Alexa Voice Control - Triple Black This system is supposed to be an Alexa controlled speaker. With Alexa being able to control other devices in your home. 1st thing to note. The Android app is only half functional. It will start the setup and then fail to finish the setup leaving Alexa non functional. The phone I’m using is a Galaxy S8 fully updated with the newest Bose App and Alexa App. After I went through all of the trouble shooting I could do, I called Bose. They were VERY friendly and I spent an hour on the phone with them redoing everything I had already done. Nothing worked and the tech on the phone said my only option was to get another phone, NOT Android, and try that. So a note on this, if you have a Galaxy S8 you may have an issue setting this speaker up. Not sure about other Android phones, I only have the one Android phone. When my wife came home I used her iPhone 8 to finish the setup. I had to download all the apps on her phone and finish the setup. Since I had originally set the speaker to “Public” that meant any phone with the correct apps and on my Wi-Fi could control the speaker. So after many hours I have an almost working speaker. None of the presets work at all. I continuously get “could not set that station to a preset”. I think it has something to do with Alexa not wanting to work with the free versions of the online music apps. I’m not willing to pay for one just to make a preset work. It is also misleading in the way it tells you to set them up. One way says to play something on the speaker and then hold down a preset button, that fails. The other way says to play something from your phone and set that with a preset, that fails. Alexa controls are very confusing to me. You can’t just tell it to play, (list artist here). You have to tell it who, what, where, to play it. I’m used to telling my Google speaker to play, (list artist here), and have it do it. Even with all the free services it just responds with “You can’t play that Artist without Google premium, but here’s a station like that”. I would be sure most of the issues I’m having would be with me not understanding how Alexa works, but I did spend an hour on the phone with Bose and they were unable to get Alexa working on their device, even after a complete setup with the Alexa app on my phone. I had to finish the setup on an iPhone, and even then presets don’t work and there’s no help on why. I am going to blame all my setup issues on 2 things. 1, I’m not versed on how Alexa actually works and I can find no real help, even Bose is at a loss. 2, Alexa’s AI is not very friendly, and not at all intuitive. I’m at a complete loss on Alexa. I really wanted to use Alexa and start adding Alexa controlled devices to my home. I think I will hold off on that for another year or so. So, Alexa, in it’s current form is a complete failure for me. Oh sure I can set a timer or ask for the weather and what not, but the way it interacts is confusing. If you completely understand how Alexa works, and are an Alexa fan, you may have a completely different experience than I did. Now let’s talk about the speaker. It stands 8 ¼” high, 6 ¾” wide, and 4 ½” deep. The top controls are, Alexa action button, Mic mute, Presets 1 through 6, Volume down and up, Play/Pause, Aux, and Bluetooth. It has an Aux input in the back at the bottom, as well as a service micro USB port and the Power input. The face of the speaker has a 2 ½” color display that shows the current time or station and artist being played. The speaker contains 2, 2” full range drivers, one on each side. It uses Bose tuned wave port with a wrap around internally vented port to boost the Bass. The speaker itself will work as a Bluetooth speaker or with an AUX input without Alexa. It is wall powered and has no battery, so it’s meant to be stationary. The sound and volume are acceptable, although the bass is lacking a bit. If you push the bass it starts to break up. I found the speaker to be likable and usable, although a Sony speaker of the same price range will have much better bass. The speaker looks are clean and meant to be displayed, it looks more like any other electronic device and less like a speaker. My overall feelings about the speaker are good, “the speaker”. My overall feelings about Alexa are very poor. People familiar with Alexa will have a much better experience than I did. I am not trying to bash on Alexa. It does work, just not as clean as Google. In time I believe Alexa could pass Google, but not yet. If you have an Alexa home, this speaker will be a nice addition if you don’t already have a good speaker. If you live in a small apartment or dorm room this could be your complete stereo system. It will fill a medium size room with good sound.

Well, this has been a rather difficult review for me. I was looking to see if the Bose® - Home Speaker 500 Wireless with Built-In Amazon Alexa Voice Control would replace my (first gen) Alexa smart speaker. While there are many good points, there are also some features that missed the mark in my opinion, but I will get into that in a bit. First things first: I appreciated that the speaker was packaged in a rather minimalistic fashion. Perhaps it is because only the speaker, papers and power cord come in the box and nothing else. The speaker is rather pleasing to the eye and feels like a luxury item. It is heavy coming in over 4.5 lbs. Although setting up requires downloading an app on your smartphone, this was a simple task. From this Bose Music App, you can set up the Wi-Fi, activate Alexa as well as other music/sound platforms. You can also use this speaker with the usual Bluetooth connectivity and even through an auxiliary input. I tried Bluetooth first. It was easy to pair. I will talk about the sound quality in a bit. Then I tried the AUX with my PC and it worked just as expected. Then, I tried the main feature: Alexa. The speaker does pick up my voice from over 15 ft. and I do not have to repeat myself too much. The “smart” Alexa capabilities were there such as weather, traffic, trivia, alarms, etc. However, one thing that really disappointed me was that Alexa does not play any other sound platform except Amazon Prime Music by command, as with the original, which limits this feature tremendously. In order to access Spotify, iHeart, Pandora and other sound platforms, I had to go to the app. Even more disappointing was that, in order to listen to my podcasts and even audiobooks through Audible (an Amazon platform!), I had to listen via Bluetooth or AUX; defeating the voice commands capability completely. The LCD screen, while being neat, is small with a low resolution and blurry making it useless at a few feet. The speaker has hepatic buttons on top that let you control volume, microphone, tracks, Bluetooth and custom presets (that can only be set through the app). Now let’s talk about sound. This speaker is many times better than the original speaker I had. While it will not satisfy some audiophiles out there, the sound is rather rich and clear. Now, instead of having a 360° speaker system, BOSE went with a stereo system (left/right speakers) which gives a nice separation from left to right channels and gives the sound much more depth. The volume can get rather high quickly, although going over 60% the sound became a bit distorted at times, with certain music. I ended up enjoying it immensely at about 20%. The sound alone may be the reason why someone would choose this product. However, I do have to say that I have a Bluetooth speaker box from another company that sounds much better in comparison and that is half the price with a Dot hooked up to it. So, taking in consideration its value and at this range, it makes it very difficult for me to truly reconcile between the price tag, the great sound and what feels like features and software that are a “work in progress”. At this point, the BOSE 500 might as well be a very expensive Bluetooth speaker with some Alexa capabilities -not exactly a “smart” device. All I am saying is that there may be options out there that give the same or better sound quality through Bluetooth (or with a Dot). I really do hope that the features get updated and expanded in the future (Airplay may be coming soon) to make this a truly compelling “smart” device. I'd still recommend it if you love Bose's quality, have Amazon Prime Music and do not mind using your phone for other options/features (3.5 stars).

Starting with the arrival of the unit, top end packaging. The unit arrived safe and sound; Bose looks at the quality in all aspects to include shipping. I Set up the unit utilizing the Bose Music App on my iPhone. It is my understanding they also have an Android version, but this I cannot confirm. Getting back to the basics of the set-up, once you take the unit out-of-the-box, you literally have a single plug that you need to plug into the box and then into an outlet and that's pretty much the extent of the setup. Once the unit is turned on you will utilize the iPhone application to establish a connection to your home Wi-Fi as well as select the various stations that it currently supports. They include Pandora, Spotify and Tunein. It is my understanding that others may come online but those the current default applications. The set-up is easy and quick. So ultimately, what is it sound like? It's important to note that I acquired this speaker to replace my original Amazon Alexa speaker. Al in all that unit works flawlessly with my Wi-Fi and all the features work as expected but the sound is somewhat lacking. I suppose it's okay for the size and cost of the unit so really can't complain about it but I was looking for something a little richer sound. What I've come the fine is the Bose unit provides far greater depth when listening to the music. This is especially true of the lower end of the range. Here you can anticipate you will get crisp yet bold base response. The speaker does equally well in the midrange and high-end, as a matter of fact, it provides a really nice mid-range the high-end without sounding tinny. The unit also provides true stereo separation which the Amazon unit could not. Depending upon your listening vantage point, you'll get a greater sense of separation but ultimately looking directly at the unit will give you the most. However even if you're listening to the far left or far right the overall quality unit far exceeds the standard Amazon unit. Some of the other reviews I read noted that if you turn the unit all the way up it starts to distort, for my particularly listening taste this is not an issue because I do not play the music at max volume so I did not experience any degradation the sound in any of the normal volume ranges to which I was listening. Overall, I expect anyone who replaces an Amazon device with this 1 would greatly appreciate the improvement in overall tonal quality and sound. The LCD display on the front provides the pertinent information as well as providing a nice graphic of the album cover for a station you're listening to. However, I can say that the quality of the LCD is okay, but nothing that I was say was particularly spectacular. For the most part it's somewhat washed out and is colors and really does not at all that much to the unit. As for other controls they are all located on the top of the unit. You have 5 presets that allow you to select different musical selections. For example, if you tend to listen to Neil diamond on Pandora and you select number 1, when you come back at a later time in select number 1 it brings you directly to the Neil diamond radio station on Pandora. And course you can do the same thing with a Spotify selection or any other music you listen to. You also have the ability to turn the microphone off as well as adjust your volume. Lastly, you'll see a ring of dots around the top of the device. These are the locations of the microphone to pick up your speech. This I can attest works very well. No matter what volume I was playing the speaker at, the unit responded well to my voice commands. There is drawback, and that would be the quirky response I have gotten through the Wi-Fi connection. Unfortunately, I have had to reset the device a number of times in a single day because it would continually disconnect from its Wi-Fi connection. It is in the exact location I had the Amazon unit in this work flawlessly for the last 2 years. I am confident there is a very strong Wi-Fi signal here and that is not the cause of the problem. I have gone so far as to totally uninstall the application from my iPhone and reset the entire unit to see if this might correct the problem. Unfortunately, it worked well for a while and then went back into the same motive lost communications. Recommendation, overall, I could recommend the unit to someone is generally tech savvy and is willing to work through some of the technical issues because ultimately the sound of the unit far exceeds anything that you get in the base Amazon speaker. However, if you don't want to fiddle around with it and you really want something is gonna work out-of-the-box without issue on a Wi-Fi system I would not make the recommendation to go with this unit until Bose fine tunes whatever the problem is.

This has been one of the most frustrating smart home devices I have ever owned (and I have many). This speaker is not cheap compared to other Alexa devices, other wifi/Bluetooth speakers, and many smart home devices. So you would expect premium everything, after all it is a Bose. First, setup was a nightmare and took over a few hours including two tech support chats to get Pandora and iHeart to work. It was fairly simple to connect to my WiFi network, but all downhill after that. After my first attempt at setting up the speaker and apps (more on BOTH of them later), nothing was working right and the speaker kept loosing contact with the WiFi network even though it was less than 15 feet from my router. I reset the speaker to factory settings, deleted both apps and reinstalled them and started over. This time slightly more success, but still no iHeart, Pandora, limited Tunein and no control over Hue lights. Setup to FireTV, Wemo, and Amazon music worked as they should and have caused no problems. Amazon music worked fine throughout. You have to download TWO apps to set this up if you don’t already have the Alexa app. To connect devices and add streaming services you have to add them to both apps which is just bizarre. For example there is no way to add Pandora to the just the Bose app. You have to add it to the Bose app and actually add your Pandora account in the Alexa app. Same with iheart and other smart home devices. After all this the speaker and Bose app refused to play either Pandora or iHeart. My first tech chat was a joke and I got the impression that the tech support rep knew less about the speaker than I did. On the second one, still trying to get Pandora and iHeart to work, after trying many differ things the tech support person left me with instructions to reboot my modem/router and promised it would fix it. I did this and it did fix the issue with the two services. But really, reboot my whole WiFi network to add one overpriced speaker? Again bizarre, but it did work. After being unsuccessful getting the speaker to control any of my Hues lighting, a Google search told me that the Hues Bridge 1 was not supported. I don’t remember if this was Alexa or Bose that did not support it, but bottom line is I have to buy a new Hues bridge if I want control my Hues with the speaker. The Tunein service will not let you setup your own personal account. Therefore your favorite stations are not there. Adding to my disappointment, while I can see my two favorite stations that I listen to through Tunein on the Alexa app, the Alexa app will not play them on the speaker and the Bose app and speaker cannot even find the stations. Does not appear there is any possibility of playing them on the speaker except via Bluetooth. The Bose app itself is horrible. Usefulness is very limited, it frequently looses contact with the speaker and really not sure why this app is needed when everything seems to be controlled from the Alexa app. For some reason the Alexa app continually adds additional speakers to the list of devices even though I only have one and only one appears to be valid. Not sure where the others are coming from or why. The Bluetooth works and the speaker does have great sound as I fully expected from a Bose product. However I already had a Bluetooth Bose speaker and didn’t buy it for that. I would not recommend this speaker. Instead you can get much cheaper Bluetooth speakers (even Bose) and Alexa devices. This was a nice try by Bose but they got it very wrong.

Bose has done it again. A great sounding Alexa compatible speaker. A relatively small footprint, easy to use with killer sound that has become expected form Bose. Unboxed the speaker and can say it was pretty hefty for a small speaker, which I guess was a precursor to the sound. After trying to set it up with the Bose Connect app already on my phone, realized that I needed to download the Bose Music app which was simple to download and the app walks you through the setup easily. After set up, the Bose 500 will download the latest software so you need a few minutes to be able to hear it. Be patient. And then you turn it on. Pick one of the music services you subscribe to and select it on the Bose 500 and hear that great sound, even when turned up loud, no distortions. Personally I use Pandora and it worked great. Having some issues with Radio.com but will work with Bose to fix that. Not sure if the issue is Bose or my own user error. And it works great with Alexa. All the Smart Speaker functions including the information included in Alexa and connection to smart home devices work wonderfully. One function though that does not seem to work is calling friends with other Alexa devices. Perhaps this is fixed with future software updates, but in the meantime, don't use this speaker in an area where that feature is important. The speaker has a screen which shows what is playing or the time of day if nothing is playing and that feature is activated. Touch controls on the top are intuitive and work well. Would be nice if lighted, just don't use in a dark room or use voice controls instead. Back to the sound, it is fantastic. And if not perfect, through the app you can control treble and bass. I haven't taken this outside yet due to the time of the season, but based on how loud it is inside, I figure I can cover the entire back yard. Positives: great sound, easy set up (once you download the Bose Music app), ease of use and Alexa compatibility. Negatives: cannot call friends and issues I have with some of the music services that are supposed to work on this. Overall, Bose has hit another one out of the park.

At first, I was not sure what to make of the Bose Home speaker, it has a smallish color LCD screen, about 3” (measured diagonally). I thought maybe this was to use for video chats like the Amazon Echo Show. But there isn’t a camera on this device, it’s used to display the station and song information. This is an Alexa enabled smart speaker that has to be plugged into the wall (vs. portable Bluetooth speakers that are common). To sum it up, I see this as Bose ’s version of the Apple HomePod. Unboxing: The speaker is packaged 2 pieces of Styrofoam, simple but nicely, as one would expect from Bose. It includes the speaker and power cord. The speaker measures 8” tall, 7” wide, and 4.5” thick (at it’s widest point). The design of the Bose home speaker is very clean and seems well constructed. The weight is almost 5 lbs, it looks and feels like a quality product. I find the design a bit on the boring side though. Setup: Setup is simple using the “Bose Music” app. Currently, these are the supported music services: iHeartRadio, Pandora, Amazon Music, Deezer, Sirius XM, Spotify, TuneIn, Bluetooth, and AUX input. To play music using any other services, you need to connect to it via Bluetooth to stream to the speaker. The speaker has 6 preset “buttons” on top that you can set to certain preset stations, such as Z100 on iHeart Radio or your favorite Pandora station. You can program these using the Bose Music app. Sound Quality: I’ve always associated Bose with premium sound and have come to expect their speakers to have very strong mid and low bass levels. These speakers did not disappoint. From classical, to Imagine Dragons, everything I played on it, from various apps, sounded excellent! Accurate high levels and very good deep bass levels Music from this fills the room effortlessly. I also connected it to my TV to use as an external speaker and it worked nicely. However it would involve turning on the speaker, turning on the TV and selecting the speaker source, something the non-tech savvy occupants in my household wouldn’t do often. Alexa functionality: One of the main features of this speaker is the Alexa functionality built in. It handles many of the functions my Amazon Echo and Dots does, such as turn on and off lights that are connected to smart switches or control the thermostat. What it doesn’t do, and this is a big disappointment to me, is the drop in feature. We’ve gotten used to the “drop in feature” and find it very convenient. This may not be a Bose issue though, as I’ve used another 3rd party Alexa devices (wall switch) which did not support drop in. It really limits the usefulness for us. Conclusion: Overall, I love this Bose speaker for the sound quality and the simple design. I hope they update it to support all the Alexa functions. It would also be nice if AirPlay was supported. If I don’t connect the speaker to my phone via Bluetooth, the little triangle with a box around it (in a music app to output to AirPort devices) does not show the Bose speaker as a selection to output to.