Customer Ratings & Reviews

As usual with bose speaker products,this small unit delivers big sound,the frequency range covers a wide range of bass notes but tends to become distorted at higher volume levels,as for the full range mid-level and hi-level frequencies,music is crisp,smooth and clear,a word of warning,i recommend purchasing the extended warranty as the unit tends to provide either more power then the speaker can accommodate or the units powered amplifier doesn't provide ample clean RMS power to the speaker causing distortion that quickly damaged the first speaker unit i had previously purchased causing me to have to initiate my extended warranty within a few months,overall,the unit provides a good clean sound at a reasonable volume level.

Wasn’t satisfied with the superior voice pickup of mic’s that were advertised on the Bose 500 versus the Bose 300 the 8 mics really isn’t a big difference versus the 6 mics it’s clear and pretty loud but trying to call her name while music is blasting then no it’s not as easy you have to be within several feet of the speaker to get a good clear connection between you to.

Bose name great product wish I had one more great full sound. Very good bass good comprehensive sound full spectrum fills the room symphoniclly

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.

Bought this speaker with the intention of using it for audio books and it has blown my mind away in terms of sound. But one caveat that is just purely a Bose software issue is the app you have to use for this speaker at times the app doesn't work and thus you wont be able to use Alexa or voice controls. But when on Bluetooth their is no issues and the sound can get extremely loud, the bass is nice for a speaker of this size.

But dang it's worth it sometimes. When I was in the market for a new Bluetooth speaker, naturally I looked up Bluetooth speakers on the internet. I originally had a JBL Charge 4 but was looking for something a tad better. I had a 10 year old Bose Bluetooth speaker that out-performed this brand new JBL. So I sold the JBL and went to my local Best Buy to pick up the Bose Smart Speaker 500. When I got home, I had expected a fully wireless experience given that's usually what pops up when you search for Bluetooth speakers. I was very disappointed when I found out it had to be plugged in if you wanted to use it. I'm willing to admit that it's my fault I didn't research it more in depth. But that's not why I'm giving it 4 stars, I'll get to that in a bit. So I thought, "what the heck? I'll give it a shot anyways." So I plugged it up and gave it a whirl. Initially, I was very very disappointed. Maybe I was still disappointed from it not being wireless, but who knows? Setting it up, you need to have the Bose App, which for me wasn't a problem, as I already have their QC earbuds. It did take a good bit to actually get set up enough to play music, maybe about 10 minutes. After hooking it up to the internet, I pair my phone via Bluetooth and give it a go. The first thing I noticed was that the screen that displayed the album artwork (which is the whole reason I chose it over the 300) doesn't work for Bluetooth alone. I was very let down because I had just bought a relatively expensive speaker and it didn't do what I thought it would do. The next thing I noticed was that the trebles (what is usually associated with clarity of voices) were noticeably louder at the back of the speaker. This was almost a deal breaker for me because it made it sound like I was behind the singer rather than in front of them like I was backstage instead of in the audience. As much as I may wish for this to be, it's not something I want from a top-notch speaker. I convinced myself to still give the speaker a shot, after all I just paid almost $400 (after taxes of course) for it. I took it from my kitchen table into my bedroom, set it on a table, and fired it back up. I played the same song to really hear the difference and see if location could play a factor in sound; and it absolutely does. At first it wasn't significantly better but then I moved it further against the wall and the difference felt like night and day; that was the deciding factor in keeping it. I then messed with the speaker settings in the app and set the bass and treble a bit higher and *chef's kiss*. This speaker performs best against a wall and boy does it perform. Everything about this speaker has the Bose stamp of quality that sets them head and shoulders above everyone else. For not releasing actual specs about this speaker (hertz range for example), or any speaker of theirs for that matter, one can't help but to worry about sound quality. But c'mon, it's Bose we're talking about here. The sound is crisp and clear with thumping bass if you want it. What's that? You live in an apartment with paper thin walls and don't want the cops called on you for a noise complaint? You can go to the app and turn down the bass to fit your needs. It's honestly an amazing speaker IF it's in the right setting. However I've given this 4 stars for 4 reasons. The first is, there's no way for me to give it 4.5 stars but I can't give it a perfect score. The second is because it's best against a wall. I don't feel like I can move my speaker more than 1 foot, maybe 2 away from my wall before we go back to the backstage problem. Third, and this is rather minor, there's no feel marks for the buttons. What I mean by this is there's no indentations or little raised dots to indicate where each button is. In the dark, this can be very problematic as you will most likely hit the wrong button. Finally, I can't help but feel like I'm paying for a brand name. Don't get me wrong, I love Bose but how much better is this over a $60 home system? The answer is good enough for me to keep coming back and buying their products. Bose is built upon a fan base that doesn't just listen to music, but loves to enjoy it. They add that extra clarity or extra crispness that you've come to expect from them and this does not fail to deliver that level of quality.

I know Bose creates great products but I didn’t expect this speaker to sound as good as it does. It has a very rich deep sound. It must be loaded with speakers because it’s a pretty heavy speaker for the size. It was a snap to set up with the Bose app and it connects super fast to my phone. No waiting or searching for the connection. It’s connected in a second! It’s perfect for any room in the house and moving it from one location to another is easy and really sounds amazing. I didn’t expect that it would sound so good. I kind of thought it was a, “Hey! Apple just put out a home speaker and we need to grab our share of the matket!” Product decision. But overall I like it so far. It has presets for all your favorite pandora or Spotify stations and Alexa makes it easy to get the weather or to find a new artist or song. She picks up quite fast compared to some other “assistants” I’ve used in the past. My only issue with it is the cost. I would expect something like this speaker to cost in the 299 range instead of the 400 dollar range but other than that it’s hard to beat.

This is a great little speaker for a home office. It looks great and sounds wonderful. Easy to program and works well with Android phones. I didn't think that I needed it, but my husband really liked it alot so we kept in in his office. Planning to purchase 1 more and sync the two.

Another amazing product from Bose. I could not be happier with the sound and it looks absolutely amazing also. I have been able to stream music from my iPhone, Amazon Music, other music apps, and others phones successfully. I have not created a "pairing" with my Bose 700 Soundbar as of yet as I have not had a excuse to, but I am looking forward to it. The only issue I have found was that there are times I have to give the "Alexa command" more then once every now and then. For me, this is NOT a deal breaker. I cannot say this enough, I absolutely love my Bose - Home Speaker 500 and have intentions on purchasing another one.

This is a great speaker don’t get me wrong. It would get a five star review if it weren’t so dang expensive. It just seems to be a little overpriced for what you get. That being said, the sound quality is pretty good for a single speaker like this. I use it to play music and to supplement my televisions horrible sound. Does great on most mid range base, but heavy bass it’s not designed to handle (obviously it’s a single speaker). Overall it’s a great speaker it’s just a little on the expensive side

I have several Alexa's and even an Echo Show. I wanted something for the bathroom with higher output and clarity as I shower and get ready in the mornings. I could have used an Alexa standard, but I use those for home automation and in places that have less noise. This things sounds amazing, you can tell they concentrate on sound quality here. It has a great range for the size of the unit and it's not over the top in cost. The downsize is, my Echo Show sounds ..almost..not quite close, but close enough to wonder why I bought it. The Echo show also shows me my recipe videos and plays my youtube channels, that along with weather reports and connecting with my fireplace, projector scree and Ring doorbell are what make it better. But, I got this for sound and volume output, so it hit the boxes I wanted for a noisy bathroom, or simply soaking in the tub. If you want superb sound and don't care for home automation, get this.

This speaker has good sound and is beautiful to look at, especially when the display is showing album artwork and artist info. However, my speaker shuts off by itself and has to be reset frequently. Alexa sometimes don't understand what I'm saying. In addition, Alexa's adaptive volume can't be enabled on this speaker. The album artwork from my personal playlist won't show on the speaker's display as it does with radio stations like Pandora.

First off let me say the quality of the speaker both sonically and the build quality are what we all come to expect from bose. The body is aluminum and it looks awesome in the triple black. Being that i already have a lot of smart products in my home I would go with this speaker to further take control of my everyday appliances. Sometimes the function doesn’t always work the way it should and the display at the front is creative but looks dated compared to the screens were now use to. I gave 4 out of 5 stars because it sounds amazing you can even add treble or bass and make your own sound similar to jaybird but the price is very high and considering the screen is predated i gave it 4 stars. Overall solid pickup if it’s on sale or you have extra income at your disposal.

Very easy to set up and use. Many functions that I loved, especially the display which shows artist album cover art. Clear, crisp sound as you would expect from Bose but not enough bass so I sadly returned it.

Great sounding speaker. A big improvement over my previous Harmon Kardon. Very clear with good bass. Great balance. However, if you are looking for a bass monster, this is probably not your speaker. The only problem comes with the bluetooth connection. Bose wants you to play your music through their Home App connected via Wifi. Unfortunately for me, I use YouTube Music and that is not supported by their app. On rare occasions, the connection will drop off and be spotty. I know it's not just my phone because we tried it on multiple phones with the same result. Given the rarity of this event, I would still recommend this speaker for its sound quality.

Solid, quality speaker regarding build. I wouldn't consider myself an audiophile. So while it probably has limitations for the perfectionist, its size and sound quality exceed my expectations. Slight downgrade because it was a little more difficult than I expected to set up; and I find that Alexa is not as responsive as on my echo speakers, but I didn't purchase it for that. I purchased this as an "excellent" open box to save a few more bucks. I do that with most of my BB purchases and have never been disappointed. Still expensive but it has been well worth it for me.

I'm rating this speak a 4, even though I returned it to Best Buy. The sound is excellent and it is much smaller than I thought it would be based on the photos. I loved the portability, using the built-in battery. The ONLY issue I had with the speak was the Amazon Alexa integration. While it will talk with Alexa, allowing you to change songs, etc.. The deal killer for me, however, was that Bose will not integrate with an Alexa speaker group. Instead, Bose has its own speaker grouping software. Very disappointing.

I purchased this while it was on sale. 50 dollars off. But other than that it's a great little speaker. Easy to use and the app is simple to use once set it up. It is a little confusing to set up. I had trouble setting up my spotify premium account but got it to sync up. Sound is pretty good. I expected this to have a little bit more bass but it's still good enough. So far so good. Good purchase, while it's on sale.

Works well and sounds great. Used it mostly this past summer with projector for outdoor movie viewing. Wish it held a charge that you could use without plugging it in…missed that wasn’t an option when purchasing.

I use this primarily in my home office while working or gaming. Sound: Awesome for a small speaker. Good low end. Minimal onboard equalizer controls. User Friendliness: Included instructions and material are not very detailed. I've had to go online to look for documentation on getting the most out of the speaker as well as understanding all the meanings for the different colored alerts on the main screen. If you've never used Alexa before it can be a bit of a learning curve. Quality/Construction: So far so good. No functional issues or anything. Make sure you have really good wifi. It seems to work better when I cast from my cellphone as the phone acts as a buffer between my wifi and the speaker whereas if I have a timeout on my wifi service it seems to disconnect easily.