Customer Ratings & Reviews

I listened to the sound bars on display and then noticed the Bose sound bar off to the side & asked to hear it. Hands down the best tone of them all!

This is a perfect size soundbar for my 65” LG Oled. Didn’t sync very well with wireless bose speakers. Works nice as a stand alone.

I have this set up with my LG OLED and it’s amazing. The Alexa feature is a bit confusing and there are practically no indicator lights, but I’ll figure it out.

I love love love this sound bar I need to add the other speakers to it to complete it and I will be extra happy

With the advent of smart speakers entering the soundbar space, Bose recently released two smart enabled (Alexa) based soundbars namely the Bose 500 and Bose 700 series. This review focuses on the Bose 500 soundbar which is the lower end of the two soundbars. Given that this is smaller than the 700 series soundbar, it is geared for smaller spaces as it measures 31 inches in length which is perfect for 40-inchTVs in my opinion but obviously any TV can do. And though Bose does not really release specs on speakers, I can say that this is a very much capable speaker of creating room-filling sound without sound being distorted at higher volume. (But if you still want louder then the 700 is the soundbar for you.) It has that classic Bose signature sound that it’s either you like it or hate it. But if you hate it, you wouldn’t read the reviews here.  And given that it has that classic signature sound from Bose, one may ask who would one choose it over the Bose Solo 5 which is a top selling product from Bose but sells fro half the price. It’s mainly because of both wireless connectivity and expandability which the Bose Solo 5 does not have. I like the fact that Bose made this soundbar (as well as the Bose 700 and Bose Soundtouch 300) have wireless expandability. The Bose 500 and include the 700 and 300 as well are modular in design in which a sub-woofer and surround speakers can be added. And though each soundbar has its own matching sub-woofer, they can be mix-matched depending on your preference for the sub-woofer. The rear speakers work in all three soundbars. That said, Bose has ensured that you can have a basic setup or on with more bass or a complete 5.1 system. It’s all up to the user. And that’s a good thing. I only wish Bose could have release a whole package at a discounted price though. What differentiates the Bose 500 (and 700) from the Soundtouch 300 is the addition of Alexa thereby putting Bose back in the game. From today’s trend, sound from speakers is not the only the factor in purchasing one but also other features such as wireless connectivity. This has already started to become a norm for soundbars. And as far as Alexa is concerned, it performs as expected in the Bose 500 I have though there was one instance that I have to activate Alexa again to make it function. As far as this soundbar is concerned, this performs as expected and is highly recommended. And for those wanting a fuller sound the Bose 500 sub-woofer is highly recommended and might as well include the rear surround speakers as well for a full home theater experience.

easy to set up , did not play nice with ARC channel on Sony TV needed to purchase a TOS-link cable to correct having to select video input every time TV was turned on.

If you want to relax in your bedroom, this is the speaker for you. Not to rough, just enough to make you happy in a small room.

I can’t wait to buy the subwoofer to go with this, but the sounds quality of it with just the bar on its on it’s outstanding! Feels like I’m in a theatre

I listened to a Bose setup and had to have it. The salesman knew the product and saved me some money on an open box. I'll be back.

This sound bar has enhanced our viewing and listening experience. Very pleased . Also Best But staff were knowledgeable with product!

I love my bow's surround sound it is the best one I've bought so far Do recommend this item

This thing is awesome. Took a bit to figure out it’s capabilities but I’ve synced it in with smart devices in my home, love the Alexa feature.

The sound bar worked great with my Samsung tv for about 5 days and then it didn’t anymore. Went through the protocol of unplugging everything let it rest and plugged back in and it works for a couple of days and then it doesn’t. After about 3 cycles of this just gave up and plugged in an audio line, which I had to purchase separately. At lot of money for a sound bar with connection issues. Too late to return for a refund. Or I probably would.

The title says it all. Wanted a good quality speaker. It was within our budget and we have it hooked up all of our equipment!

Bad A. I have bought several sound system and my Bose hands down is the best choice I have made. Also the customer service was excellent.

Love this speaker, very good bass and sound. Does not take up a lot of space like other speakers, worth the money.

AWESOME Soundbar for the price!!! Bounces sound around the room nicely...Only really for a small apartment or bedroom.

This sound bar was easy to install and has great speakers. Switching to radio, spotify, siriusXM, and back to tv with ease.

This along with the Bose surround sound speakers are a great addition for your movie experience.

First thing I noticed after unboxing the soundbar was that its very well made. The front that wraps around is all metal and the finish of the top and bottom is matte which I think is easier to clean and dust. I would consider it a mid sized soundbar. Its not overly sized but not super small either. Its a tad smaller and thinner overall than your typical soundbar. It does come with instructions but all they say is to plug in everything, install the Bose music app, and then follow the instructions in the app. Pretty straight forward I guess. I like that they included a hdmi cable. Make sure you use the arc hdmi port on your tv so the tv can turn off the soundbar or in the case of alexa she can turn off your tv when shutting down the soundbar. You have to use the Bose app for initial setup. Its steps you though everything, wifi setup, naming, amazon setup, etc. Once your done you can also fine tune sound and use it to stream audio. Takes a little bit of time to get use to the layout and what not but the app works pretty well. Ive always gone under the impression that bigger speakers mean better sound. Well thats not always true as I found out here. The soundbar has five speakers in it. Three facing forward, and one on each side. You can opt for the bass module and two side speakers as well which are all sold separately so in the end it really is a modular system. I did paired the matching Bass Module 500 Subwoofer with it but this review is for the 500 soundbar only. The sound that comes out of this thing is very full and deep. It has way more bass than I expected for its size. The highs come out very well too. It really does sound fantastic, but I wasn't blown away by its sound. I then ran a comparison with my older but bigger sound bar and it does sound quite a bit better. My family also agreed that this one sounded better overall. With most soundbars out of the box I have to change the profile or adjust the settings to get it so I can hear dialog during tv/movies. Although it does have a dialog setting in the app I didn't need to adjust it at all. The default settings worked really well and I have yet to need to adjust anything. Everything comes out very clear. It comes with a ADAPTiQ audio room calibration headset to fine-tune the system's sound specifically to your room if you want to use it. I noticed it doesn't have some of the fancy features other expensive soundbars have such as hdmi 4k/hdr pass though and some of the newer audio format support. But if you by a Bose sound system your not buying it for that purpose. Your typically buying it for the sound quality and ease of use. For the price I wish they would include the bass module with it which most companies do but at least you have the option. The alexa integration is a really nice added feature. You get all the typical Amazon AI which I'm not going to get to much into here. One thing I really like is that you can even ask her to turn off the soundbar which then also turns off the tv as well. Having this integrated really makes this a next level soundbar and justifies the price. You can also turn off the mic if you don't want it listening all the time. If your looking for a mid sized soundbar with great sound or one you can add onto to make it even better look no further.