Bose Home Speaker 500: Smart Bluetooth Speaker with Alexa Voice Control Built-In, Black

First off i would like to say, i own the Bose 500 and 300 speakers. They sound very good for their size and the 500 can definitely fill a living room with sound. Base is good and everything sounds very clear. If you have other Bose products you know the sound, and wont be disappointed. The main downside with this speaker is not the sound but the accessibility of the bose music app. More on that in a moment

Sound – As mentioned this is one of the strongest features of the speaker. It is a quality sound and can get loud. i have it in my living room and never use at more than 50% volume so cannot comment on distortion but unless your going to be in a massive room i dont think you should need to turn it to the upper volume levels.

Appearance – This looks clean and minimal. It can easily sit on any table or shelf and is unobtrusive. The screen on it is a nice touch though its practicality is limited. The main thing for me is doubles as a clock so you can put it on a table next to the couch and be able to see the time at glance. While it does show the album art this is more a novelty than anything because its too small to really recognize much unless your close and unless you know the album art of every song you’re better off just identifying it by listening. still its a nice touch.

Functionality – the speaker has 6 preset buttons on the top which can be set for any cpmaptiable service, whether it be a station, song mix etc. if you have something you always listen to, like a spotfiy daily mix, this is ideal to just walk over and select than have to pull your phone out all the time. It also has a mute button for the mic so you can turn that off if you arent keen on Bose music listening to everything you say. It is compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant (not home). though note that google home is more limited functionality. This was added later via firmware update so its not like having a Nest audio. it will perform basic functions like timers, weather, music, calendar sync, but keep in mind that the speaker does not support YouTube Music. Even though they are owned by same company. The speaker also supports apple airplay but NOT chromecast. This is a major issue which i will talk about next depending on what music service you favor. Spotify connect works flawlessly and alexa cast is decent but tends to lose sync more than normal (its still not great even on echos).

Music Services – Bose Music app supports the following services: Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, Pandora, IHeart Radio, TuneIn, Sirius XM radio. Notably missing services are Youtube Music and Tidal. These services are accesed through the Bose Music App, which has limited functionality. The good news with the app is its easy to use multiple services at once. You can switch between any of them seamlessly at any point. The biggest issue is that some of these services have better support through the app than others. Deezer is bare bones and unless you already have all the playlists saved, it is difficult to use it for any type of music discovery. Also you have to have premium version or you only get 30 second previews of songs. Iheart radio is okay if you only use it for radio or shuffle but does not support on demand or podcasts at all. Despite iheart advertising as one of the best podcast services you cannot use them through bose music. If you want podcasts you have to listen through TuneIn or spotify connect. Pandora is also only radio so if you have pandora premium you are SOL. Its very basic implementation.

I would say that Spotify and Amazon music have the most support, while there is a weird quirk with amazon music that for some reason you cannot favorite songs on the app or through voice unless it is on a station. If you have spotify and want a great speaker to play it on, this is perfect as you can totally discount the bose music app and just use spotify connect. i actually think Bose Music implementation of amazon music is better than Amazons own app, but that isnt saying much. Finally, airplay is supported but NOT chromecast. This is a massive oversight considering how poorly implemented some of the other services are through the Bose app. I could look past the medicore bose music app if i could just cast those services through chromecast but alas its not possible. so if you are on Deezer, Iheart, Pandora you are out of luck unless you can deal with the bose music app.

Setup/Ease of Use – when the speaker first came out there were issues with connection and setup. It takes forever to download firmware updates. there are numerous reviews that talk about nightmare experiences trying to get your bose music account synced and setup with the speaker. however, they have made multiple patches and i think now its mostly fine. the grouping also used to be finicky and would not always connect to the second speaker, but again since the last few updates this seems to have resolved itself. the voice functionality works but obviously favors amazon music. im old school though and still prefer to run things off my device and much prefer the original music service apps than bose music half implementation. Sound is great and if you are on one of the better supported services, like spotify or amazon you got a winner here. Its also usually on sale for $100 off so can easily be had for cheaper than list price. the full price is not worth it.

El sonido es muy bueno, disfrutarás los bajos en grande, bastante elegante y potente. El único inconveniente es la parte de Alexa, por alguna razón a veces no reconoce la voz como se espera, si hay más Alexas al rededor parece que está toma la más baja prioridad y no responde, lo que hace que la música se reproduzca en otra Alexa, opuesto a lo que esperarías, otro inconveniente es la reproducción de canciones, cuando le pides a una Alexa de Amazon tocar canción, la canción empieza después de que confirma que la tocará, es esta bocina la reproducción empieza antes de confirmar, lo que hace que Alexa esté hablando a la par que la canción está de fondo, es extraño y no disfrutas el inicio de la canción, espero se corrija con alguna actualización de software, a parte de eso disfrutarás en grande esta bocina.

I hesitated a long time before purchasing this product especially due to pricing and Bose reputation of being overpriced ! After reading reviews from reputable sources, comparing other brands at comparable pricing, the Bose 500 got my attention and decided to purchase it saying that it would be easy to return if I didn’t like the performance. Well !!! I am surprised first at the sound which I find well balanced and powerful enough for our family room of 14 x 22 ! The set up with the Bose app, Google assist and Spotify was very easy. The mic’s are sensitive and the Bose app does a good job to set the tone required. So yes I recommend this product !

La bocina es muy buena, algo que esperas de la marca la calidad de audio simplemente es increíble pero intentar usar Alexa es fatal, de inicio aunque tengas en Alexa la skill de apple para tu playlist con Apple Music no te permitirá reproducir tu música pues te dice que Apple Music no es compatible con el dispositivo y solo acepta hasta hoy Amazon music o spotify, es muy lenta con las instrucciones que le indiques y nada dinámica si lo comparas con un echo dot, tiene la ventaja de que si usas iOS puedes reproducir desde AirPlay pero nada más.