Top positive review
130 people found this helpful
Very Happy with this Purchase - Excellent Streaming Speaker
By Steven on Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2019
For the past few years, I've been listening to music on Amazon Echo speakers, which I had synced in various rooms throughout my house. Because I had been listening to music more and more, when my family and I decided to move, I wanted to upgrade my speakers. I originally was set on getting a pair of the KEF LSX. Though I've never heard them, after all my research, I am sure they are amazing speakers. I also wanted to get some other less expensive speakers (at least compared to the LSX) for other parts of the house that I could sync to (using Air Play 2). I tested out a lot of options in this price range (and even a bit more expensive, like the Sonos Play 5). When we were in the process of moving, I decided on and ordered a Home Speaker 500. After using it for a day, I was so impressed by this speaker that I decided to forego the KEF LSX and just use the Bose throughout the house, so I ordered two more. So, for about the price of on set of LSX, I now have awesome speakers throughout my house. I'm sure I sacrificed sound quality by not getting the LSX (and I definitely sacrificed getting stereo sound on a wide soundstage), but, honestly, I love the sound of the Home Speaker 500, so I don't think I need anything that is 'audiophile' grade. What I Love Most: -The sound is full and rich. I don't know how to describe it otherwise, but everything I listen to sounds fantastic. -The speakers can also get really loud without any discernible distortion. I haven't pushed them to their full volume as they are quite loud enough even at 50% or 60%, and the sound really does fill the room (and the next room!). -The look & overall build quality. They are really handsome speakers with a substantial size without being too bulky. I also appreciate the aluminum finish much more than I expected I would. The aluminum also gives the speaker a really nice heft to it. Nothing about this speaker feels or looks cheap to me (which is partly why it's not a cheap speaker, obviously). -The screen. I have read reviews that criticize the screen as not useful and not in line with the current aesthetic for speakers. But, honestly, I listen to a lot of playlists on Spotify, and it's nice to be able to see what's playing. And, even when I'm playing stuff I know, I like seeing the album art. -EQ adjustments in the Bose app. You can change treble and bass on a pretty wide range (-100 to 100, with 0 being default). When we first moved in, we didn't have any rugs down, so the sound was way too bright. A small adjustment in the EQ made a huge difference. Now that we have some rugs down, I've adjusted the EQ again back towards the default, and they continue to sound great. Even though these speakers don't self-tune like some of the other speakers in this class (Sonos, Apple, and Google all do to some extent), the tuning you can do as a user I think will make these speakers work for you in any space. And, the speaker does have a host of microphones, so self-tuning is always something Bose could add in the future. (Minor) Complaints -The way groups work is a little different than with Amazon's Echo ecosystem. Instead of creating groups ahead of time, you have to go into the Bose app to create groups ad hoc. So, you can't ask Alexa to play music on a particular group of these Bose speakers. Instead, you have to get music started on one speaker and then create the group you want in the Bose app. Once it's set up and is playing continuously, any music command given to Alexa continues to play on that group. If you stop playing music, the group eventually dissolves. The positive to this is that you can also edit groups (add and remove speakers) on the fly without really interrupting the music. With the Echo ecosystem, I don't think this was possible (except possibly if you were using Spotify Connect with your Echo groups). -The app and software can be a bit buggy. It always does what I want it to -- eventually. And it doesn't take long to do what I want it to do. But it also doesn't always work the first time (such as creating or editing a group). Also, album art sometimes disappears, replaced by a generic, white musical note. I will say that the more I have used my speakers, the less buggy the system tends to be. Maybe I'm just becoming more proficient at navigating the software's quirks, or maybe Bose is making some updates to the speakers that I am not aware of. -Bose used two side-firing drivers in this speaker, which is supposed to give a wider soundstage for stereo sound. I don't really hear much stereo in these speakers, even with songs that have a lot of it (such as "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service). That said, the side-firing speakers do create a more room-filling sound as Bose claims. And, really, similar to the Echo, the sound quality doesn't change a lot no matter where you are in relationship to the speaker (though the little stereo you might get straight on gets lost completely if you are not more or less straight on to the front or back of the speaker). All in all, I absolutely recommend this speaker. It's a bit on the pricier side compared to some of the other speakers it gets compared to (but not all), but, for what I was looking for, I'm really quite satisfied.
Top critical review
54 people found this helpful
No, No and NO AGAIN! A Disgraceful Product By Bose!
By Jazzbutcher on Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2022
Hi! Don't get me wrong; I've always liked Bose Products tremendously. I had a set of Bose Desktop Companion 3 Speakers which sounded incredibly great, but I traded them up for Bose Desktop Companion 5's which sound even better (had a set of Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones which sounded great too!). Here's the problem that I have with the Bose Home Speaker 500. It's a BLUETOOTH speaker with Alexa BUILT IN, right? Well... any of Amazon's Echo Products do NOT connect to Bluetooth devices especially well... and the Alex App does NOT find this speaker at all. Period. Even when I specifically did a search for Blue Tooth Devices in the Alexa App, it STILL doesn't find it. Case in point: I have Klipsh (Bluetooth) Speakers and the Alexa App DOESN'T find them either; never could, never did, and never will (so I hardwired them instead). And that's one thing I've learned from past experience: If I'm not able to discover a device using the Alexa App, chances are that I'm going to run into problems with WHATEVER device I'm attempting to use. The Bose Home Speaker 500 is no exception: I will say that the SOUND of this speaker is incredible, but that's the ONLY thing good i can say about the Bose 500. As far as I'm concerned, all the rest is crap. The first thing I had to do was install the Bose Music App which really only allowed me to connect my speakers to WiFi (I had to use the Bose Music App to connect to WiFi), but that's about it. The app also allowed me raise or lower the volume of the speaker, change bass treble and such, and/or change the source that I was using (Auxiliary/Bluetooth) but other than that the "Music App" wasn't much of a music app at all (because that's pretty much ALL it does). Not an impressive app at all especially since it DOES come from Bose and they're a company that tends to boast about superb music quality. With the Bose Music App there's nothing "superb" too see OR hear. Additionally, I lost my WiFi connection to the speaker no less then five times in a two day period. Unlike Alexa (which automatically reconnects to all my Echo's if I loose my WiFi connection) this speaker does NOT "re-discover" itself once the WiFi connection is lost. Instead I had to reset the speaker to factory settings, and run through the set-up process all over again (and it's not because my WiFi single is weak either. My WiFi Router is located in my bedroom within 12 feet of the speaker, and my WiFi signal is excellent... (I checked). You CAN'T control the volume level on this speaker with Alexa to any great extent at all. You can say: "Alexa, lower the volume", and the sound will go down just a little bit, or if you say "Alexa, raise the volume, and the sound will go up a little bit, but saying: "Alexa, volume level 5, volume level 7, volume level ANYTHING doesn't do a thing... so once again, the Bose 500 doesn't work with Alexa like any of Amazon's Echo Dot family of speakers work with Alexa. Furthermore, I was UNABLE to connect this speaker to ANY other speaker in my apartment. I have my speakers to play on the "Everywhere Group". If I say: "Alexa, play "Dirty Laundry by Don Henley EVERYWHERE", the song will play in all the rooms of my apartment with the EXCEPTION of my bedroom (which is where I had the Bose 500 situated). Since this is a BLUETOOTH speaker that is designed to connect to a WIRELESS network (but since the speaker is non-discoverable by the Alexa App) I could NOT connect this speaker to my "Everywhere Group" at all... which means that it's one HELL of an expensive door-stop as far as I'm concerned. Totally worthless. I WAS planning on setting up a REALLY nice sound system in my home, and was going to use Bose everything, but now I've decided against buying Bose ANYTHING at this point. I mean how can you sell a product, say that it's compatible with Alexa, only to find out that it really DOESN'T work with Alexa? Actually, I don't understand a lot of these companies that manufacture speakers. They make BLUETOOTH speakers that connect to WiFi (using THEIR app of course), when instead it would be a whole lot easier if they made WiFi speakers that are COMPATIBLE with Bluetooth peripherals and what not. On the other hand, why doesn't Amazon develop devices (or an app) that are each better equipped to connect to Bluetooth devices? Most folks that I know these days use services like Amazon Music, Spotify and Pandora, but those are all internet connected services. I receive them through my WiFi network, and it makes sense to have devices that are SPECIFICALLY designed to use a WiFi connection (not the other way around). I mean seriously. the Echo "family" of speakers connect via WiFi, which is why they're essentially "plug and play" speakers. No fuss no muss. The Bose 500 speaker is NOT worth the money. It only plays in one room, it can't be used in conjunction to any WiFi speakers that grouped in the Alexa App, and it drops WiFi connectivity on a regular basis. Sounds great, but definitely not worth the expense. At this point I'm going to find a different speaker system that actually WORKS with Alexa, or just get rid of all my Echo's and replace them with something else altogether. The Bose 500 is going back though.
Sort by:
Filter by:
By -
Verified Amazon Purchase
Vine Customer Review of Free Product
Sorry, no reviews match your current selections.
Try clearing or changing some filters.Show all reviews
Show more reviews