Bose Home Speaker 500 with Alexa voice control built-in, Silver

I had a horrible time trying to get it to work, but with help from my son I figured it out somehow. Wow though the sound was amazing when it came on!! How can you push out that kind of incredible music from such a small unit! I’m sold!!

I was so excited to get the Bose Home Speaker 500. This is a smart speaker with google assistant voice control built in. You can also pair this great speaker with your Amazon Alexa. The speaker appears to be superb quality and has a seamless anodized aluminum body giving it a beautiful finish. It is quite heavy too and would be difficult for animals to knock over. The sound that comes from this speaker is simply amazing. It is very loud and crisp. Inside the wireless speaker are two custom drivers that point in opposite directions for the purpose of bouncing sound off the walls. Since Google Assistant is built-in you will have access to any song or playlist. The device is great at hearing you speak, even if the volume is turned loud. This is accomplished by eight microphones that are located on it. The device is easy to use and pretty self-explanatory. You can control it from controls located on the top of the speaker or you should also be able to control it from the Bose Music app, which is a recommended download to your phone. You may also choose to use wi-fi, Bluetooth, or Apple AirPlay 2 – all of which are compatible. You may also choose to play from Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, or anything stored on your smart device. The speaker has the capability to set up to six different presets. You could choose to set them to playlists, internet radio stations, etc. You can also access any number of things, such as weather reports and setting timers. My only complaint so far with this great speaker is the Bose Music app. It is my understanding that the app can act as a remote control; however, mine will not work. I have downloaded the app and created an account but every single time I attempt to sign it it tells me there is a problem and to try again later. I have googled this problem and have yet to see a solution on how to make the app work. All in all, the speaker is amazing. The app may still have issues to work through.See more

Finally, I’ve found the perfect speaker! I’ve tried so many speakers but can’t find one loud enough until now! I love this speaker because it’s got amazing sound quality and is very loud! I really like the super sleek look as well. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!See more

The Bose Home Speaker 500 – Smart Speaker With Google Assistant Voice Control Built-in is a great speaker! It was easy to set up using directions and connected seamlessly to our wifi. The google assistant works well. The sound is very good and does sound like surround sound. I particularly like the screen with the color display which shows album covers and station logos when they are streaming. See my included photo to see this nice screen in action.This makes it easy to know what is playing! There are shortcut buttons on the top that you can set up and we have them set to local fm stations. The item looks nice and has a modern, classy look and feel. This speaker will serve you well for music, radio as well as your google assistant needs. Overall I give this item 5 stars. It was easy to set up, it is easy to use and it sounds really good.See more

Hands down the best smart speaker in the market. The sound is really good quality. I like that I can switch between alexa and Google. I have had smart speakers before but nothing like this one. It was really easy to set up. The phone app is easy and useful. The tiny screen is cute and shows the album picture you are playing. I can even play my apple music on it. It’s everything and more.See more

This speaker works perfectly for having music for the kids to dance through the day or when having visitors for dinner, once it’s safe to do it again of course. Great sound, compact design, available with google assistant and Alexa commands, easy to use, the only thing that would make it perfect is if it would have a rechargeable battery so I could take it outside, but overall I’m happy with this speaker.See more

The Google Mini was my first move towards “smart home” technology and it is hardly fair comparing it to the Bose Home Speaker. (10x price difference.) Still, I do have previous experience setting up a similar tool. The Mini has now been relocated and the Bose Speaker 500 is the main smart home tool. I love that they both operate on Google Assistant. I’m enjoying the quality of the music so much that I find myself listening to music way more often that I previously did. An unexpected outcome.Pros: – For all of the smart technologies I have set up, this was by far the most user-friendly and intuitive. You can tell that they put more money and research into developing their app and communications. Connection and set-up was fast and flawless. – Connects through Alexa and Google Assistant. I use Google Assistant. It follows all of the previous commands (Apps, TV, Lights) I set up with the Mini. (Minus one, in Cons.) – The sound quality, bass, and volume range is the best I have ever had in a speaker. It is top of the line. Sound is the best feature, as it should be.- Sound quality does not seem to diminish as the volume rises. For comparison, this thing’s 60% or so volume is the equivalent of max volume for my Google Mini, which will lose sound quality at max. The Bose Speaker can get LOUD. This one speaker can fill my entire house (1,500 sqft – one story) way before it hits max volume.Cons:- It could be user error and I can probably work out with a bit more time, but it is not recognizing “Pandora Radio” specifically. I ask it to play “Pandora” or “Pandora Radio”, which is connected and logged in, in the app – and it goes “Playing Pandora on Tune-in,” and plays some song named Pandora on Tune-In. Pandora Radio is set to the default Music Provider. I would delete access to Tune-In if it was an option. My Mini will play my Pandora Radio, so I do not think it is a Google Assistant problem. I can get Pandora to work invoking Presets or telling it to play a specific radio on Pandora. “Play Hidden Citizens Radio on Pandora,” will work.- Sometimes while it is rocking out, I tell it to “Pause” or “Pause Music” or “Stop” and it listens but just starts playing again. Can’t stop that groove, I guess. It might have a few issues with voice recognition? Once I had to flat out walk over and push the pause button. It was not getting the message through voice.See more

If you want beautiful, acoustic sound, then you want the Bose Home Speaker 500! The unit is rather sleek, fitting into nearly any space, while providing the most balanced stereo sound I have heard. It is nearly right on par with my bulky stereo system that has 6 external speakers and a bass speaker, but it is much more compact and does so much more. And, there is no remote control that I can misplace!You can integrate the Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa and use the voice-activated functions to play songs or listen to your favorite playlists. The set-up for this speaker was easy and took about 5-6 minutes to get it connected to my network. I simply downloaded the Bose Music app on my iPad Air and followed the prompts via the app. Make sure you disconnect your VPN (if you use one) while connecting the speaker to your network. Take some time to look through the app because there is access to all sorts of other apps like Spotify, radio stations, podcasts, etc, for streaming music and shows. You can create pre-sets in your app that allow you to simply touch the number on the speaker to play that chosen pre-set. This particular model also has a nice screen that shows you which device you are connected to and how, as well as what’s playing. To connect your device via Bluetooth, simply touch the “B” (Bluetooth) on the speaker and it will search for a Bluetooth-active device to pair it with. Likewise, if you prefer to connect via an auxiliary cable, simply choose “AUX” on the speaker. If you wish to turn the speaker off, just hold down the play/pause function on the speaker and it will disconnect from the device. I love music, especially when I am getting revved up for my day on my elliptical. This speaker puts out massive sound and the bass isn’t overwhelming, which is always a concern when living in a townhouse. You never want the bass reverberating through the neighbor’s walls because that’s just annoying to hear. I didn’t feel this speaker was overwhelmed by bass and offered crisp sound in all ranges. I have a couple of smaller battery-operated portable speakers, and granted this one is larger in comparison, but it is fairly portable. We moved it from the kitchen area to the dining room table – all I had to do was plug it in! It will automatically search for the last device it was connected to, and if that one isn’t available, it will search for the next one. I don’t know how they packed all of this amazing-ness into this sleek unit, but it truly doesn’t get any better than a Bose Home Speaker 500!See more

I’m in love! Not only does the Bose Home Speaker deliver incredible sound throughout my house, it’s also so very easy to set up; it’s a win-win. The speaker comes with the power cord and instructions. You will have to download the Bose Music app and just follow the instructions on the app. I have an iPhone and setup was very simple. I did have to download the Amazon Alexa app and I am still playing around with that. You can add “skills” and then tell your speaker what to do. It works great with Apple AirPlay and I have my Pandora linked with the Bose app. You can choose whether you want to use Google Assistant or Alexa and it’s easy to change back and forth if you change your mind. There are so many cool features about the speaker, I am learning new things everyday. I made mine shareable so my husband can control and use the speaker also. I love that I can ask Alexa the weather, time, ANYTHING. You can sync your calendar and your contacts with the speaker tell it to call or text your contacts. The top of the speaker has controls for volume and pre-sets and mic. You CAN turn the mic off also. I have nothing negative to say about this speaker.See more

The Bose Home Speaker 500 is much better than any other smart speaker I have owned. It was easy to set up. I downloaded the app and followed the instructions which successfully set up my speaker in minutes. I can even allow others to connect by Bluetooth through their Bose Music App. The sound is so crisp and I can feel the bass vibrate through my entire first floor in a good way. The speaker is weighted which is great for stability. I was worried about it moving due to bass vibrations, but it stays in place. My favorite way to communicate with my Bose Home Speaker is with my voice, but the touch controls on top are easy to use if I am close to the speaker. When I am further away from the speaker (like in a separate room), I use the app to communicate with the speaker. The screen on the front will show different album cover pictures. I use the Google Assistant and it works the same as my other smart speakers by answering questions about the weather, etc. I use Pandora to stream music through the speaker (using app or voice assistant), but you can literally stream from any provider or the app will make suggestions for you. One of my favorite sounds to listen to is beach waves, and through this speaker, I felt like I was literally at the beach. The sound is amazing.When I was exploring my speaker, one thing I was looking for was a USB port to charge my phone, but there is not a USB port. I think if this is something that I was looking for in the first few minutes of set up, it’s something worth noting. Also, I asked Google to show me a picture of a frog, and Google said,” Sorry I don’t show pictures, I don’t have a screen”. Because this speaker does have a screen, I wish it could show pictures other than album covers.See more