One of the best things about the amazing development of hi-tech comes from the possibilities it gives us to improve our home and lifestyle. We all want these days to turn our house into a smart one, where we’re always just one click of a button from improving our comfort.
A smart home speaker should be on your shopping list and with Bose Home Speaker 500 many things around the house are going to get a lot easier.
What is the Bose Home Speaker 500?
The new Bose Home Speaker 500 is the smart speaker from Bose which comes with Alexa, but also with support for AirPlay 2 and Google Assistant in the proximal future.
Even if the price tag may raise one’s eyebrow, the Bose Home Speaker 500 does stand from its competitors with its small screen that displays album art. It also includes Bose’s proprietary mic technology that we all know from Bose’s headsets and headphones, allowing the speaker to hear commands when music plays really loud. The Home Speaker 500 is going to pick up your requests no matter if it’s loud, noisy or close/far away from it. It’s going to hear you wherever you are in the room, no matter how loud the music is playing (in theory, anyway).
Let’s go through the details
It may be the looks (assuming that you don’t start with the price tag) that strike you at first, but the Bose Home Speaker 500 is more than meets the eye. Let’s take a closer look at some of its properties that set it apart from its competitors.
The novelty
The speaker impresses with its size (8x6x4inches) and features two custom drivers pointed in opposite directions. The manufacturer claims that this is why the home speaker is able to give true stereo separation from a single unit, as it bounces sound off walls. This way, the unit separates instruments to the far left and right, placing the vocals in the same place as the artist did.
Even if some are going to take this with a grain of salt, we should take their word for it. After all, Bose did make history when it comes to audio development. We’re pretty sure that Bose did find the secret to unibody stereo separation, despite the fact that we may pay an arm and a leg for it.
The design
The body is aluminum-wrapped and sure looks elegant and sleek. It looks similar to the Amazon Echo and does get something from the Sonos One as well (apart from the fact that it also comes with Amazon Alexa right out of the box). The home speaker does come with a screen, but it’s not a touchscreen. It actually features several buttons on top which are helping you to control playback.
The “1 2 3 4 5 6” numbers are in fact preset buttons that allow access to your no.1 playlist, internet stations and more. Some of the buttons inform you on the presence of an AUX jack, but also enable you to mute Alexa voice.
The high-end anodized aluminum casing doesn’t just look elegant, but it also has a modern and durability feel to it, protecting the elements inside. It also provides an amazing cabinet for the speakers.
The soundstage
According to Bose, the Bose Home Speaker 500 presents the widest soundstage of all smart speakers out there right now, which really becomes one fundamental property of the home speaker.
The microphone technology
The proprietary microphone technology is something that really helps Bose Home Speaker 500 stand out. The home speaker comes with a custom design which includes 8 microphones, very well placed so that the precision of voice picks up for the near-field and far-field is never disappointing. Let’s remember that Bose does have the best noise-cancellation in headphones, which only smart algorithms and good microphones can give. The same principle was used by Bose for improving the voice control and for getting more accuracy as well.
The Alexa function
The Bose Home Speaker 500 comes with Alexa which is able to help you control tracks and playlists with your voice. You may also rely on other functions of Amazon’s digital assistant.
The miscellaneous
The Bose Home Speaker 500 is also great as it comes with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It’s also going to come with AirPLay 2 in early 2019 so you can stream from your Apple devices.
What are the pros and cons of the Bose home speaker 500?
We know that Bose Home Speaker 500 is not all roses and rainbows, but we’re not going to back down over some inherent flaws.
First thing first, let’s list our favs about it:
It’s a smart speaker with voice control
The sound performance and noise cancellation are amazing
It’s easy to operate
It looks sleek and subtle
It comes with Amazon Alexa; it’s going to include other voice assistant not far in the future, though
You’re going to be able to stream Apple AirPlay2 in the early 2019 too
Far from being deal-breakers, the downsides are only few to mention:
The screen isn’t a touch model
Some think that its design is a tad weird
It’s not quite a cheap home speaker
What’s our bottom line?
Easy to use, ensuring amazing sound quality and helping you turn your home into a smart one, the Bose Home Speaker 500 doesn’t disappoint. It gives you Alexa too and you should put your trust and faith in it, even if your wallet is going to get a lot thinner afterwards. It may work as an outdoor speaker as well, but you may want to get a more powerful one there.
The “1 2 3 4 5 6” numbers are in fact preset buttons that allow access to your no.1 playlist, internet stations and more. Some of the buttons inform you on the presence of an AUX jack, but also enable you to mute Alexa voice.
