Bose Home Speaker 500 and 300 review
Bose Home Speaker 500 and 300 review
Bose has been making speakers that either impress you or receive a lot of flak, depending on whether you like their marketing. I used to make fun of the Bose Jewels. They did sound bad, but they cost a lot more than other speakers and there have been exposes on what goes into their speakers.
Many generations down, they have gone from strength to strength, and there are still detractors, but evidently there are sufficient fans who are willing to pay.
The Home Speaker series is their latest iteration, coming after the Soundtouch models, which interestingly are still in stock.
The tech blurb on these speakers:
Bose 500
Some key features:
Airplay 2 enabled
Bluetooth
3.5mm input
6 presets
Phone app
Internet radio and music streaming
Alexa / Google enabled (depending on your region)
They have a rather small footprint, and the 500 comes with a screen, and stereo speakers. The body is made from a sturdy metal, and there is a substantive heft to them.
I had very little trouble setting them up. You download the app, and it will take you through the connection process. Within 5 minutes, I was listening to music.
One of the main reasons I got this was to listen to the internet radio. Analogue FM reception is quite weak in the middle of my home, so I rely on streaming to get my radio fix. Therefore, the six presets come in really handy, and you get touch control. You do lose the remote that came with the earlier Soundtouch series, but you get lossless playback with Apple Airplay as well as Bluetooth, so you get lossless playback.
So how does it sound?
Having played with some of their Soundtouch series, as well as some JBL models, I think you will be very impressed with their sound quality. There is no doubt that you are getting a lot of sound for your money, but it is a lot of money.
For such a small speaker, the bass is amazing and there is real meat and thump. However it does not go that deep and you will miss the last few octaves. But they will latch onto a nice beat easily. The 500 does go significantly deeper and the mids are better, so if you can stretch to them, they are worth the extra cash. However if you just need a compact radio and some background music, these are costly and the 300 will do most of what the 500 does, sans a bit of bass and separation. I had no issues with dropouts and signal reception was great. I think it's essential to have good quality wifi signal to enjoy good sound. (I have a 1 Gb fibre line and my wifi signal averages 500 mps with the use of Goggle Mesh).
The spread of sound is very good and it will definitely play loud enough for a whole living room. You will find beat filled music benefits the most, but I actually also found that news broadcasts benefit from the extra bass in the 500 compared to the 300. I also had a Soundtouch 10, and the extra bass and mid quality in the 500 is noticeable.
The extra value add which differentiates them from the older Bose speakers is that they are Alexa or Google enabled. But depending on your region, they may or may not be supported, so do check:
Smart Assistant region availability
I found that Google support is more limited and slower to react than Alexa. It's also faster to say "Alexa" than "hey Goggle" :) Furthermore Goggle does not give aural feedback unlike Alexa.
Now this may not be very important to those using voice control, but the preset buttons are a real boon. You can quickly get to what you want, and for the older buyers who may not be familiar with this tech, it's a real solid feature. You can program the presets, just like a regular radio and they can then press the buttons to listen to their favorite broadcasts and then press pause to turn it off. It's actually not easy to find such an internet radio on the market at any price. Bose also uses a variety of radio streaming options and you can find virtually any channel. Then just press and hold onto the preset buttons and viola! It's all set!
So should you get one?
Well there are competitors for the price, especially from the Sonos family, but to me, it's a good package that has internet radio with a good sound and supports both Airplay and Bluetooth. It is also easy to use with the physical buttons and sounds great!
____________________________________________________________
I have no financial interest or other interests in any of the items / events I write about.
Bose has been making speakers that either impress you or receive a lot of flak, depending on whether you like their marketing. I used to make fun of the Bose Jewels. They did sound bad, but they cost a lot more than other speakers and there have been exposes on what goes into their speakers.
Many generations down, they have gone from strength to strength, and there are still detractors, but evidently there are sufficient fans who are willing to pay.
The Home Speaker series is their latest iteration, coming after the Soundtouch models, which interestingly are still in stock.
The tech blurb on these speakers:
Bose 500
Some key features:
Airplay 2 enabled
Bluetooth
3.5mm input
6 presets
Phone app
Internet radio and music streaming
Alexa / Google enabled (depending on your region)
They have a rather small footprint, and the 500 comes with a screen, and stereo speakers. The body is made from a sturdy metal, and there is a substantive heft to them.
I had very little trouble setting them up. You download the app, and it will take you through the connection process. Within 5 minutes, I was listening to music.
One of the main reasons I got this was to listen to the internet radio. Analogue FM reception is quite weak in the middle of my home, so I rely on streaming to get my radio fix. Therefore, the six presets come in really handy, and you get touch control. You do lose the remote that came with the earlier Soundtouch series, but you get lossless playback with Apple Airplay as well as Bluetooth, so you get lossless playback.
So how does it sound?
Having played with some of their Soundtouch series, as well as some JBL models, I think you will be very impressed with their sound quality. There is no doubt that you are getting a lot of sound for your money, but it is a lot of money.
For such a small speaker, the bass is amazing and there is real meat and thump. However it does not go that deep and you will miss the last few octaves. But they will latch onto a nice beat easily. The 500 does go significantly deeper and the mids are better, so if you can stretch to them, they are worth the extra cash. However if you just need a compact radio and some background music, these are costly and the 300 will do most of what the 500 does, sans a bit of bass and separation. I had no issues with dropouts and signal reception was great. I think it's essential to have good quality wifi signal to enjoy good sound. (I have a 1 Gb fibre line and my wifi signal averages 500 mps with the use of Goggle Mesh).
The spread of sound is very good and it will definitely play loud enough for a whole living room. You will find beat filled music benefits the most, but I actually also found that news broadcasts benefit from the extra bass in the 500 compared to the 300. I also had a Soundtouch 10, and the extra bass and mid quality in the 500 is noticeable.
Smart Assistant region availability
I found that Google support is more limited and slower to react than Alexa. It's also faster to say "Alexa" than "hey Goggle" :) Furthermore Goggle does not give aural feedback unlike Alexa.
Now this may not be very important to those using voice control, but the preset buttons are a real boon. You can quickly get to what you want, and for the older buyers who may not be familiar with this tech, it's a real solid feature. You can program the presets, just like a regular radio and they can then press the buttons to listen to their favorite broadcasts and then press pause to turn it off. It's actually not easy to find such an internet radio on the market at any price. Bose also uses a variety of radio streaming options and you can find virtually any channel. Then just press and hold onto the preset buttons and viola! It's all set!
So should you get one?
Well there are competitors for the price, especially from the Sonos family, but to me, it's a good package that has internet radio with a good sound and supports both Airplay and Bluetooth. It is also easy to use with the physical buttons and sounds great!
____________________________________________________________
I have no financial interest or other interests in any of the items / events I write about.
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