53

Bose Soundbar 500 Review

True Score

73
72
7

Experts

88
642

Consumers

Expert Rankings

The Bose 500’s high price might not make sense to discerning listeners because of its poor port selection and missing subwoofer. However, it will work for casual buyers who care about build quality and clear dialogue when watching TV shows or movies over anything else.

Overview

The Bose Soundbar 500 is a high-end soundbar first made available in mid-2018. The soundbar has great build quality, but because it doesn’t ship with a subwoofer, its bass levels are not as low.

Its soundstage is also slightly wider than its size, but audio objects are still a bit difficult to pinpoint. Like most of the best speakers around, it also comes with a room correction feature to adapt its sound output to the room size, and a dialogue enhancement feature to improve its vocals.

It also fares better than most popular soundbars in terms of connectivity since owners can stream their music through Bluetooth, WiFi, Chromecast built-in, or Apple AirPlay.

The Bose 500 also has a setting for bass adjustments and supports Dolby Digital as an audio format – attributes it has in common with the Bose TV Speaker, which we’ve covered in our Bose TV Speaker review.

What Is Not on the Box

What the brand doesn’t always tell you…

our Verdict

The Bose 500 soundbar shines when listening to on-screen dialogue in movies and TV shows because of its clear vocal reproduction, but it has lackluster bass levels, and even though the side placement of its speakers helps to widen the width of its soundstage, the lack of support for Dolby Atmos suppresses the surround sound experience.

It gets loud, and even though the soundstage is wider than the soundbar’s size, object sounds are still harder to pinpoint, but low tested latencies of 50ms (ARC) and 46ms (Optical) facilitate in-sync audio-visual content.

The soundbar’s Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity means seamless music streaming, but the lack of a subwoofer makes our Bose Solo Soundbar Series II review worth looking into. Additionally, specialists were also disappointed with the missing Full HDMI In ports.

True Score

73

Reasons to Buy

  • High build quality
  • Great for listening to dialogue
  • Works with Alexa and Google Assistant
  • WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity
  • Decent surround sound performance

Reasons to Avoid

  • No HDMI In ports
  • No Dolby Atmos support
  • Disappointing bass levels
  • Doesn’t get as loud
  • Sound distorts at a high volume

Specifications

Bluetooth EnabledYes
Built-In Voice AssistantAmazon Alexa
Depth4"
Dialogue Enhancement FeatureYes
Energy Star CertifiedNo
HDMI ARCYes
Height1.75"
Number of Channels3
SubwooferOptional (sold separately)
Surround Sound SupportedDolby Digital
Voice AssistantAmazon Alexa, Google Assistant
Wall MountableYes
Weight7 lbs
Width31.5"
Wireless ConnectivityBluetooth, Wi-Fi
Wireless Subwoofer ConnectivityYes
Works WithAmazon Alexa, Google Assistant

All Specs

Test Results

Minimum Freq Response (Hz)63.5
Maximum Freq Response (Hz)19,300
Max Volume Test (db)92.5
Latency (ms)

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Product Comparison

True Score

73
73
86
NR

Ranking

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53

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54

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153

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6

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153

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Market Context

The Bose Soundbar 500 is a high-end soundbar first made available in mid-2018. The soundbar has great build quality, but because it doesn’t ship with…

The Bose Soundbar 500 is a high-end soundbar first made available in mid-2018. The soundbar has great build quality, but because it doesn’t ship with a subwoofer, its bass levels are not as low.

Its soundstage is also slightly wider than its size, but audio objects are still a bit difficult to pinpoint. Like most of the best speakers around, it also comes with a room correction feature to adapt its sound output to the room size, and a dialogue enhancement feature to improve its vocals.

It also fares better than most popular soundbars in terms of connectivity since owners can stream their music through Bluetooth, WiFi, Chromecast built-in, or Apple AirPlay.

The Bose 500 also has a setting for bass adjustments and supports Dolby Digital as an audio format – attributes it has in common with the Bose TV Speaker, which we’ve covered in our Bose TV Speaker review.

The Bose Soundbar 500 is only available in black while the Bose Smart Soundbar 700 is available in both black and white. Also, the Bose…

The Bose Soundbar 500 is only available in black while the Bose Smart Soundbar 700 is available in both black and white. Also, the Bose 700 supports the DTS surround sound format while the Bose 500 does not. The Bose 700 also has a universal remote whole the Bose 500 does not.

The Bose Soundbar 500 supports Bluetooth connectivity while the Sonos Beam does not, but the Sonos Beam supports the DTS audio format while the Bose…

The Bose Soundbar 500 supports Bluetooth connectivity while the Sonos Beam does not, but the Sonos Beam supports the DTS audio format while the Bose 500 does not.

The Bose Soundbar 500 is a 3.0-channel soundbar that most buyers might consider because of its support for voice assistants such as Google Assistant and…

The Bose Soundbar 500 is a 3.0-channel soundbar that most buyers might consider because of its support for voice assistants such as Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. However, it ships with a HDMI cable while the Bose Smart Soundbar 300 does not, and in contrast, the Bose 300 includes a Digital Optical Cable while the Bose 500 does not.

Bluetooth Enabled

Yes

Yes

No

Built-In Voice Assistant

Amazon Alexa

Depth

4"

13.38"

3.9"

Dialogue Enhancement Feature

Yes

Yes

Yes

Energy Star Certified

No

No

No

HDMI ARC

Yes

Yes

Yes

Dig Deeper

Read review →: Bose Smart Soundbar 700 Review Read review →: Sonos Beam Review

All Stores

  • $324.75

    Availability

    In Stock

    Free Shipping

    No

Score Card

E

Expert Score

72

*.75

We place a 75% weighted value on Expert Test Scores

C

Customer Score

88

*.25

We place a 25% weighted value on Customer Scores

True Score

73

Any product with a True Score above 70 is a Mixed Reviews

Expert Score Breakdown

  • Rtings
    A

    Trust Score

    72
    Decent for music. The sound profile of the Bose Soundbar 500 is fairly flat and… read more

    By:

    Dimitris Katsaounis
  • Tom’s Guide
    C

    Trust Score

    80
    The Bose Soundbar 500 offers a choice of voice assistants and brings the quality and… read more

    By:

    Michael Gowan
  • PC Mag
    D

    Trust Score

    70
    The Bose Soundbar 500 gets high marks for Alexa integration, a great app, and rich,… read more

    By:

    Tim Gideon
  • Trusted Reviews
    D

    Trust Score

    60
    The Bose Soundbar 500 is a slim-line bar with a good suite of smarts, but… read more

    By:

    Kob Monney
  • Digital Trends
    D

    Trust Score

    70
    “The Bose Soundbar 500 is a sleek, slim choice for balanced home theater sound.” read more

    By:

    Ryan Waniata
  • Techhive
    F

    Trust Score

    80
    The slim line Bose Soundbar 500 sounds as good as it looks, but only after… read more

    By:

    Jonathan Takiff

Customer Score Breakdown

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