Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Bose Soundbar 500 with Alexa voice control built-in, Black

Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2020

Style: SoundbarColor: BlackVerified Purchase

I needed a compact soundbar with minimal height to fit in about 2.5" of vertical space. The television is mounted on a brick wall over a mantelpiece, and I did not want to mount it any higher on the wall. We have a few Sonos products, but none of their soundbars would fit. The Bose 500 is only about 1.7" high and fit perfectly. It is unobtrusive and practically disappears. The sound is much better than that from the Sony TV speaker. I had difficulty with dialogue, in particular, and found that the Bose makes a big difference in the clarity of the spoken (or whispered) word. We did not get the subwoofer but would consider adding it. The Bose remote works fine but I don't use it much; easier to use the remote from our cable/internet provider. The Alexa app also works adequately but is quirky; you can't say "Alexa, turn down the volume," but instead must say "Alexa, turn down the Bose soundbar volume." There may be bigger soundbars that produce a more encompassing sound, but if you need a compact soundbar that is still sonically excellent and will fit in a small space, the Bose may be just the thing.

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

W. C. Bryant

Rich sound in a profile that won't invade screen space even if you table mount both.

Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2020

Style: SoundbarColor: BlackVine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )Verified Purchase

Bose has always been known for rich accessible sound, and this bar is no exception. While they have some newer models out there, this one continues to be reliable, great for a bedroom or another space in which you want elevated quality and theater of sound but don't want a full multi-speaker AV system.

The Alexa integration isn't fluff, if you have the devices (or the app on your phone); lose the smaller remote in the covers? "Alexa, turn on the soundbar." "Do you mean bedroom?" "Yes." Done. It can/will power both the bar and turn your screen on as well, and you're ready to go.

Good range of volumes in the given settings, good field of audio for small to medium rooms. I remain very happy with this device.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Kindle Customer

A good soundbar with some difficulties

Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2020

Style: SoundbarColor: BlackVerified Purchase

You can attach a cord connected to a head-set device to set up the sound profile of your room, but it never seems to last. I always get an echo in dialog or music that does fade in time. The remote works for volume and you can program into it your favorite internet radio stations (TuneIn, IHeartsRadio) into a single button. I also like that when the remote and bar is not used for several hours it automatically goes into "mute" (which you need to turn off when you turn it back on): you're ears are not blasted by a loud advertisement or TV show or movie you were previously playing. One star removed for the sound quality echo issue, but maybe over time I can figure it out. I do not use Alexa.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Dan Scheffler

Bose was never awesome, but it's good enough when paired with a sub

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2021

Style: SoundbarColor: BlackVerified Purchase

I come from a hi-fi background with lots of expensive gear neatly tucked away in storage as my wife and I moved across the country from a large home, to a 3 bedroom apartment in a high rise.

This sound bar sounds good, but not amazing. Paired with a sub it sounds as good as any comparable system and dialog is clear and consistent. The warmth in the mid-section, or "body" of the overall sound just sounds a bit weak but I should expect that from Bose as they have never been great at mid-range.

Highly recommend you pairing this with a subwoofer for a full sound. I do like the size of the sound and it blends well with the dark furniture we have. The subwoofer is one of the sexiest I have ever seen with this glossy/glass like shell. The sub is pretty descent, but a bit "floppy" and not defined as quality home subs will give you.

Finally, the application is pretty snazzy with its ability to balance the entire system with the included RTA/mic test. Basically, you put it on your head and sit in different positions in the room and it will calculate the EQ response for your environment. I did the entire test right away so I could not compare to out of the box, but you already read above my thoughts on the sound and that was WITH the RTA test.

Oh....Alexa built in was a nice add. Overall, simple to setup and sounds decent enough. If you live in a highrise and your apartment space is limited this could be a great choice for you.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Ron Chapman

Can't go wrong with Bose

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2023

Style: SoundbarColor: BlackVerified Purchase

The sound is incredible for being so compact. Alexa works great with it. I couldn't be happier!

Helpful

Ryan P Davis

Great sound.

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2020

Style: SoundbarColor: BlackVerified Purchase

Great sound bar. Comes with basic remote. Optional universal remote isn’t very universal. Need to figure out what and how to consolidate remotes now. Overall, this is a huge increase in sound quality compared to the build in Samsung speakers in my TV.

Helpful

BB

Love it!

Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2020

Style: SoundbarColor: BlackVerified Purchase

Hooked up my Bose 500 soundbar yesterday & I love it. I was a lil hesitant after reading some reviews & w/it being so pricey. The sound is GREAT, it was easy to hook up & connect, Alexa works flawlessly, Bluetooth is a great addition & it looks nice & sleek. You must have an HDMI Arc port on your TV or an optical port. Luckily my streaming box has an optical. If not you'll have to buy a converter box.

Helpful

Hermeticist

Stops working daily

Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2020

Style: SoundbarColor: BlackVerified Purchase

When the unit arrived, I was excited! More so, it sounds great! It sounded so great that I quickly added a Subwoofer and the two rear speakers. Wow, it even sounds better with all the additional speakers.

Unfortunately, about two months after I purchased this, it stopped working randomly. I followed the Troubleshooting and was able to fix the problems, temporarily. After fixing the problem, the problem would repeat sometimes within an hour.

I tried all of the unplugging and re-plugging, and that would temporarily fix the no sound problem, until it stopped working again.

I have tried using HDMI and optical cable, but the problems persist.
I have done 2 factory resets, and 2 resets of the Android Application.

All troubleshooting temporarily fixes the no sound problem, and then persists again!

When I contacted Bose, they want me to pay $149 to repair my two and a half month old device.
UNACCEPTABLE!

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

C. Chen

Not working after update

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2018

Style: SoundbarColor: BlackVerified Purchase

(Putting a one star unless there is a solution to my problem)

I bought this on Thanksgiving and it was my biggest purchase of the year, its my first ever Bose speaker. Install was easy, i know quite a few people mentioned its difficult to install, but I have to say unless you are from stone age (which means you are not efficient with your smart phone) the installation process is just as simple as setting up some random online account. In terms of the sound quality, I have to say I was hoping for more. I hoped the sound was more surrounded giving that its Bose. I can feel the sound comes from a single source in front of you, and its a just a clearer, louder version of the TV sound. It doesn't make you feel like you are immersed into whats playing in your TV. I think its still very very far away from the experience of a good set of 5.1 sound system or in a cinema. But its probably one of the best TV soundbar out there.

Now, as for the 1 star. I had it for 1.5 days, a total use time of less than 5 hours, before it decided to go into perpetual updating mode. There is nothing I could do, it doesn't respond to any command it just got stuck at something while updating the software, not even responding to the factor reset command via the remote control. And there is no button on the soundbar. Very disappointing.... my first Bose speaker and it just died. Caused me more trouble than enjoyment so far.

Update 1:
Contacted Bose and they agreed to do an exchange. Since I had a trip in two weeks they said they would send out a new one to me and once I got it just send the faulty one back, because otherwise the exchange process would usually take three to four weeks before I can get a new one. I waited for almost two weeks and no new sound bar came. I called Bose and they said nothing was indeed sent to me!!! They said I will have to send the faulty one back before they could do anything. What!? I asked at least 3 times to confirmed a new one was being sent to me in the first call. The sloppiness is laughable. I know you don't know what the other service support person said, but thats very irresponsible for a company selling luxury electronics. No record, just making things up.

I gave up on them and I left for the trip. I came back on 12/30 and decided to send Amazon a message to see what they could do. Within 5 mins, they said they would send one out. I got it the very next day!!! On New Years Eve!!! Thats amazing! I would have given Amazon 5 stars if there is a choice.

Update 2:
This new sound bar hasn't gone into perpetual updating mode yet, thank god! But two cons I noticed using it:
1) It doesn't really hear you say "Alexa" when its playing music. I had to shout really loud even the other Alexa in the other room responded. I was just about 6 foot away from it, although the sound may have been blocked by the TV. But in general, we have to raise our voice to talk to Alexa when the sound bar is playing music even we are standing next to it. And I have a feeling this Alexa doesn't understand as well as the other Alexa thats on an Echo.
2) This sound bar Alexa doesn't have all the functions as the normal Echo Alexa. Things like "remind me in 15 mins" or "set a timer" the Bose sound bar Alexa said she couldn't do it. Shame because I use it very often.

101 people found this helpful

Helpful

SaltySailor

Does Not Automatically Connect

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2022

Style: SoundbarColor: BlackVerified Purchase

I bought the bar along with the matching bass module and the surround speakers after trying the JBL 5.1 wireless surround system which was a complete failure. The Bose system sounds fantastic and works as it should about 50% of the time but it's a pain when it doesn't. I've never once had a sound system problem before on my previous A/V receiver style surround sound systems but this Bose bar just doesn't always want to power on and connect. So 50% of the time I have to grab the TV remote, go into the settings and force the audio output to the bar. Then half those times the bar will not output sound even though I've forced the audio output to it and I have to power it down and back up. One other feature that I miss is not having an on-screen (or on-device) volume level indicator.

On a positive note the sound is fantastic but I will admit I'm not an audiophile. The wireless surround speakers also are very clear and have no connectivity issues. If I could just get the bar to power on and connect when I turn my system on all would be great.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

Bose Soundbar 500 with Alexa voice control built-in, Black

›

Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Bose Soundbar 500 with Alexa voice control built-in, Black

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Bose Soundbar 500 with Alexa voice control built-in, Black › Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Bose Soundbar 500 with Alexa voice control built-in, Black

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Bose Soundbar 500 with Alexa voice control built-in, Black

›

Customer reviews