Bose, one of the world's most recognizable audio brands, is about to enter the smart speaker lineup in a big way. The company just announced three new products to lead these efforts, and they include the Bose Home Speaker 500, Bose Soundbar 700, and Bose Soundbar 500.
The Home Speaker 500 is Bose's answer to products like the Google Home, Sonos One, and Apple Homepod. It's equipped with eight microphones for Alexa voice commands (other assistants are coming later on), two custom drivers are said to provide "wall-to-wall stereo sound," and there's an array of buttons on the top for controlling your playback, opening your favorite music service, and more.
You see that screen? Yeah, it's not a touchscreen. It just shows album artwork.
Along with the (likely) exceptional audio experience, the Home Speaker 500 also stands out thanks to the small display on its front. This is not a touchscreen and doesn't have any UI to navigate. Instead, its sole purpose is to showcase the album artwork of whatever you're listening to. While there's not much utility there, it does give the Home Speaker 500 a visual difference over its competitors.
As for the Bose Soundbar 700 and Soundbar 500, these are also powered by Alexa and come with eight microphone arrays, too. The 700 is the more powerful of the duo and is 2-inches tall, 4-inches deep, and has a length of 38 inches. Bose is touting room-filling sound for both, in addition to ADAPTiQ technology that senses the layout of your room to provide the best possible audio.
All three gadgets are launching this October with the following prices:
- Bose Home Speaker 500 — $400
- Bose Soundbar 500 — $550
- Bose Soundbar 700 — $800
You can use these gadgets by themselves, but just like another speaker company that also has smart speakers and smart soundbars, Bose's new gadgets can also be used simultaneously and controlled through the Bose Connect app.
The new speaker and soundbars definitely seem to be designed to attract people away from the Sonos ecosystem, but with considerably higher prices compared to what Sonos is offering, how will Bose's efforts play out? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
