Bose Home Speaker 500

The Bose Home Speaker 500 is the older statesman of this list, and it earns its place on one trick: it is the rare single speaker that produces genuinely wide stereo. Two custom drivers fire in opposite directions, so instead of sound coming from one point, it spreads across the room. At $449, down from a $599 recommended retail price (RRP), that is solid value, as long as you know you are buying a 2018 design rather than the latest thing.

It runs both Alexa and Google Assistant (your choice at setup), connects over WiFi, Bluetooth and AirPlay 2, and has a small colour screen on the front that shows album art and the time. It does multi-room, but only with other Bose speakers, not as the slick whole-home system Sonos offers. No Dolby Atmos, no spatial audio. This is a straightforward, great-sounding speaker, not a showpiece.

What the RefDat test lab found

The sound signature is classic Bose: neutral with a slight bass lift, easy to listen to for hours and never harsh. The wide-stereo effect is the standout. On acoustic tracks and podcasts the imaging is broad and natural, and vocals sit forward without getting shouty. It will not dig as deep in the bass as the Sonos Era 300, but for spoken word, radio and everyday music it is excellent. The screen is a small thing that turns out to be genuinely useful for glanceable info. We ran it for weeks straight with no overheating and no audio cutouts.

What owners actually report

Owners on Whirlpool and ProductReview are consistently happy with the sound and reliability, with the speaker often described as a set-and-forget unit that just keeps working years on. The recurring watch-out is the app situation: Bose has been migrating from the older SoundTouch app to the newer Bose Music app, and threads on Reddit and OzBargain mention occasional confusion and the odd feature gap during that transition. The other honest note is age. This is a 2018 product, so it lacks spatial audio and the design looks dated next to a Sonos or Apple unit. Several owners simply do not care, because it sounds great and was bought on sale.

Who should skip it? If you want Dolby Atmos, the tightest multi-room system, or the newest design language, look at the Sonos Era 300 instead. For wide, natural stereo from a single box at a fair price, the Bose still holds up.

You will find it at JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman and Officeworks. As an older model it discounts often, and OzBargain regularly catches it 10 to 15 per cent below list, so there is little reason to pay full price.

Australian Consumer Law (ACL): a $449 speaker should reasonably last 5 to 7 years, with the consumer guarantees realistically covering 3 to 4, beyond the 1-year manufacturer warranty. If the drivers, power supply or wireless module fail inside that window, you have a claim. Take it to your retailer first, and rule out a network issue before reporting a fault for dropouts.

Bottom line: a dated but genuinely great-sounding speaker with a wide-stereo trick most rivals cannot match. Highly recommended at the sale price, especially for spoken word and everyday listening. Just know you are buying 2018, not 2026. RefDat score 4.3 out of 5.