Bose Home Speaker 500 Setup with Google Assistant & Alexa V-Assistant

Are you looking for Bose Home Speaker 500 setup instructions and integration with digital assistants? If yes, then you have landed in the right spot.

Bose is a name that has become synonymous with premium audio and audio enhancement technologies. To compete with emerging players like Sonos, it has now added the support for Google Assistant as well. We all are aware of the Bose smart speakers that came with Amazon Alexa support. Now, you can be assured of the support for Google Assistant as well. If you are confused about how to configure Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant on your Bose speakers, the tips and ideas shared here should help you to a greater extent. For the sake of this post, we will focus on Bose Home Speaker 500.

Bose Home Speaker 500 – An Overview

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Bose Home Speaker 500 is designed to provide you access to superior performance with a fabulous sound that can indeed fill your room. However, the only issue you would face with the speaker can be the expensive price tag that comes attached to it.

The best that you get with the Bose Home Speaker 500 is the outstanding audio technology that the brand Bose stands for. If you are an audiophile, you will vouch for the enticing audio experience that you stand to gain with it. Now you get an exciting performance with two of the best voice assistants that we have always loved – Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

In terms of design, it would be an excellent choice and provides you with every kind of look as a premium device. The elliptical shape that the speaker comes with would ideally make it look great and go with practically any décor of your living room. There is a small screen on the front that provides you with album artwork and auto dimming feature. However, if you are used to the high-end features like those on Alexa Echo, the screen may not impress you enough.

The speaker has buttons on the top for a couple of basic functionalities. You also have access to six preset buttons. Right now, you can save the presets using the mobile app, but Bose will be bringing in the additional functionality to keep them using your voice soon.

When you think of the performance, you will indeed be impressed with the proprietary mic technology that improves the way the speaker will hear your voice. It can detect your voice even when you are playing your music in full volume. You have access to eight microphones that simplify your listening experience further ahead. What makes it even a better choice is that it can detect sounds even from a distance.

Initially, the smart speaker supported only Amazon Alexa. Bose has now enabled support for Google Assistant as well. The sound performance is quite impressive as has been the collective experience with the Bose speakers since long. The sound stage is quite full enough.

The smart speakers come with a mobile app companion in the form of a Bose Music app. The app can let you configure it to connect with multiple music streaming services. Some services that you can make it work would include  Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, TuneIn, and SiriusXM.

To sum it up, you have access to excellent sound performance and a few exceptional features. Notable among them would be a sleeker design, a smaller and beautiful display and of course, a remarkable soundstage experience. The setup process is a little complicated even with the mobile app support.

Pros

• A great audio quality
• A sleek and professional design
• Built-in Alexa and Google Assistant support.
• Excellent microphones

Cons

• A highly expensive price tag
• WiFi setup may or may not work

Bose adds up Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support on its Smart Speakers

Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant have been vying for the top position among the best voice assistants. Availability of both the services on the Bose Home Speaker 500 should make it a great choice in every standard.

Given the excellence that the rival Sonos has been able to achieve, Bose has enabled the support for Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa on its home speaker series that include Bose Home Speaker 500, Soundbar 500 and Soundbar 700.

The option for adding the Google Assistant support on the Bose Home Speaker 500 is quite straight forward and simple. You need to access the voice settings on the Bose Music app and add the new device. However, if you had owned the speaker before the compatibility for Google Assistant was rolled out, you will need to wait for the software update to enable the Google Assistant feature. Otherwise, you will end up with Amazon Alexa alone.

The software update to enable the Google Assistant began rolling out in the last week of May. You would be able to use both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa service simultaneously on the Bose smart speaker.

Bose Home Speaker 500 Setup: How to set up Google Assistant on Bose Home Speaker 500?

The configuration of setting up Google Assistant on your Bose Home Speaker 500 is quite simple and easy to work with. For setting up Google Assistant on your Bose Home Speaker, you will need to download the Bose Music app on your smartphone.

Here are the steps involved in configuring and setting up your Google Assistant on Bose Home Speaker 500 –

• Visit your app store depending upon your mobile platform.
• The Bose Music App is available both on Google Play Store or iOS App Store.
• Download and install the app on your device.

Once the Bose Music app has been installed on your device, you can add your speaker to the app. Here is how you would be able to do it –

• Launch the Bose Music app.
• Go to My Bose
• Tap on the Plus sign to add your Bose speaker.
• Your speaker should be visible on the screen. Please note that Bluetooth connectivity on your device needs to be active for this to happen.
• Once the app is added to your app, you can give it a custom name. You should do it if you have more than one Bose products.

After the Bose Home Speaker 500  has been added to your Bose Music app, you can move ahead to add Google Assistant.

The steps involved here would include –

• Launch your Bose Music app and choose the product you want to add Google Assistant to. You will need to be on the My Bose screen to do this.
• You should find the product image at the bottom right corner of your screen.
• Tap on it to select it.
• Next, tap on Settings -> Voice Assistant.
• Select Google Assistant from among the choices available.
• You will need to link your Google Account with your Google Assistant service on the Bose speaker.
• Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setting up of your voice assistant.

If you have multiple devices in your home, it would be practical to use the same account with every one of them.

How to Interact with Google Assistant?

You can ask Google Assistant to play a specific audio service or a connected device. You can also use it to control your audio device. Some of the commands can be

• Hey Google, Play music
• Hey Google, turn it up (to turn up the volume)
• Hey Google, play xxx on xxx ( where xxx denote the audio track and the audio service respectively. Please note that Google Assistant may or may not support all audio services)
• Hey Google, next song.

These are a few examples. If you have been using Google Assistant, you would be familiar with the phrases and what they do. You can also replace Hey Google with OK Google. Make sure you have configured both the sentences with your Google Assistant.

If you have not added any Audio Service yet, you can do so by adding the audio service to your Google Assistant using your Google Home app.

Are you Facing any issues with your Google Assistant on Bose Home Speaker?

You may face a few configuration issues with your Google Assistant on your Bose Home Speaker 500. Some of the problems that may need assistance would include –

• Make sure your Google Assistant has been appropriately configured. You can follow the above instructions to set it up.
• The room may have an excessive noise level. Though the Bose Home Speaker 500 is configured for the optimum detection of your voice, too much of noise may restrict its ability. Either try reducing the sound, talk a little louder, or consider talking from a closer distance.
• Rephrase your command. Sometimes this would be helpful, and Google Assistant would find it easy to understand the phrase.
• Resetting your Bose product can help resolve the connection errors.

Bose Home Speaker 500 Setup: How to Add Amazon Alexa to Your Bose Home Speaker 500?

Well, the steps involved are the same as with Google Assistant. Amazon Alexa comes enabled on your Bose smart speaker by default. However, if it has not been, you can follow the same options that we discussed in the above paragraphs.

You will need to install the Bose Music app as in the above steps. If you have already installed the app and have configured your Google Assistant, move ahead to add Amazon Alexa as well. Just choose Amazon Alexa instead of Google Assistant in the above steps. You will need to provide your Amazon account when setting up Amazon Alexa. If you do not have an Amazon account, you will need to create one and configure it to work with Amazon Alexa. You can do it in your Amazon account. The discussion is beyond the scope of this post.

You can also have the same complications you would face with Google Assistant. The resolutions would be similar in the case of Amazon Alexa as well.

While interacting with Alexa, you will use the phrase, Alexa. Some salient examples can be

• Alexa, turn the volume up
• Alexa, play xxx o xxx (to play the music from a specific audio service)
• Alexa, next song
• Alexa, stop

Anything Else can you do with  Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant?

Well, apart from playing your music and controlling your Bose Home Speaker 500, you can also use the voice assistant for a wide range of other applications.

Some typical examples can be

• What’s the weather?
• Shall I leave with an umbrella today?
• Set a timer in xxx minutes
• Set the alarm at xxx
• What sound does a lion make?
• Turn off the lights.

These are just a few examples. You will need to prefix those commands with either Alexa or Hey Google (or OK Google).

In Conclusion

Well, that was how you would be configuring and using either Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa on your Bose Home Speaker 500 smart speaker. Apart from listening to your favorite music or indulging in playing back the audio tracks from your video sources, you can even have a lot of other interaction with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

However, the interaction would not be as efficient as it would be with Google Home or Amazon Echo devices. However, that isn’t what we are using the assistants for, right?

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