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  1. Table of Contents
  2. Top
  3. Main Differences
  4. Design
    1. Pictures
    2. Style
    3. Portability
    4. Build Quality
    5. Controls
    6. In The Box
  5. Sound
    1. Frequency Response Accuracy
    2. Raw Frequency Response
    3. Soundstage
    4. Dynamics
  6. Active Features
    1. Battery
    2. Voice Assistant
    3. App
  7. Connectivity
    1. Wired
    2. Bluetooth
    3. Wi-Fi
  8. Comments

Bose Home Speaker 500 vs Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Bose Home Speaker 500
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Nov 28, 2024 07:50 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Feb 04, 2025 12:26 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Bose Home Speaker 500 Picture
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Picture
Bluetooth
Yes
Wi-Fi
Yes
Speakerphone
No
Voice Assistant
Yes
Battery Powered
No
Bluetooth
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Speakerphone
No
Voice Assistant
No
Battery Powered
Yes

Variants

  • Home Speaker 500 (Luxe Silver)
  • Home Speaker 500 (Triple Black)
  • Beosound Explore (Anthracite)
  • Beosound Explore (Green)
  • Beosound Explore (Grey Mist)

Review

See Bose Home Speaker 500 Review
See Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Review
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Our Verdict

Bose Home Speaker 500

Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore

The Bose Home Speaker 500 is a better speaker than the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore overall, though they have different strengths. The Bose offers fantastic voice assistant support with Alexa and Google Assistant built-in and does an excellent job understanding your commands from far and in noisier settings. It can get louder and can produce a more extended low-bass. However, the Bang & Olufsen is better-built, battery-powered, and is smaller and lighter than the Bose, making it better suited to carry along with you when you're on the move.

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Check Price

Luxe Silver
Home Speaker 500
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Anthracite
Beosound Explore
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Triple Black
Home Speaker 500
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Green
Beosound Explore
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
 
Grey Mist
Beosound Explore
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Main Differences for
Music

Threshold 

0.10

Music 

7.3
6.4

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

6.9
5.6

Dynamics 
 

7.2
6.5

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Style Photo  

Bose Home Speaker 500 Style Photo
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Style Photo

RGB Lights  

No
No
Show Text 

Portability 
 

4.3
9.3

Dimensions Photo  

Bose Home Speaker 500 Dimensions Photo
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Dimensions Photo

Volume 
 

226 in³ (3,702 cm³)
50 in³ (813 cm³)

Weight 
 

4.9 lbs (2.2 kg)
1.3 lbs (0.6 kg)

Power Source 
 

AC Only
Battery & USB

One-Hand Carry 
 

No
Yes
Show Text 

Build Quality 
 

6.7
8.3

Build Quality Photo  

Bose Home Speaker 500 Build Quality Photo
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Build Quality Photo

Material Quality 
 

Great
Great

Water Resistance 
 

No
Submersible (IPx7)

Dust Resistance 
 

Unspecified
Dust-Proof (IP6x)

Impact Resistance 
 

Unspecified
No

Floats In Water 
 

No
Unspecified
Show Text 

Controls 
 

8.0
6.9

Controls Photo  

Bose Home Speaker 500 Controls Photo
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Controls Photo

Controls Photo 2  

Bose Home Speaker 500 Controls Photo 2
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Controls Photo 2

Ease Of Use 
 

Great
Great

Feedback 
 

Great
Good

Music Play/Pause 
 

Yes (Tactile)
Yes (Physical)

Call Answer/End 
 

No
No

Volume Up/Down 
 

Yes (Tactile)
Yes (Physical)

Track Next/Previous 
 

Yes
Yes (Physical)

Microphone On/Off 
 

Yes (Tactile)
No

Additional Controls 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

In The Box 
 

In The Box Photo  

Bose Home Speaker 500 In The Box Photo
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore In The Box Photo
Show Text 
Sound

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

6.9
5.6

Frequency Response Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Slope 
 

-0.62
-1.20

Std. Err. 
 

3.50 dB
4.19 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

55.0 Hz
91.1 Hz

High-Frequency Extension 
 

17.0 kHz
12.7 kHz
Show Text 

Raw Frequency Response 
 

Raw Frequency Response Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Binaural Recording @ 1m 
 

Binaural Recording @ 2m 
 

Soundstage 
 

8.7
8.8

Directivity Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Directivity Index 
 

2.41 dB
2.22 dB

Stereo 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

Dynamics 
 

7.2
6.5

Dynamic Range Compression  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

SPL @ Max Volume 
 

90.5 dB SPL
84.8 dB SPL

DRC @ Max Volume 
 

2.19 dB
2.24 dB
Show Text 
Active Features

Battery 
 

0.0
7.5

Battery Life 
 

N/A
9.0 hrs

Charge Time 
 

N/A
3.9 hrs

Power Saving 
 

No
Yes

Charging Port 
 

No Battery
USB-C

Battery Powered 
 

No
Yes
Show Text 

Voice Assistant 
 

10
0.0

Alexa 
 

Built-in (Wi-Fi Only)
No

Google Assistant 
 

Built-in (Wi-Fi Only)
No

Speakerphone 
 

No
No

Siri 
 

No
No

Voice Assistant 
 

Yes
No

Voice Activation 
 

Yes
No

Microphone Mute 
 

Yes
No Microphone

Far-Field Performance 
 

Excellent
No Microphone

Ambient Noise Performance 
 

Excellent
No Microphone
Show Text 

App 
 

7.7
6.0

App Picture  

Bose Home Speaker 500 App Picture
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore App Picture

App Name 
 

Bose Music
Bang & Olufsen

iOS 
 

Yes
Yes

Android 
 

Yes
Yes

EQ 
 

Bass/Treble
Presets

Stereo Pair Mode 
 

No
Yes

Party Mode 
 

Yes
No

Multi-Room 
 

Yes
No
Show Text 
Connectivity

Wired 
 

Aux Input 
 

Yes
No

USB Audio 
 

No
Yes

Other Ports 
 

Yes
No
Show Text 

Bluetooth 
 

8.2
9.7

Bluetooth 
 

Yes
Yes

Bluetooth Version 
 

4.2
5.2

Bluetooth iOS Latency 
 

57 ms
6 ms

Bluetooth Android Latency 
 

88 ms
28 ms

Bluetooth Range 
 

195.2 ft (59.5 m)
334.6 ft (102.0 m)

Multi-Device Pairing 
 

No
2 Devices
Show Text 

Wi-Fi 
 

8.1
0.0

Wi-Fi Version 
 

Unspecified
No Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi Frequency Band 
 

2.4GHz & 5GHz
No Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi 
 

Yes
No

Apple AirPlay 
 

Yes
No

AirPlay Latency 
 

45 ms
N/A

Google Chromecast 
 

Yes
No

Chromecast Latency 
 

N/A
N/A
Show Text 

Check Price

Luxe Silver
Home Speaker 500
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Anthracite
Beosound Explore
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Triple Black
Home Speaker 500
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Green
Beosound Explore
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
 
Grey Mist
Beosound Explore
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Back to Top

Bose Home Speaker 500

Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore

Comments

  1. Comparison
 • Posted 1 year ago

Bose Home Speaker 500 vs Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore: Main Discussion

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