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Bose Soundbar 500 vs Sonos Arc

Bose Soundbar 500

Bose Soundbar 500

94 reviews

View Product Details

Sonos Arc

97 reviews

View Product Details

#51 most mentioned

Reddit · r/soundbars

#2 most mentioned

Reddit · r/soundbars

Best All-In-One

RTINGS · The 5 Best All-In-One Soundbars

Best Home Theater/Music Speaker Combo

TechGearLab · Best Sound Bar of 2022

Great replacement to TV's built-in speakers

Lots of flexibility with the built-in Alexa function

Well-balanced and neutral sound profile

Rich, clear audio

Easy to set up and use

Great Dolby Atmos performance

Room correction feature for optimized audio

Compatible with Alexa and Airplay

Premium design

Wide and immersive soundstage

Not as loud as other soundbars

Lacks sub-bass

Can be difficult to reset if needed

Not always easy to set up

Some users have experienced issues with sound quality

Connectivity and compatibility with TVs may be problematic for some users

Verdict

The Bose Soundbar 500 is a great soundbar for those looking for a replacement to their TV's built-in speakers. It offers lots of flexibility with the built-in Alexa function and has a well-balanced and neutral sound profile. However, some may find that it lacks sub-bass and can be difficult to reset if needed.

Verdict

Overall, the Sonos Arc receives mixed reviews. Many users praise its impressive Dolby Atmos performance and room correction feature, as well as its compatibility with Alexa and Airplay. However, some users have had difficulty setting it up and have experienced issues with sound quality, particularly with distorted bass and muffled sound. Some users also note that it may not be a significant improvement over other Sonos products or older sound systems. Additionally, there have been some complaints about connectivity and compatibility with TVs. Despite these mixed reviews, the Sonos Arc remains a popular choice for those looking for a smart soundbar with Dolby Atmos capabilities.

Reviews by Topic

Our analysis shows how reviewers feel about different topics. Please note these are not full reviews.

Speaker System

youtube

Bose Soundbar 500 Review | Small Soundbar, Big Commitment

But this little soundbar is a big commitment. As you can see, the Bose 500 starts with minimalism right when you pull it out of the box. This is a sma...

Negative

youtube

This SONOS soundbar has transformed my life! - SONOS Arc review

So once you've set up the arc, which is surprisingly easy to do, you do need to download the sonos app and add it to that. But it walks you through th...

Negative

Speakers

youtube

Bose Home Speaker 500 Review - Impressive, Most Impressive

With a lot of older smart speakers whether they were team Alexa or team Google you were sometimes forced to use voice commands cause those speakers ju...

Negative

IKEA + Sonos Picture Frame AMA

I went by my local IKEA and they had them on the floor showroom, so I picked them up to pair with my Sonos ARC as surrounds. I don’t know if IKEA was suppose to sell these quite yet, but figure I post in case anyone has questions. They sound great, on par with the One SLs I had before.

Positive

reddit.com/r/sonos

Sound Quality

Bose Soundbar 500

The Bose Soundbar 500 is an okay soundbar when used by itself without the separate sub and back satellites. It doesn’t get as loud as other soundbars but its sound profile is fairly well-balanced and neutral sounding. However, some may feel like this bar lacks sub-bass. On top of not being able to get very loud, it has trouble performing at max volume, and compresses a lot, especially in the bass range

Neutral

The 5 Best All-In-One Soundbars - Spring 2022

Like most premium options on the market, this bar comes with a room correction feature that automatically optimizes audio based on your room's unique acoustics, which Sonos calls TruePlay. With this feature on, it has a fairly neutral sound profile that reproduces clear and accurate vocals and lead instruments, with a touch of extra brightness in the treble that makes your audio sparkle. It also has built-in support for voice assistants, meaning you can control it with your voice from the comfort of your couch.

Positive

Connectivity

to work some of the times. This is usually a pretty big hassle (ends up taking 15-20 minutes of fiddling to get audio) and I just end up unplugging the soundbar and plugging it back in. Very rarely has the soundbar worked flawlessly from the time the tv is turned on. Sometimes, even if the soundbar starts working when the tv is switched on, the audio cuts out after 5-6 minutes of usage, and I’m back to unplugging and plugging it back in for it to work

Negative

reddit.com/r/bose

youtube

Full Sonos Arc Surround Sound System: Is it Worth It?

So if that's something you're interested in, i do have links in the description to buy all these components, whether you want to buy the full system, ...

Positive

Remote Control

CEC (aka ARC HDMI) not responsive after 6 months

Unfortunately that’s multiple remotes but I recently bought an Apple TV device and that can control other devices via IR (similar to what Logitech does with their fancy remote).

\-I cannot control volume on the ARC with my ATV remote. I have to use the SONOS app. Same for my TV remote.

Positive

reddit.com/r/sonos

Design

youtube

Bose Soundbar 500 Review

So this one’s a little smaller at only thirty one and a half inches wide but maintains the same well. Similar design. It’s got an extremely high end, ...

Positive

youtube

Sonos Arc review: The Playbar upgrade we’ve been waiting for

It was hard to justify paying hundreds of dollars for one inter the arc. A completely redesigned sound bar that offers all of what we've come to expec...

Positive

Features

LOUD. Great for the theatre room

This thing is powerful! I bought it for the Bose quality and because it had Bluetooth capability. I'm using it for a theater room and using a Bluetooth transmitter to run sound from the projector to the speakers wirelessly. So far it works like a charm and pairs nicely with the surround sound speakers. Great sound for the big screen

I’m not asking questions for music since I demo’ed that side of the set up and I was very happy.

Negative

reddit.com/r/sonos

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