Bose adds Google Assistant to its range of smart speakers and soundbars

What you need to know

  • Google Assistant support has been added to the Bose Home Speaker 500, Bose Soundbar 500 and 700 smart speakers.
  • A new Bose Home Speaker 300 will also launch later this summer with Google Assistant support.
  • You'll be able to switch to Google Assistant in the Bose Music App under Voice Settings after an update.

If you've got a Bose Home Speaker 500, Bose Soundbar 500 or 700, then your speaker is about to get some Google smarts.

In a blog post today, Google announced that these three speakers will be gaining support for Google Assistant. There is even a new more compact Bose Home Speaker 300 with Google Assistant coming later this summer.

With Google Assistant built-in, you'll now have access to all the things that make the platform so great. You'll be able to listen to your favorite podcasts or streaming music from services like Pandora, Spotify, YouTube Music, and more. With a Chromecast enabled TV, you can cast videos directly to your TV using Assistant. It also now supports over 3,500 smart home brands and is there to answer any random questions you may have throughout the day.

If you already own one of these speakers, you'll first have to receive an incoming software update. Once it is installed, you'll find the setting to switch to Google Assistant under the Voice Settings in the Bose Music App.

For first time buyers, you'll have the option to choose from Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant during the initial set up.

Originally, this trio of Bose speakers launched with support for Amazon Alexa, but now users will have the choice of which digital assistant they prefer — similar to what we saw not too long ago with Google Assistant finally coming to the Alexa-enabled Sonos One and Sonos Beam.

Jason England