JBL Bar 5.1 vs Bose Soundbar 500 review

Votes 82 82
Rating 3.4 3.4

JBL Bar 5.1 vs Bose Soundbar 500 comparison chart

Overall
JBL Bar 5.1
7.2
Bose Soundbar 500
7.4
5
8

JBL Bar 5.1 vs Bose Soundbar 500 review

JBL Bar 5.1
vs
Bose Soundbar 500

An affordable soundbar is always a good option to consider, so JBL Bar 5.1 vs Bose Soundbar 500 comparison definitely makes sense. Based on our rating, Bar 5.1 has a total rating of 7.2 out of 10 versus 7.4 for Soundbar 500. The competitors' control buttons are different: power, volume down, volume up, input and microphone, respectively.

Audio features

Both soundbars have active amplification type. A significant difference between the units in the number of channels, the JBL Bar 5.1 has 5.1 versus 3.0 for the Bose Soundbar 500. Competitors do not have a built-in subwoofer. Rivals have wireless connection to separate subwoofer. The JBL Bar 5.1 got our rating of 8 out of 10, and the Bose Soundbar 500 6 for its audio features and specs.

Streaming services

The JBL Bar 5.1 has support AirPlay, and its competitor in our comparison has AirPlay 2. Spotify is available on each of the soundbars.

Connectivity

Only the Bose Soundbar 500 can connect to the Internet via WI-FI. Rivals from our review have Bluetooth support. The JBL Bar 5.1 has 3/0 HDMI inputs/outputs versus 1/0 of the Bose Soundbar 500. The HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC) feature supports both devices. Both soundbars have a USB connector. For connectivity, each of the soundbars received a rating of 8/10.

Features

App control is available in every soundbar. A built-in microphone is present only on the Soundbar 500. Soundbars do not have Multi-room support.

Multichannel surround

Only the Soundbar 500 has a Dolby Atmos multichannel audio format support. The soundbars do not support the surround sound technology DTS:X. For multichannel surround, each of the opponents received 4 points out of 10.

Advantages JBL Bar 5.1 over Bose Soundbar 500

  • Separate subwoofer in package

Advantages Bose Soundbar 500 over JBL Bar 5.1

  • WI-FI enabled
  • Microphone
  • Compatible with Dolby Atmos
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Common

Product

JBL Bar 5.1
Bose Soundbar 500

Model

Bar 5.1
Soundbar 500

Brand

JBL
Bose

Reviews

3060
407

General

Placement type

table-top, wall-mountable
table-top, wall-mountable

Connection to source

wired, wireless
wired, wireless

Soundbar buttons

power, volume down, volume up, input
microphone

Audio features

Built-in channels

5.1
3.0

Amplification type

active
active

Output power, W

510 (overall)

Separate speaker (in package)

2
0

Separate speaker connections

wireless
wireless

Subwoofer

Built-in subwoofer

Separate subwoofer (in package)

Separate subwoofer connections

wireless
wireless

Streaming services

Apple Music (AirPlay)

AirPlay
AirPlay 2

Amazon Music

Spotify

Other streaming services

Pandora, Tuneln, Deezer, Chromecast
Pandora,Tuneln, Deezer, iHeart, SiriusXM

Connectivity

WI-FI

Bluetooth

Ethernet (RJ45)

0
1

NFC

HDMI input/output

3/0
1/0

HDMI ARC

HDMI eARC

HDMI CEC

Optical digital input/output

1/0
1/0

USB

1 (USB 2.0)
1 (USB 2.0)

Coaxial digital input/output

0/0
0/0

Analog audio input/output (RCA)

1/0
0/0

Headphone output

0
0

Subwoofer output

1
0

Features

Voice control

Amazon Alexa
Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant

App control

Microphone

Remote control

Multi-room

Multichannel surround

Dolby Atmos

Dolby (other)

Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II
Dolby Digital

DTS:X

DTS (other)

has not
has not

User manual

Manual

Dimensions

Size (Wx H x D), cm/in

114.8 x 5.8 x 9.3/45 x 2.3 x 3.7
80 x 4.3 x 10.1/31.5 x 1.7 x 4

Weight, kg/pounds

3.9/8.6
3.1/7

Other

Release year

2017
2018
JBL Bar 5.1
Bose Soundbar 500
JBL Bar 5.1
Bose Soundbar 500

Soundbars SoundStrokes Art comparison rating

  • better
  • worse
  • 7.2
  • 7.4
  • 7.2JBL Bar 5.1
  • 7.4Bose Soundbar 500

JBL Bar 5.1 competitors

Bose Soundbar 500 competitors