Bose SoundLink Flex vs Bose Home Speaker 500 (2018)

The Bose SoundLink Flex is an exemplary product and one of the very best Outdoor Speakers at the $160 budget.

The Bose Home Speaker 500 (2018), however, doesn't seem to have enough data available for us to be able to draw any meaningful conclusions. If you're considering Outdoor Speakers in the $420 range, you might want to check out some other options.

The Bose SoundLink Flex has managed to do great in various roundups conducted by reviewers from highly trusted sources that perform objective in-depth testing, like PCmag, Rtings, and CNET - it was dubbed "Best Affordable Bose Speaker" by PCmag, "Best Budget Bose Speaker" by Rtings, and "Best mini Bluetooth speaker" by CNET. Any product that's held in such high regard by some of the most reliable sources should be considered by everyone who's looking for a Outdoor Speaker at this price.

Taking a look at the Bose Home Speaker 500 (2018), we found that it was received really well by reviewers from highly trusted sources that conduct objective in-depth testing, including TechGearLab, Rtings, and SoundGuys - it was named "Top Pick" by TechGearLab, "Ranked 1 out of 4" by Rtings, and "Ranked 1 out of 5" by SoundGuys in their respective roundups. Any product that's praised by this many of the internet's most trustworthy sources should be considered by everyone who's in the market for a Outdoor Speaker at this price point.

To get a better idea of how they fare when compared directly to each other, we analyzed review scores of sources that tested both. PCmag, for example, preferred the Bose SoundLink Flex, while TrustedReviews and Techradar rated both of them the same.

We also took a look at which sources had the best things to say about them. We learned that the Bose SoundLink Flex got reviewed the highest by CNET - it gave it a rating of 8.6, while the Bose Home Speaker 500 (2018) most impressed reviewers at TechGearLab, which gave it a score of 10.