Bose announces its smallest smart speaker yet and launches Google Assistant support

Bose today announced its new Home Speaker 300, a two-pound smart speaker that measures a little over six inches tall and delivers “powerful bass and true 360-degree sound.” The aluminum-clad Home Speaker 300 is priced at $259.95, so you’d hope for top-notch audio performance for that kind of money. This latest speaker can link up with Bose’s other smart speakers and soundbars for a multiroom music system not unlike what you get with Sonos.

The Home Speaker 300 is clearly styled after the larger $399.95 Home Speaker 500, but downsizing meant getting rid of the LCD that shows album artwork. It has the same playback controls on top, along with several preset buttons that can quickly pull up your favorite playlist or internet radio station. Aside from requesting music with voice commands via the built-in microphone, the Home Speaker 300 also supports AirPlay 2 and can act as a standard Bluetooth speaker. A thin LED strip on the front lets you know when the mic is activated. Despite its small footprint, the Home Speaker 300 must be plugged in for power, as unfortunately there’s no built-in battery for wireless listening.

Image: Bose

In addition to the new speaker, Bose is today bringing Google Assistant to its existing Home Speaker 500, Soundbar 700, and Soundbar 500. Once you install the latest Bose Music app update, you’ll be able to select Google Assistant as your preferred voice assistant instead of Alexa, which all of these speakers support out of the box. This option comes just a week after Sonos similarly gave customers the choice between Assistant and Alexa on its smart speakers. As in that case, you’ve got to pick one or the other; there’s no way to have both running simultaneously.

Preorders for the Bose Home Speaker 300 start June 4th, and it’ll be available in stores as of June 20th.

Comments are closed.