JBL Authentics 500 - Hi-fidelity smart home speaker with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Voice Assistants with retro design - Black

I recently started using the JBL Authentics 500, and I’m very satisfied. The sound quality is powerful and clear, with great bass. It looks stylish and feels premium. Setup was easy, and it connects well with my devices. Overall, a great speaker that I’m happy with!

The sound quality on this speaker is fantastic. Rich, full, and well balanced across bass, mids and treble. A clear step above JBL's portable range. The retro design with the Quadrex grille looks great too. It's the kind of speaker you actually want on display rather than hidden away. The built-in Google Assistant and Alexa work well, and having WiFi streaming alongside Bluetooth and AirPlay means it plays nicely with everything. Two minor gripes. First, it's marketed as portable but it's bulkier and heavier than you'd expect. The battery and handle are handy for moving it room to room, but you wouldn't want to lug it much further than that. Second, the figure-8 power cable feels dated when everything else has moved to USB-C. Neither are dealbreakers, but worth knowing. Overall, really happy with this purchase.

Building a new home and not needing to put built-in speakers in! Using 1 JBL Authentics 300 and (3) JBL Authentics 200s for amazing sound throughout the house. The 200 syncs perfectly every time and has amazing sound. The bass is excellent! Tried many other competitors speakers, including many Marshall’s and they don’t compare. Plus the Authentics have a classic look. Super happy with my purchase!

I recently bought the JBL Authentics 200 and I’m genuinely blown away by it. The biggest thing for me is how well it fills a large space. This isn’t just “loud near the speaker” sound – the bass and presence carry across the whole room. I listen to a lot of hip-hop, R&B, reggae and house, and the low-end is deep, punchy and controlled, without being boomy or muddy. What really impressed me is how good it sounds at sensible volumes. You don’t need to crank it for it to feel full and satisfying, which makes it perfect for a kitchen or open-plan space. Compared to smaller Bluetooth speakers I’ve owned (which are loud but don’t project), this feels like a completely different class. Setup was painless, AirPlay works flawlessly with Apple Music, and the build quality feels premium. It looks great on a countertop and feels like it’s been designed to actually live in a home, not just be moved around occasionally. Honestly, this is one of those purchases where you press play and immediately think: “Yep — this is exactly what I wanted.” Highly recommended if you want proper room-filling sound without the hassle of a full hi-fi system.

We are so happy and impressed with this little speaker. Not many companies are making Google Assistant devices, and I'm glad this is. Since our house has Gemini, this speaker does too. It also supports Tidal Audio, which wasn't advertised anywhere. I use Tidal and my wife uses Spotify. It would be nice if the JBL app let us 'share' access, instead of sharing the same password, but other than that it's been great. I have the app on my phone and we set the 'heart' button to play forest sounds. Most importantly, it sounds great! But it's so compact.

You never question quality of sound of JBL speakers, Sir ! Awesome 👌

I bought this a couple of weeks ago and have zero regrets. Stylish, functions as advertised and it sounds incredible. Particularly like that it functions well with both Alexa and Google assistants.

This is a great smart speaker with very aesthetic look and sound. I really like how easy was to set this up with all the smart features. It works perfectly well with Alexa, Google Assistant and Airplay. However if you anyway be into more premium bass then this is not the speaker. Best use case would be slow music, podcasts and any normal audio or video.

JBL Authentics 500 and 200 speakers let's start with positive they look absolutely awesome and the sound is absolutely awesome now the negative linking them is absolutely awesome nightmare with Goole Home ie casting also Spotify Goole home keeps saying speakers are offline which is crazy as they are connected on the app so the voice assistance doesn't work. I do not recommend this at all. It's a great shame. They should have tested this cropley. Before sending them out to the public, it's a great shame as the speakers are absolutely beautiful to look at. Let's hopefully they sort this problem out as soon as possible.

Bought this 3 weeks ago, and it's been nothing but trouble. Not having a power button is a major product design flaw. The speaker will randomly start playing music and there's no way to turn it off, other than pulling out the power cable. It's paired with the useless JBL One app. Returning this dud product for a refund.