Why is my Bose 500 flashing white?

The lights on your Bose Soundbar 700 are more than just a fancy light show. In actual fact, they’re the easiest way for you to tell the status of your device or what’s wrong with it. Here’s a quick guide on understanding the LED indicators and how to make them work for you.

Soundbar 700 LED Statuses

This is what the various colour indicators on your Soundbar mean. If you are unsure of what the errors or indicators mean on any of your Bose devices, then don’t attempt to fix any physical components.

Look at articles relating to your issue or quick links suggestions first, if you don’t find a viable solution, you can then contact customer support. When doing this, ensure you are on the local geographic site to get local support.

Microphone LED

• No red light – Microphone/voice assistant enabled
• Solid Red light – Microphone/voice assistant disabled

Light bar

• White, pulsing – The system is rebooting
• White, fast pulse – Connecting to Bluetooth or WiFi network
• White, slides to centre, pulses twice – Request confirmed for system setting change
• White, single pulse – Request confirmed
• White, left side flashing – Volume down command received. White light stays lit if the volume button is held
• White, right side flashing – Volume up command received. White light stays lit if the volume button is held.
• White, left side glows – Audio muted
• White, left and right sides glow – Audio paused
• White, slides to centre, glows solid, pulses – The voice assistant is awaiting a request when the light bar slides to the centre and glows. If you don’t make a request during in time, the light will flash four times and fade, to signify that the assistant is no longer listening.
• White, slides to centre, then to sides, pulses white – The voice assistant is listening for a request when the light bar slides to the centre and glows. After you give it a voice command, the light slides to the sides while the assistant is calculating a response. The assistant pulses while it talks.
• White, continuously slides from sides to centre – Voice assistant alarm is sounding
• White, slides from right to left – Downloading system update
• White, slides left to right – Updating system
• Blue, pulsing – Ready for a Bluetooth connection
• Yellow, pulsing – Notification from voice assistant
• Amber light, flashes four times – Source error, refer to Bose Music app for more information
• Solid Amber – Currently in setup mode or ready to connect to WiFi
• Red, flashes four times – Voice assistant or internet connection is unavailable
• Red, solid – System error, requires further troubleshooting
• Green, pulsing – System ready for setup or entering recovery mode

Soundbar Universal Remote Blink Pattern

• Top three icons blink twice after installing batteries – The remote has completed its boot-up process
• Top three icons blink twice after pressing multiple buttons – The remote has stopped sending the multi-button signal
• All icons blink repeatedly and timeout after 65 seconds – The remote is not connected to the soundbar
• All icons blink three times – The remote is connected to the soundbar
• Top three source icons blink one at a time – The soundbar and remote are no longer connected
• Four coloured buttons above the navigation pad blink twice – The remote’s batteries are low.

Bose Soundbar Red Light Troubleshooting

As you may have guessed, a red light on your Bose smart soundbar is not a good thing, but it certainly isn’t the end of the world. Try out these options to get rid of it:

Reset your soundbar

You can either perform a soft reset or a factory reset. A soft reset will fix minor issues and won’t erase the settings on your Bose account or other devices such as surround speakers.

This reset process involves powering off the device via the power button, disconnecting the power cord and bass module, if need be, and waiting 30 seconds before powering it on again.

A factory reset will restore all factory settings and requires the device to be reconfigured via the Bose app afterwards.

Put your device in recovery mode

Recovery mode can fix a Bose device that has become unresponsive.

Install any updates

This involves updating your soundbar via a USB cable. Updates normally resolve operational issues.

If none of these helps and your soundbar still isn’t working, then be sure to get in touch with the Bose support team as soon as possible.