How long do Bose smart speakers have software support?

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Ah, longevity is the spice of devices, or something like that. The longer your technology lasts, the better the experience. No one buys new equipment expecting or wanting it to fail prematurely. So it’s always a good idea to consider the average lifespan of anything you own or will soon own. Most Bose owners aren’t surprised to discover that the company’s speakers enjoy a solid reputation, often lasting more than 10 years and sometimes up to 25 years. However, another aspect of reliability is how long a company is willing to offer software support. Modern devices typically gain new features, bug fixes, security improvements, and many other benefits through software and firmware updates. When this support ends, devices may sometimes go dark. How long can we reasonably expect smart speaker manufacturers to provide this kind of support, especially from a well-known brand like Bose? The answer might surprise you.

Bose doesn’t give a direct timeline or expiration date for software updates for most of its smart speakers, but we can infer rough estimates from past transactions. In May 2026, Bose officially ended support for its SoundTouch speaker line, namely cloud platform support. The Bose SoundTouch series was launched in 2013, meaning some of the range has been around for over 13 years. The brand also kept its word, as Bose announced at launch that the series would benefit from 13 years of support.

It’s been a long time in the world of technological devices. What about newer models? The 2019 Bose Portable Smart Speaker still receives software updates, as does the 2019 Bose SoundLink Mini II SE. A support range of between seven and 13 years is more than solid.

It’s also important to note that while the SoundTouch line has lost some cloud-based features – which is certainly frustrating for a few owners – Bose has ensured that the devices are not bricked and can still be used locally. Bose has announced that it will stop sales of certain SoundTouch models in 2020, with a short delivery time. Additionally, the SoundTouch API has been made open source, so independent developers can continue to support them with custom tools and applications. Rather than locking the speakers and preventing anyone from using them again, Bose ensured that most current owners could continue to use the devices offline and created an opportunity for a strong development community to continue supporting them in the future.

Does this guarantee that the same support will be offered to all of its smart speakers in the future? No, but it’s much better than the alternative: the speakers being bricked up and no longer working at all. Bose SoundTouch also lasted much longer than something like Google’s Home Max, which was killed off after just three years in 2020.

When cloud support went offline, SoundTouch owners lost access to quick-access presets, music playback and navigation via the SoundTouch app, stereo pairing for some models, and smart assistant support. Yes, your old Bose speaker may have lost some of these extra features, but it’s entirely possible that community developers will restore access. AfterTouch also brings back many features. Bose sells additional smart speakers with built-in voice assistants if that’s what you’re looking for. If you want an alternative brand of smart speakers with the best overall software support, Sonos provides over 15-20 years of support for its products, including most, if not all, of the speakers it has ever released.