Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar Review
Discover the ultimate in home audio with our in-depth review of the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar. Learn about its sleek design, powerful performance, and cutting-edge smart features that make it a standout choice for any home entertainment setup. From immersive Dolby Atmos sound to seamless voice assistant integration, find out why the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is the perfect addition to elevate your audio experience. Read our comprehensive review now!
TECH REVIEWS
6/4/202410 min read
Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar Review
The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar has taken the audio world by storm! This soundbar offers a sleek design, powerful performance, and smart features that cater to modern entertainment needs. In this comprehensive review, we delve into its key features, performance, and why it stands out in the crowded soundbar market. Read on to learn all you need to know about the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar.
Elevating Your Home Audio Experience
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Smart Features and Connectivity
2 Minute Review:
Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar
Performance: ★★★★☆
The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar excels in delivering a powerful and immersive audio experience. With Dolby Atmos and TrueSpace technology, it creates a rich, multi-dimensional soundscape that enhances both movies and music. The soundbar handles various audio formats exceptionally well, ensuring detailed and dynamic sound performance. However, it lacks some advanced multi-channel capabilities seen in higher-end competitors, which keeps it from a perfect rating.
Sound Quality: ★★★★★
The sound quality of the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is outstanding. It offers crisp highs, rich mids, and deep bass, providing a balanced and enjoyable listening experience. The dialogue is clear and distinct, making it perfect for movie enthusiasts. The spatial audio effect adds depth to the sound, making it feel like the audio is coming from all around you. The overall audio performance is impressive and lives up to Bose's reputation for high-quality sound.
Design: ★★★★★
The sleek, minimalist design of the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is both stylish and functional. Its matte black finish and capacitive touch controls add a touch of elegance to any room. The build quality is robust, with high-quality materials that ensure durability. The soundbar's design is not only aesthetically pleasing but also practical, fitting seamlessly with modern home decor.
Software and Features: ★★★★☆
The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar offers a comprehensive set of features, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, the Bose Music app for easy control and customization, and support for various streaming services. The inclusion of Amazon Alexa allows for convenient voice control. However, the lack of support for other voice assistants like Google Assistant and Apple Siri is a significant limitation, which can be disappointing for users who rely on these platforms.
Value: ★★★★☆
At $749.99, the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar offers great value for its high-quality sound, sleek design, and extensive features. While it is on the pricier side, its performance and build quality justify the cost. However, considering it only supports Amazon Alexa, some users might find better value in other soundbars that offer broader voice assistant compatibility and additional features for a similar price.
Unboxing and First Impressions
Let's start with the first impressions. When you first unbox the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar, you’re greeted with a sense of premium quality right from the start. The soundbar is securely packaged, ensuring it arrives in pristine condition. The first thing you'll notice is the sleek, minimalist design, which features a glossy black finish that effortlessly complements any home decor. Alongside the soundbar, the package includes a compact but comprehensive remote control, power cables, an HDMI cable for high-definition audio and video connectivity, and a quick start guide to help you get up and running swiftly.
The unboxing experience is straightforward and user-friendly, with each component clearly labeled and easy to locate. Bose has clearly put thought into the presentation, making it feel like you're unwrapping a piece of cutting-edge technology. The soundbar itself feels robust and well-constructed. This initial unboxing sets the tone for the high-quality experience that the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar promises to deliver.
Design and Build Quality
The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is the perfect example of elegance and durability. This soundbar blends seamlessly with any home entertainment setup. Its sleek, minimalist design is characterized by a glossy black finish that is sure to wow. The soundbar measures 41 inches in length, making it an ideal match for TVs 55 inches and larger, ensuring a cohesive look in your living space.
The build quality is impeccable, with a sturdy frame that feels substantial and well-crafted. The top of the soundbar features capacitive touch controls, which offer quick access to essential functions like volume adjustment and input selection. These controls are responsive and intuitive, adding a touch of modern convenience to the design.
At the back, the soundbar is equipped with a variety of connectivity options. The HDMI eARC port ensures the highest quality audio transmission, while the optical input provides versatility for different setups. Additionally, there's a USB port for firmware updates, ensuring your soundbar stays up to date with the latest enhancements.
The front of the soundbar is covered with a sleek metal grille that protects the internal components while maintaining a stylish appearance. Beneath this grille, Bose has incorporated high-quality drivers and speakers that deliver exceptional audio performance. The overall design is not just about aesthetics; it also serves to enhance the sound quality and user experience.
Top Design Aspects
Sleek, Minimalist Aesthetic
The matte black finish and clean lines make it a stylish addition to any home decor.
Robust Build Quality
The soundbar feels solid and well-constructed, ensuring durability and long-term reliability.
Capacitive Touch Controls
Convenient touch controls on the top of the soundbar provide quick access to key functions.
Comprehensive Connectivity
Includes HDMI eARC, optical input, and a USB port for versatile connectivity options.
Protective Metal Grille
The front metal grille protects the internal components while maintaining a modern, stylish look.
Perfect Size
At 41 inches in length, it pairs ideally with TVs 55 inches and larger, creating a cohesive entertainment setup.
User-Friendly Design
Easy setup and intuitive controls enhance the overall user experience.
High-Quality Drivers and Speakers
Integrated premium audio components ensure exceptional sound performance.
Sound Performance
The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar excels in delivering an immersive audio experience. Equipped with Dolby Atmos and Bose’s proprietary TrueSpace technology, it creates a three-dimensional soundscape that fills the room. Whether you're watching action-packed movies or listening to your favorite music, the soundbar provides crisp highs, rich mids, and deep bass. The dialogue mode ensures that voices are clear and intelligible, even at low volumes. With this soundbar there's no more need to constantly adjust the volume based on the scene you are watching. When paired with this Bose subwoofer you can turn any room into a movie theatre!
Smart Features and Connectivity
One of the only mediocre features of the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is its integration with smart home technology. This soundbar only supports Amazon Alexa for voice control. This limitation might be a bit disappointing for users who prefer other voice assistants like Google Assistant or Apple Siri. Despite this, Alexa provides robust functionality, allowing you to control the soundbar, manage smart home devices, and access various streaming services using just your voice.
The built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity enable seamless streaming from popular music services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. Additionally, the Bose Music app offers an intuitive interface for setup, customization, and firmware updates. With the app, you can easily adjust sound settings, create multi-room audio setups, and access your music library.
While the lack of support for multiple voice assistants is a drawback, the overall smart features and connectivity options still make the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar a versatile addition to your home entertainment system.
User Experience
Setting up the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is a breeze. The included HDMI eARC ensures high-quality audio transmission, and the guided setup in the Bose Music app simplifies the process. Once set up, the soundbar can be controlled via the app, the included remote, or through voice commands.
The soundbar’s performance during everyday use is stellar. Whether it's for a cinematic experience or casual listening, it consistently delivers high-quality audio. The adaptive sound technology automatically adjusts audio settings based on the content, providing an optimized listening experience.
Comparison with Competitors
When compared to other high-end soundbars in the market, the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar holds its own against notable competitors like the Sonos Arc, Samsung HW-Q950A, and LG S95QR.
Sonos Arc:
The Sonos Arc offers excellent sound quality with support for both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, making it versatile in smart home setups. While it shares similar features with the Bose Smart Ultra, including Dolby Atmos and a sleek design, the Sonos Arc lacks the TrueSpace technology that enhances non-Dolby audio content in the Bose model. The Sonos Arc is priced slightly lower at $719.00, making it a competitive option for those seeking robust audio performance with broader voice assistant support.
Samsung HW-Q950A:
The Samsung HW-Q950A stands out with its expansive setup, including additional speakers that provide a more immersive surround sound experience. It supports Amazon Alexa and offers impressive sound quality with Dolby Atmos and DTS. However, it comes at a higher price point of approximately $1,399. This makes it ideal for users looking for a comprehensive home theater system but may be overkill for those seeking a simpler, all-in-one soundbar solution like the Bose Smart Ultra.
LG S95QR:
The LG S95QR is another strong contender, featuring support for both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, along with Dolby Atmos and DTS. It includes additional rear speakers and a subwoofer, offering a full surround sound experience. Priced around $1,499, it provides a high-end audio experience with advanced features such as AI Room Calibration and Meridian Audio technology. However, its higher price point and complex setup might not be as appealing to those looking for the simplicity and ease of use that the Bose Smart Ultra offers.
Our Personal Review of the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar
I've been using the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar for a few weeks now, and I must say, it has significantly elevated my home audio experience. The sleek design seamlessly blends with my living room decor, and the build quality is top-notch, giving me confidence in its durability. Setting it up was a breeze, thanks to the intuitive Bose Music app.
The sound performance is where the Bose Smart Ultra truly shines. The Dolby Atmos and TrueSpace technology create an immersive audio environment, making movies and music sound incredibly detailed and dynamic. Whether it's the deep bass or the crystal-clear dialogue, every aspect of the soundbar's audio output is impressive.
One of the standout features for me is the capacitive touch controls on the top of the soundbar. They're responsive and convenient, allowing quick adjustments without needing the remote. The multiple connectivity options, including HDMI eARC and Bluetooth, make it versatile and easy to integrate with various devices.
However, there is one downside that I find disappointing: the soundbar only supports Amazon Alexa for voice control. As someone who uses Google Assistant extensively, this limitation is a bit of a letdown. It would have been great if Bose included support for multiple voice assistants, making it more flexible for different smart home setups.
Despite this minor drawback, I still believe the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is worth every penny. Its exceptional sound quality, sleek design, and overall performance make it a fantastic addition to any home entertainment system. If you can overlook the limited voice assistant support, this soundbar is an excellent investment.
Conclusion
The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is a top-tier soundbar that delivers on all fronts—design, sound quality, smart features, and user experience. It’s an excellent investment for anyone looking to enhance their home entertainment system. Whether you're an audiophile or just someone who appreciates high-quality audio, the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is sure to impress.
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