Verdict
It ’s not without its foible , but the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 has mountain to recommend it – especially if all your favourite moving picture are in Dolby Atmos …
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
attempt to getDolby Atmosspatial sound from a single , pocket-sized loudspeaker inevitably think compromises are required .
But with its healthy Smart Soundbar 600 , Bose is trying to minimise those compromise while maximize carrying out . Which is very commendable and all … but is it , in fact , potential ?
The Bose Smart Soundbar 600 is usable , and in the United Kingdom it ’s nominally £ 499 – although you do n’t have to search far or for long to get a slenderly better good deal . In Bose ’s home territorial dominion of the United States it goes for $ 499 , top , while in Australia it ’s currently anywhere between AU$749 and AU$799 .
You do n’t necessitate to have a deep knowledge of the consumer electronics landscape painting to realise that the Smart Soundbar 600 has theSonos Beam Gen 2firmly in its sights here : after all , the 2d - generation Sonos is the compact , well-disposed , ( sort of ) Dolby Atmos soundbar of pick at this sort of money . As fights go , then , Bose has waded into a tough one .
Design
If you want a visually showy soundbar , a ) what ’s incorrect with you ? and b ) wait elsewhere . The Bose Smart Soundbar 600 is discerning to the point of anonymity , which I estimate is how most customers require it .
At 56 x 694 x 10 mm ( HxWxD ) it ’ll happily model beneath smaller TVs , and at 3.1 kilo it ’s easily paries - mountable ( although Bose wants more of your money for the optional wall - square bracket ) . And thanks to a combination of high - quality plastic and a quantity of tightly perforated alloy across the front , sides and some of the top of the storage locker , the spirit of the 600 is insurance premium in the same room the spirit is understated .
The fact that it ’s only available in smuggled takes that particular decisiveness out of your hand . And build quality is Bose business as usual – that ’s to say it ’s basically faultless .
There are several options for operate the Smart Soundbar 600 , each of them well - implemented and useful . The soundbar ships with a little remote - restraint handset – it ’s only credit card - sized , but it ’s not one of those clicky membrane devices we all have sex and dislike . Instead , it ’s quite tactile and features properly recessed push that want a positivistic action , and covers the majority of major functions .
You may favor to just vocalise your requirements – so the 600 hasAmazon Alexabuilt in . There ’s a little capacitive control on top of the soundbar itself to overcome or turn on the mix mics – it ’s just above an area of light-emitting diode lighting that lets you recognize what the 600 is up to – and with the mics on , Alexa is just as responsive and helpful here as in every other program .
buff ofGoogle Assistantwill have to have an appropriate fresh speaker on a vulgar internet to use their assistant of option .
Features
The Bose Smart Soundbar 600 is at its most effective when it ’s at its most simple . There ’s a mains cable length , anHDMI cableand a digital ocular overseas telegram in the packaging – and all you need to do is tie the first two and you ’re in business .
There ’s no option to black market any room - standardization software – just lay the 600 in front of ( or beneath ) your TV ( which ideally has a correspondingeARC HDMIsocket ) and that ’s all there is to it . Fire up some content with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack and you ’re living your best life .
The HDMI socket and main input are on the backside of the cabinet , and they ’re companion by a USB stimulation ( for service only ) , and connections allowing you to toilsome - telegram a Bose - trademark subwoofer ( or bass module , as the company prefers ) and IR blaster . Wireless connectivity , meanwhile , can be had in the shape of twofold - band Wi - Fi , Apple AirPlay 2 , Bluetooth 4.2 ( SBC and AAC codecs only ) , Chromecast build - in and Spotify Connect .
No matter how you get your audio content on board , though , it ’s delivered by a five - unattackable complement of drivers in every circumstance – if it ’s Dolby Atmos stuff then it ’ll come direct , if it ’s not then it ’ll be delivered via Bose ’s TrueSpace algorithm that seek to make a sensation of spatial sound from subject matter of any type .
There ’s a forward - facing 32 mm tweeter in the centre of the Browning automatic rifle , and a 44 x 102 millimeter racetrack driver at each end swear out up some audio width . Behind the metal grille on the top of the cabinet are a distich of 57 mm angled driver , from which do the superstar of sonic stature . There ’s some low - frequency reinforcement bring home the bacon by a couple of narrow bass voice automatic port that release at the rear of the cabinet .
The Bose Music app , meanwhile , takes care of middling much everything . It ’s where you’re able to integrate the 600 into a multichannel surround - sound organisation using tuner Bose utterer and a subwoofer .
It ’s where you’re able to trim audio response by vary bass and treble levels , or by finessing the relative loudness of the height and the centre channels . you may check for updates , set up Amazon Alexa , enable Chromecast and plenty more besides . It ’s a minute of a bland look , Bose Music , but it ’s about as useful and logical as these thing ever get .
Sound Quality
It ’s not difficult to get the Smart Soundbar 600 to the level of readiness . And it ’s evenly easy to love the sound it ready when it ’s given some Dolby Atmos content to sink its tooth into .
Its facility with soundstaging is perhaps the most immediately telling aspect of its performance . It ’s a respectably large stage that ’s created when you keep the strong-arm dimensions of the 600 uppermost in your mind , and there ’s enough leave / right width to make result steering both obvious and pronounced .
The ahead - lighting tweeter is bolstered by the two big drivers at either end and the event is a center channel that ’s cocksure , distinct and yet survive as part of the overall soundtrack rather than being isolated and distant .
And while those two up - kindling drivers ca n’t win over you that phone is in reality originating from overhead , they add up an undeniable sensation of height and verticalness to the presentation . There ’s good unity to the overall belief of soundstage here , too – soundtracks are presented as a piece , rather than as a assemblage of distinct and vie chemical element .
There ’s good dynamic ability on video display , too . The obvious Hollywood manipulations ( the permutation from hissed expo to almighty edifice - pull down explosion , for example ) are dispatched with no apparent sweat , and the more nuanced harmonic dynamics apparent in the duologue during Red Notice ( each line more smart - arsed than the last ) are give good expression too . In this regard the 600 is an effortlessly informative listen .
In fact , detail levels are pretty high-pitched across the board . Low frequencies are unexpectedly inscrutable ( give the strong-arm size of the soundbar itself and its full complement of drivers ) and nicely textured , and there ’s sufficient crunch and radiate at the opposite end to make that shatter glass sound jagged and dangerous . In between , the midrange is positive and distinguishable . And the whole frequency range hangs together nicely , with no convexity or concavity from top to bottom .
What there is , though , is a mild - but - undeniable trace of ‘ That Bose Sound ’ where overall tonality is concerned . It ’s not straight of every single Bose production , but it most certainly is for the majority of them … you know what we ’re babble about . That hint of rankness , of passion , the transonic equivalent weight of a slightly overstuffed pillow . In the right fortune ( lots of woodwind instruments , for example , or a basso profondovoice ) it ’s more than welcome ; in the incorrect circumstances ( where speed and drive are of the essence , say ) it ’s a little less helpful .
The Bose TrueSpace algorithm takes over when sub - Dolby Atmos content is detected . It want to make everything into a spatial audio spectacular – mono , stereo , 5.1 , you name it . In some respects it ’s fairly successful – there ’s certainly a greater trace of tiptop than there otherwise would be ( because there would n’t be any at all ) . But at the same fourth dimension the soundstage the 600 creates miss a little of its definition and positivity , mean sound becomes ( relatively talk ) diffuse and obscure . An option to switch it off and plainly listen in stereo ( for representative ) would be gracious .
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Should you buy it?
The Smart Soundbar 600 sound a undecomposed softwood larger than it actually is
The Bose is well-chosen to care with Dolby Atmos , but it has no truck with DTS :X
Final Thoughts
As far as extracting unlikely plate of sound from a manageably sized locker , it is job done . And with Dolby Atmos content , the Bose is a coherent and engrossing listen . It overact its hired man somewhat with TrueSpace , though – and it ’s not without accomplished and herald competition ( * cough * Sonos Beam Gen 2 * cough * ) …
Trusted Score
How we test
We prove every soundbar we look back thoroughly over an extended period of meter . We utilize diligence standard test to compare features by rights . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , assume money to review a product .
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FAQs
There ’s no support for DTS , the Soundbar 600 currently only back Dolby audio formats such as Dolby Atmos .
Full Specs
Sustainability
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