Verdict
The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is a one - boxwood Atmos soundbar that entertains with a wide , tall , and wide sound . Its direct and punchy performance lend mightiness to films and TV , though it does on occasion misbehave with its strange audio dropout .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The single - box soundbar has become a pop alternative for customers to get a vainglorious , immersive auditory sensation into their live rooms without film up too much blank space . Joining this long tilt is the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar .
The tilt for a single - corner immersive bar is that it ’s commodious , saving on space and clutter , though it ’s not precisely “ immersive ” without rear speakers and an additional subwoofer so there is a trade - off to be made .
Is it deserving make that craft - off with the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar ? With Bose ’s pedigree in the audio field , it has plenty of potency , but there ’s also plenty of competition from the likes of Sony , Sonos , andBowers & Wilkins .
Design
The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar does n’t look all that different from the Smart Soundbar 900 . As per usual from Bose , the flagship mannikin is all sleek contoured cable , alloy radiator grille , and glass surfaces . It looks every inch a premium bar .
Though if you get up close and bear on the soundbar , you ’ll want to give the white glove treatment as it ’s a magnet for smudge and fingerprint .
Available in arctic white and dim finish ( the former I ’m presuming is less detectable with smudges ) , the bar is 1045 millimeter wide-eyed , 58 mm tall and 107 mm mysterious . It should be able to slide beneath a TV without complaint .
At either end are two grilles that cover the upfiring driver . The silver-tongued décor is a nice contrast to the blue - ish finish of the speaker itself .
In a recessed section around the tooshie are the connections , on top are a couple of touch mastery ( microphone and major power ) , while above the grille on the front left wing is the position Browning automatic rifle that dash a miscellanea of colours ( but mainly white-hot or amber ) . It can be a little difficult to spot present how slim the LED is above the grille .
Let ’s not leave the remote control , which is tiny and could mayhap get lost between the space of your sofa if you ’re not too thrifty . It has all the button you ’ll postulate to operate , keeping thing very simple , but queerly feel out of place with the premium stylings of the soundbar . In term of handling it and feedback from buttons , it ’s rather plain .
Features
Given Dolby is an ever - present across picture streaming services , it ’s no surprise the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is a Dolby fanboy ( Atmos along with Dolby Digital , TrueHD , and Digital Plus ) . It ’s disappointing there ’s no aboriginal DTS internal representation . Any DTS signals appear as LPCM track in the Bose Music app .
Connectivity to a television is througheARC(there are no HDMI input ) and ocular input , while there is a USB but it ’s service only . The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar keeps this area mere , but it does mean dwelling movie theatre fans who might have need of plug their reservoir into a soundbar should have to take care at option like theSony HT - A5000 .
Wireless connectivity admit Wi - Fi ( naturally),AirPlay 2 , Chromecast , Spotify ConnectandBluetooth 5(SBC , AAC ) . you could control audio playback through the Bose Music app .
The Bose Music app services all of Bose ’s wireless product . Its clean look and simple agency of operation and navigation are all positives – the problem is that it ’s not the most unchanging . It ’ll say it ’s instal an update that go on for hours if not Clarence Day , and it has a tendency to misdemean , which I ’ll get into with the ‘ Sound Quality ’ part .
There ’s an AI Dialogue feature that provides an added focussing on what ’s being aver , and within the app you could create medicine presets , as well as group together other Wi - Fi enabled product . For instance , you could add the Bass Module 700 ( £ 799 / $ 849 ) and Surround Speakers 700 ( £ 549 / $ 599 ) for an immersive experience .
If you ’ve stimulate Bose headphones they can be unite directly to the soundbar for a private listening session through Bose ’s SimpleSync engineering . The Bose Voice4Video engineering can , plainly , allow Alexa to take control of not just the soundbar , but your tv set , cable , and satellite box . She can even trade between the inputs if you require her nicely .
Alexais built in and she ’s responsive to program line , though if you ’re playing audio loud I ’ve chance you do have to put up your voice for her to pick up your voice . There ’s ‘ mould With ’ Google support for those who have production within that smart ecosystem .
The AdaptIQ is where you may perform your best “ to me , my cristal - Men ! ” impression of Charles Xavier with a headset that you put on your heading and connect to the bar through a wired connection . If you do n’t mind looking a small lightheaded and shuffling around a room , it ’ll measure the quad the bar is in and calibrate accordingly .
Sound Quality
The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is up against imposing competitor , but holds its own with a robust and aggressive performance , with bass part that negate its slim proportions .
set off off with Kong : Skull Island ( Atmos ) and right from the opening credits , the Smart Ultra Soundbar forges a firm , punchy , and strong-growing - sounding sea bass public presentation . The Bose is direct in how it regurgitate dialog , with a neutral rescue that avoids sounding crisp but maintains ripe levels of faithfulness .
A favourite test of mine is the ‘ Gom Jabbar ’ scene from Dune ( Atmos ) and the Bose skates through with excellent replication of dialogue , even without the function of the AI Dialogue help , though some dialog can sound a piffling lean with the AI Dialogue on .
The soundstage produced is quite tall in terms of tiptop and widely enough that it surpasses the boundaries of the telecasting screen – the music riffs in Skull Island often blow just either side of the screen , adding to the ambience of the soundtrack .
There is also deepness with effects placed near and far combining to full outcome , with some astute panning and tracking of sound across the cover , while the soundbar takes a sharp but not too sharp presence with high frequency sounds . I like the tonal balance that it offers across the frequency range – punchy , unbendable , and neutral without sound too crisp .
The soundbar does n’t fire sounds out towards the seating room position , but to be fair , not many Atmos legal profession do . And as the Smart Ultra Soundbar is just one bar , subwoofers and rearward Speaker are redundant for the full Atmos surround good effect .
Nevertheless bass part is surprisingly skilful for a one - box soundbar system . I ’d let in there ’s not much depth that you ’d get from a freestanding subwoofer , but there ’s profundity and firmness to low frequency when the astuteness guardianship are flung from the helicopter in Skull Island . Giving Oppenheimer ( DTS ) a trial run , there ’s punchiness to an explosion of a boat but the Bose meets its limit with Nolan ’s Oscar - get ahead film as it miss enough astuteness and king to really make you find as if the explosion rips from the silver screen .
At least with Blade Runner 2049 ( Atmos ) there ’s no overrefinement in the bass - big opening credits that I can listen . Again , while it ’s modified , there ’s enough ponderousness to give the way a minor shake , while with Mission Impossible : drained Reckoning ( Atmos ) there ’s a decent thrusting and power to the soundtrack that give requisite force to legal action scenes . It wo n’t replace a subwoofer , but easily outperforms a boob tube .
And stick with all in Reckoning , the Bose achieve a nice balance between the various effects in the Rome chase succession , highlighting what ’s important in terms of the natural process and excitement without it becoming an audio soup .
From the sound of the police tank , to gunshots , glass smash , the squeal of tyres on Rome ’s cobble Earth’s surface to Lorne Balfe ’s score ; it ’s all brought together cohesively , and among this feverish action there ’s still a bubble maintained for dialogue . There ’s a pot on the Bose ’s home plate in this scene and it manages it well .
It ’s also subject of a fluid sense of dynamism , the difference between tacky and quiet is stated distinctly ( and dramatically ) in a scene where Gabriel interrogates an Italian police police officer .
What ’s most disappointing about the performance is when it ’s not working . The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar had a inclination to misconduct with sound abbreviate out randomly – sometimes just by rewinding or tight - forwarding . Turning the ginmill on and off at the plug reform it , but not always . Changing the HDMI scope on the bar did n’t turn back it from occur either .
The euphony performance from the Bose is surprisingly warm given what I said about its disinterest with moving-picture show and telecasting . It ’s an engaging demonstration over Wi - Fi , with a strong emphasis on bass in The Beatles ’ recollective and Winding Road .
With Bluetooth there ’s less an emphasis on freshwater bass and a tad more midrange clarity , but to my ears the Bose sounds consistent whether over Wi - Fi or Bluetooth .
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Should you buy it?
There ’s power and attack to the Bose ’s delivery that makes it a good match for natural process and repulsion films .
The Smart Ultra Soundbar ’s audio has a tendency to drop out . It might just be this sample but Bose ’s soundbars have a story of sketchy operation .
Final Thoughts
Aside from its inclination to misbehave , the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is a strong contender for those who want Dolby Atmos audio recording but do n’t have the way for a full base cinema setup .
It suffers from a front - heavy soundstage like all one - box Atmos bars , but its improbable and wide sound is bigger than you ’d get from a stereo system bar , and there ’s plentifulness of smarts and added features to take advantage of , specially if you ’ve got Bose mathematical product in the home .
Without DTS financial backing or a HDMI stimulant , it ’s not built for home movie theater partizan . At this price there ’s competition from the likes ofSony , Bowers & WilkinsandSonos ; and while I ’d say the Bose is better than them , it competes well among this distinguished clump . Check out myBest Soundbarguide for more options .
Trusted Score
How we test
We screen every soundbar we retrospect soundly over an extended period of time . We use industry standard trial to compare features properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to look back a intersection .
Find out more about how we try out in ourethics policy .
FAQs
you’re able to sum a subwoofer to the Smart Ultra Soundbar in the Bass Module 700 . That costs £ 700 or $ 849 , which is almost as much as the soundbar itself .
