A soundbar with advanced features that cost extra
The $499 Bose Smart Soundbar is a remixed version of the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 with a few additional features that make it “smarter” than before. It remains a compact soundbar with height channels and Dolby Atmos. It gains an AI Dialogue Mode as well as the ability to pair with the $299 Bose Ultra Open Earbuds to produce a surround sound effect. The soundbar delivers clear audio and easily connects to your home theater and mobile devices. Despite its new tricks, the Bose Smart Soundbar lacks decent bass and doesn’t fully envelope you with audio. The $499 Sonos Beam (Gen 2) sounds better thanks to its deeper bass response, larger sound field, and immersive audio even without surround speakers, making it our top pick at this price.Design: Familiar, But Nondescript
The Bose Smart Soundbar replaces the Smart Soundbar 600 in the company’s home theater lineup, but it’s evident from the design that they’re deeply related. The new soundbar keeps the same blocky build with slightly rounded corners and a metal grille that wraps around the front and sides. Despite the design itself being a few years old, the soundbar still looks modern and sleek. It only comes in black.
One of the best things about the Smart Soundbar is how compact it is. Indeed, it’s one of the smaller soundbars we’ve tested, making it an excellent choice for those with smaller TV stands or limited space. It measures 2.21 by 27.34 by 4.09 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.9 pounds. For reference, that’s slightly wider than the Sonos Beam Gen 2 (2.68 by 25.63 by 3.94 inches) but not as tall. It easily avoided blocking the screen of my TV, even when resting directly on the TV’s stand.
The soundbar has just a few controls. On the top, you’ll find only a microphone mute button and an Action button, which can be used to trigger Alexa. Both are close to the left end of the speaker. The Action button can’t be repurposed, so it’s Alexa or nothing. You won’t find any playback controls.
The included remote is easy to use but feels quite cheap due to its light and plastic build. It has all the controls you need, including the ability to play and pause audio, skip forward or jump back a track with a double tap or triple tap of the play/pause button respectively, turn the volume up and down, and change the source. It works well, but if you have a home theater setup, you will likely use the remote from your TV or media device to control the soundbar’s audio—if not the Bose app on your phone when listening to music or podcasts.
The physical ports are all on the rear panel. Not much has changed compared with the Smart Soundbar 600. You get an HDMI port with eARC support, an optical port, and an output to add a wired subwoofer. Frustratingly, only Bose subwoofers are compatible. There’s also an input for an IR controller and a USB port for service. It’s best to connect via HDMI eARC, as you don’t get Dolby Atmos through the optical port.
Beyond the hardwired ports, the Smart Soundbar includes Wi-Fi for streaming and Bluetooth 5.
