Bose Smart Soundbar Review: Old Bar, New AI Tricks

The caller AI Dialogue Mode diagnostic lone ups the ante. Audio brands are getting progressively bully astatine analyzing and reinforcing centralized effects, and Bose’s latest effort is the champion I’ve heard yet astatine raising dialog portion balancing different elements. Toggling the mode connected and disconnected shows conscionable however hard it’s working, letting the halfway transmission sing portion situation elements bounce disconnected the walls and astir the room.

The Smart Soundbar’s situation and tallness effects can’t lucifer the immersion of larger Dolby Atmos soundbars similar Klipsch’s Core 200 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) oregon the pricier Sonos Arc (9/10, WIRED Recommends), but it whitethorn conscionable beryllium the pluckiest mini Atmos barroom retired there. Its equilibrium of acoustics, integer processing, and existent up-firing speakers helps it outmatch the likewise priced Sonos Beam for sheer expansiveness.

Occasionally the barroom tin get a spot overwhelmed successful the mids oregon shrill successful the precocious register, but it’s seldom muddy oregon sharp. If you request to instrumentality things up a notch, you tin ever physique connected with further components (for a price), including Bose’s wireless situation speakers, subwoofers, and of course, the Ultra Open Earbuds.

AR Bar

After implicit a decennary successful the A/V space, it’s not often I observe a wholly caller audio experience, but Bose’s caller Open Earbuds–based Personal Surround diagnostic delivers. This isn’t the archetypal clip I’ve linked a soundbar with headphones—Sonos’ Ace headphones (8/10, WIRED Recommends) person a chill TV Swap diagnostic that lets you nonstop audio from the barroom to the headphones and backmost again, and Bose has agelong offered a akin diagnostic with headphones similar the Ultra QuietComfort (9/10, WIRED Recommends).

Personal Surround is different, though, successful portion due to the fact that of the Open Earbuds. As the sanction implies, they support your receptor canals unfastened to blend the piped-in audio with your environment, letting the barroom and buds enactment successful tandem. Simply Grouping the Open Earbuds lets you perceive everything, but toggling connected Personal Surround means you’ll get astir of your dependable from the barroom itself, portion the earbuds absorption connected situation and tallness effects. (You whitethorn besides request to fine-tune the situation premix by tapping the main measurement barroom for Open Earbuds Adjustments.)

The effect is simply a benignant of augmented world (AR) acquisition that seems to driblet you close successful the mediate of potent Dolby Atmos scenes. It works brilliantly with video games, wherever effects similar explosions oregon magic spells look to erupt each astir you. Film contented similar the “Amaze” demo from my Atmos demo disc oregon the shrinking scenes successful Ant-Man are likewise spellbinding, seeming to formed effects similar strafing spaceships overhead oregon popping gunshots close beside you to the constituent wherever you whitethorn commencement looking astir you to spot if you’re inactive alone.