I Tested the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar, and I'm Blown Away by Its Incredible Detail and Hyper-Realistic Surround Sound

As somebody who grew up with Bose portable speakers at home, I've been looking forward to testing the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar for some time.

The brand's flagship soundbar has nine built-in speakers, delivering surround sound that's designed to elevate every viewing experience at home, with compatibility with Dolby Atmos, Apple AirPlay 2, Chromecast, and Bluetooth for quick music playback.

I tested the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar in my home using our standardized list of scenes and songs – and enjoyed every minute of it. Keep reading to find out whether it's one of the best soundbars money can buy.

The One-Minute Verdict

The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar produces awe-inspiring sound, full of rich detail and color that makes every scene or song sound fantastic. It's beautifully balanced, with subtle details heard as part of an immersive and impressively realistic surround sound experience. You can hear footsteps approaching from opposite ends of the room, and music can even sound like each instrument is coming from its own separate soundbar scattered around the room.

My only gripes are with the long setup, taking about 2-3x as long as other soundbars and potentially requiring a bit of tech know-how if things go wrong, and the fact that the trebles can sometimes come through too sharply, even when you adjust the EQ.

There's also no ignoring the high cost, the Yamaha True X Bar 40A is a great alternative that costs less than half the price. However, if you're happy spending big on this high-quality system, I'd also recommend spending $100 more for the Sonos Arc Ultra.

Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar: Specifications

Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar: Setup

The Bose Smart Ultra setup was a longer process than with any other soundbar I've tested. It isn't a plug-and-play model, meaning even after connecting the power and HDMI cables, it won't play any audio until you've set it up on the Bose app.

My soundbar struggled to connect and wouldn’t show up on the app at all, after trying on different phones and at different times. As mine is a testing model, there’s a chance that this is because other people have used it previously.

I reset it using the remote’s ‘reset factory settings’ function (holding down the Music and Bluetooth buttons), then it showed up instantly. I then was able to connect it to the WiFi.

It still wasn’t playing audio, so I had to go into the CEC settings (on the app) and play around with the options until I was able to add it as an audio device on my Roku TV.

This is quite a fiddly setup, and as I’ve seen reports of other users having issues with Bose soundbars connecting, this might pose an issue for non-technical users when adding it to your smart home setup.

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Once it was fully connected, I set up ADAPTiQ – which optimizes the sound to the size and acoustics of your room. You'll find this feature in other premium soundbars like the Sonos Arc Ultra, but Bose's version is more precise as it actually includes a small headset that can fine-tune the audio directly to where you sit. This took around ten minutes, and the soundbar emitted loud noises at different frequencies to learn your room's acoustics.

Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar: Design and Features

The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar has a sleek, shiny finish, with a matte metallic front and a glossy top. It's one of the more stylish models I've tested, and you'll be hard-pressed to find a living room style or TV stand that this soundbar doesn't blend into perfectly.

The soundbar has nine speakers, including a subwoofer, three tweeters, and two up-firing speakers for surround sound and Dolby Atmos. At this price point, the Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 8 has 11 speakers and the Sonos Arc Ultra has 14 speakers, but this isn't the only factor when it comes to sound quality.

It has all the features you'd hope for in a soundbar this expensive. You can adjust the bass, treble, center channel and height channel from -10 to +10. That's more control over sound delivery than you get with most other models.

It also has AI Dialogue Mode that can automatically optimize the sound so that voices aren't muted or muffled, however every time I had this turned on, the playback sounded inauthentic.

As I test the same scenes with every soundbar, I noticed familiar voices sounding unfamiliar, and honestly, the sound quality is already clear enough that this doesn't feel necessary, except maybe for loud action scenes or old, low-quality films.

The app is super simple to use, with the main screen there as soon you open the app, and the main features all readily accessible, minimizing how many screens you have to click through.

You can also connect the soundbar to any other Bose speakers you have for multi-room coverage, and there are options on the app to guide you through the setup.

Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar: TV and Movies

The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar's audio is masterfully balanced. Clear details but still with strong depth and booming bass that doesn’t overpower anything.

However, the trebles can be sharp making voices occasionally sound raspy, even after playing with the EQ settings. Perhaps the soundbar's three tweeters give the trebles more of the sound stage than is necessary, but this is a minor complaint considering the all-around phenomenal audio that makes this soundbar perfect for your movie room.

I immediately noticed when watching Princess Mononoke that the surround sound is excellent. It felt like I was dropped right into the fantastical setting. I could hear the echoes of the protagonist's voice as it sounded both near and far at the same time, or the cries of a wounded character coming distinctly from my left.

Every detail is delivered with true-to-form clarity. Voices don’t sound digitally delivered; they sound real. And this clarity doesn’t come with a sacrifice of booming bass. It's the opposite, actually – when deep sounds come in, they never overpower the more delicate sounds. It shows perfect balance.

During season six, episode nine of Breaking Bad, I felt again how tremendous the directional audio is. You can hear exactly how far away the background sounds are and each sound is given the right importance.

As the garage door closes, the subwoofer makes it boom and take over the entire moment, just as tensely as it should, and I could hear Walt's and Hank's deep breaths between sentences. The trebles were a little sharp at times, even after I adjusted the EQ settings, but overall the bass, mids and trebles were so well-balanced that I could hear a character’s voice authentically going from high to low.

The raspy vocals were present again during Our Planet II, but also demonstrated was how lush a dramatic score can sound, paired alongside the roaring sounds of nature. It does feel like it’s catered a bit more to the highs, though.

Using AI Dialogue Mode during the pilot episode of Arrested Development, everything sounded a little off. The background sounds and the characters’ voices didn’t sound realistic. But once I turned it off, it sounded natural.

The opening scenes of this episode are fast paced – switching between music, slow dialogue, narration, and sound effects often overlapping each other – and it felt like it was delivered as the creators intended, especially after avoiding soundbar placement mistakes.

When you combine realistic surround sound, powerful bass, and rich clarity in the little details – action scenes sound fantastic. I felt this during John Wick: Chapter 2 and Avengers: Infinity War, layers aren't muddied at all when a lot is happening. It’s cinema-level quality.

Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar: Music

Music sounds floaty, with vocals coming through more pleasant and soft than usual, as the Bose has somehow managed to soften the sharpness that can sometimes be present in low-quality speakers. Bass is thick and punchy and never overcrowds a song, but sometimes it can be drowned out by the soundbar's commitment to strong trebles. Strings, voices, and brass all sound phenomenal.

And not only that, but the incredible surround sound I felt watching TV and movie scenes created a multi-directional soundscape that immerses you into the songs.

I heard this beautifully in Morcheeba's The Sea. I could hear each instrument with such intimacy that it’s like there were multiple soundbars scattered throughout the room – not separate, but harmonious. Strings soared above, words were clearly distinguishable in the dreamy vocals, and the drums were tight and punchy without taking over.

There aren't many soundbars I'd recommend more for your music room. A key sound I listen out for is space – the subtle moments after an instrument has been played – and in All Day Breakfast Cafe's What If Fela Kuti and Nile Rodgers Were Friends I could hear the gentle reverberations of drums after they’ve been hit, and the moments of quiet between sounds.

It’s what demonstrates a speaker’s attention to fine details. The brass was poignant, the bassline was strong, and the vocals could not sound more gorgeous. I’ve found that the Bose can make vocals sound more pleasant than I’m used to – I genuinely have no idea how (I'm assuming it's mostly owed to the tweeter design), but it’s lovely hearing my favorite songs elevated like this.

I heard this attention to detail in The Weather Station's Robber too. Because of the strong trebles, the background hum to the intro was more prominent than I’m used to, transforming it from a delicate opener to an eerie growing of tension.

Certain songs sounded as if they were designed for the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar. Four Tet's Three Drums is naturally a floaty song, but as it’s comprised of synths, drums, cymbals, strings, and other electronic sounds, you’re getting a soundscape that isn’t just a dreamy wall of sound, but a beautifully balanced composition where each instrument shines.

Led Zeppelin's Ramble On is another example, where I felt the awe of the Bose Smart Ultra's surround sound. The subtle drum pattern felt like it was coming from a different direction to the other instruments.

Surprisingly, Erykah Badu's Didn't Cha Know is where I first felt some unwanted scratchiness. When Erykah’s voice was at its peak alongside the bass, it got the tiniest bit distorted. But I also heard the wobbly synths in verse two for the first time in ages which, again, shows off the Bose’s incredible clarity. You won't hear that level of subtlety in more affordable options like the Yamaha True X Bar 40A.

Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar: Price

The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar costs $999 at full price, and is sometimes (not often) discounted with around $100 off. It's certainly at the flagship end of the single soundbar market – most other soundbars cost less than this, whereas full home theater systems can cost 2-3x as much.

The Sonos Arc Ultra is the best soundbar we've tested at this premium price point. It costs $1,099 from Sonos, and for that extra $100 compared to the Bose, you get a more well-rounded sound, deeper bass, and fewer raspy voices in scenes. Both produce excellent sound quality all-round though, but you can notice the difference when comparing the Bose's nine speakers to the Sonos' 14 speakers.

The Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 8 costs $999.99 from Sony, the same as the Bose Smart Ultra, but on test, didn't perform as well. Its bass is somewhat lacking, even if it does have incredible surround sound and rich clarity like the Bose.

Or if you'd rather spend less, the Yamaha True X Bar 40A, or the Yamaha True X Bar 50A with its added subwoofer, are available at Yamaha for $399.95 and $419.95 respectively. They're not as well-balanced and have limited surround sound features, but will still make a huge upgrade for your home entertainment setup.

How I Tested the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar

I tested the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar in the largest room in my house, with a mix of hard surfaces and soft furnishings that are common in most living rooms. I assess how quick and easy the setup is, what every feature does, and how it looks in a room.

I test the same list of scenes and songs to standardize testing across every soundbar, across a vast range of sounds, eras, genres and frequencies. This allows me to know exactly what I'm looking for when testing each model, testing them all against the same criteria. You can find the full testing list here.

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