Bose Lifestyle Ultra soundbar: Tested review

I used to be each impressed and overwhelmed after I first noticed the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar, because it delivered mammoth sound and seemed to be a probable contender for the best soundbar throne. And after spending two weeks testing it for myself as the middle of my residence theater, I’ve to applaud Bose: This is a wonderful soundbar.

Not solely does this soundbar work with sensible audio system in methods its rivals can’t nevertheless it makes use of Bose tech to make its audio extra immersive, even content material that wasn’t designed to be. But this member of Bose’s Lifestyle Collection has a second mission along with being nice: toppling the favored Sonos Arc Ultra, the high-end mannequin that earned the title of best splurge soundbar and is similar value. So, let’s discover out the place it wins and the place it merely comes shut.

Support for synced audio with third-party audio system helps make the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar extra than simply a wonderful piece of residence theater audio gear.

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar has been a trusty principal audio output for my LG C2 OLED TV for the final couple of weeks, constantly including additional oomph to the whole lot from Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” to a number of New York Knicks playoff video games. I steadily appreciated that strong sound high quality, particularly after I heard announcer Mike Breen yell, “Bang!” with correct intonation and quantity. The Lifestyle Ultra produced loads of sound on the low-end, due to its CleanBass tech and the QuietPort output vents on the again. I didn’t want the included SpeechClarity setting to carry dialogue to the entrance throughout my testing, however I can affirm it features as marketed, elevating the vocals of varied actors on “The Boys” as motion round them swelled.

Watching the caravan chase scene from George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” (my favourite film scene for audio testing), I loved how effectively the twin up-firing audio system added a little bit of spatial chaos because the gremlin-like battle boys screamed and hopped over vehicles. It additionally helped the weapon thrown over Tom Hardy’s head sound barely increased than it will have in any other case, and I may hear wreckage thrown throughout the titular highway transfer from left to proper proper earlier than an explosion blasted on the appropriate. It virtually sounded just like the audio was coming farther from the left and proper, a trick enabled by Bose’s PhaseGuide drivers that ‘throw’ audio in these instructions.

Playing that very same scene on the Sonos Arc Ultra, I heard extra bass within the revving motors and the whirring blades felt farther to my sides there too, all with none loss in sound high quality or added muddiness. Sonos might not have Bose’s CleanBass and QuietPort, however its Sound Motion woofer is not any slouch. As somebody who’s examined the best surround sound systems, I can let you know that these soundbars don’t exchange rear-side audio system in my comparatively giant front room, however they do come shut. If you need extra bass, Bose (identical to Sonos) sells the Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer, which I’ll begin testing quickly to see the way it stacks up as a encompass sound setup.

Listening to rap duo The Clipse’s “P.O.V.”, I heard the bass thump, and I observed that the soundbar was doing one thing attention-grabbing to make the tune sound greater than I anticipated. That’s probably due to Bose’s TrueSpatial tech that routinely upmixes something that isn’t coded for Dolby Atmos spatial sound to make it really feel greater. Switching between the Sonos Arc Ultra and the Bose Lifestyle Ultra, I additionally observed the Bose had a bigger sound on the Nine Inch Noize model of “Came Back Haunted” and the nation sprawl of Kacey Musgraves’ “Slow Burn.” TrueSpatial can’t be turned off, and I don’t dislike it, however I might love the flexibility to disable it, only for additional management.

Both design and specs can’t be neglected whenever you’re dropping over a thousand {dollars} on something, so I’ve to commend Bose for ensuring the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar seems nice and improves on what got here earlier than. Instead of the metallic grille design of yesteryear, you get a fabric-wrapped entrance that extends to the far sides and a part of the highest, the place its glass pane and round contact management pad sit. This permits the soundbar, which is offered in black and white colour choices, to mix into the scene when positioned on prime of my wood cupboards or distinction effectively with the metallic or plastic Blu-ray gamers I’ve examined it atop.

Those contact controls are additionally an awesome new addition, as previous Bose soundbars just like the Smart Ultra Soundbar solely had a few choices that had been restricted to Bluetooth and turning the voice-control mic on and off. This new dial additionally virtually matches the Arc Ultra on controls, as that soundbar options quantity and play/pause as effectively.

While loads of the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar’s perks appear to point out Bose catching up with Sonos, this soundbar’s assist for third-party audio system is one function Sonos doesn’t have, and it’s my favourite function with out query. After I enabled Google Cast assist within the Bose app and assigned the Lifestyle Ultra to a room within the Google Home app, I then grouped it to Google Nest Audio (different Cast-capable smart speakers work too).

This labored easily as soon as I found out easy methods to set it up within the Google Home app. The function is appropriate with apps akin to Spotify, YouTube Music and Amazon Music, and labored on each the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Google Pixel 10 Pro XL I used for testing. But what for those who don’t use any of these apps? Well, Apple AirPlay assist unlocks all the opposite apps on my iPhone, akin to Apple Music and Overcast, and it allowed me to take heed to the newest episode of the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast on each the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar and a Lifestyle Ultra Speaker in my bed room.

Just as dear and hefty because the Sonos Arc Ultra

At $1,099, the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar is simply as out of attain for a lot of of us because the Sonos Arc Ultra that I chide for its four-digit value. Given two of my extra inexpensive soundbar suggestions from Vizio have simply been discontinued, I hoped that Bose would launch their Arc Ultra competitor at a barely lower cost. While the Lifestyle Ultra isn’t as vast because the Arc Ultra, you’re additionally not getting a lot in the way in which of a extra handy design, as most gained’t discover a lot distinction of their dimension and weight.

Of course, Bose, identical to Sonos, sells inexpensive choices, just like the $549 Smart Soundbar.

Just like how of us don’t love Sonos’ smartphone app, the Bose app on each iOS and Android left me wanting extra. You get EQ settings for bass, treble and mids, however there aren’t any particular settings for music genres or sports activities. The Sonos app has the identical drawback, and I don’t perceive why neither has something extra granular.

My greater criticism is that the Bose app doesn’t allow you to arrange totally different songs on totally different units, one thing the Sonos app does allow. Why is that this essential? Well, possibly I wish to have one thing calm in a single room and one thing upbeat in one other room. You can get round this difficulty when you’ve got two units, although.

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra is a implausible soundbar that’s good for filling rooms with candy audio. You’ll really feel such as you’re swimming in your favourite playlists, and sports activities, motion pictures and TV exhibits will sound nice. The drawback, although, is that there are just a few areas the place this soundbar is superior to the Sonos Arc Ultra.

The two competing soundbars are comparable in some ways, although I may see an argument for purchasing the Lifestyle Ultra if you’d like that immersive audio for music and different non-Dolby Atmos content material.

The of us who ought to clearly run out and seize the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar (or purchase it the second it goes on sale) are these with Google Cast-capable audio system who don’t have already got an exceptional soundbar that makes their home audio sing. Because whereas this can be a implausible soundbar, it doesn’t do sufficient to really persuade me it’s a brand new king.

NCS Underscored editors and writers guarantee each product included in an article is totally vetted and one thing we ourselves would really feel snug shopping for and utilizing. Our crew has many a long time of collective expertise researching, testing and recommending merchandise throughout each class — from vogue and meals, to residence items and well being, to electronics and the whole lot in between — and we’re dedicated to utilizing that experience that can assist you take advantage of your cash and dwell a greater life.

For this text, NCS Underscored tech author Henry T. Casey used the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar for all his residence leisure for 2 weeks and in contrast it with the Sonos Arc Ultra after testing with a sequence of film scenes, songs and different content material. He’s been reviewing tech products for greater than 11 years and is amazed at how a lot Bose and Sonos can pack into these modern soundbars.