Tom’s Guide Verdict
The Bose Smart Soundbar is an interesting product.
The Bose Smart Soundbar released in 2024 has a lot to live up to.
Could it be one of thebest soundbars?
But, thatll cost you an extra $300 for the buds themselves.
Ill analyze every feature of this $500 soundbar in this Bose Smart Soundbar 2024 review.
If youve got a little extra money to spend, Id recommend getting the $1,397 setup.
It comes with two surround sound speakers for true Dolby Atmos, and a subwoofer for ultimate bass.
This means itll fit on even tight setups like mine.
I was able to place the soundbar on my TV stand with no sliding around or stability issues.
Unlike Samsungs remotes, the Bose Smart Soundbar remote looks flimsy and low-quality.
Youll need the remote, though, so dont lose it.
The soundbar itself has only two controls the on button, and the mic mute button.
The mic is for smart home commands.
Youll need to factory reset before it will work.
I learned this the hard way I mustn’t have been the first journalist to test out this specimen.
After that initial hiccup was dealt with, I connected to my home web link easily.
The Smart Soundbar has Chromecast built-in, so you could easily stream music directly from your phone.
I tested this with Spotify and it worked seamlessly.
For Spotify users, the app links directly to your Spotify app.
Theres also Airplay for Apple machine owners again, this worked perfectly with myiPhone 16 Pro.
If you have other Bose speakers, you might link them directly in the app.
Bose Smart Soundbar review: App
I think the Bose app is a must-have with this speaker.
I guess it does what it says on the tin its a smart soundbar, right?
On the app you could control things like the volume of specific channels.
Why not just keep it as 1?
I really like this feature, as sometimes technology just has a little hiccup like that.
I watched movies, TV, and listened to a lot of music.
Movies
I watched Top Gun: Maverick first.
In the opening scene, the clinking of metal as the jets landed and took off were clear.
These quiet, high-frequency sound effects were clearer than the Polk Signa S4.
Next, I watched Alien: Romulus.
For this movie, I upped the bass to 100 and enabled AI dialogue mode.
Immediately the dialogue was a little harder to hear, so I quickly enabled AI dialogue again.
Even with this mode enabled, some of the dialogue was a little muffled.
Its a shame there arent genre-specific EQs in the Bose app.
The treble was definitely too tinny, so I upped the bass and lowered the treble again.
However, it wasnt as impressive as the Samsung HW-B650s 360 performance, which really blew me away.
If you want a Dolby Atmos setup on a budget, Id recommend the Polk Signa S4.
TV
To test the TV audio quality, I watched Toxic Town on Netflix.
Surprisingly, I was much more impressed with the TV sound quality than blockbuster movie sound quality.
The soundtrack was clear, bassy, and tight.
The opening credits dust sound effect blew across the screen and across the soundbar with zest.
Speech was much clearer on TV series than movies, even without AI dialogue mode.
I would recommend this soundbar for TV fanatics over hi-fi movie enthusiasts.
Music
I played music directly from my iPhone 16 Pro using Spotify Connect.
I listened to RWTD by Sleepazoid with Boses default audio controls.
The track was infectious and groovy, and the bass was considerably louder.
However, it wasnt as impressive as a sub + soundbar combo, of course.
Next, I played Garden of Eden by Lady Gaga.
In the second verse, the music shifted to the left side before floating back into the stereo mode.
I was really impressed with music playback, especially considering how disappointed I was by the movies.
However, you dont buy a soundbar for music you buy it for movies and TV.
Despite this, I still found the sound quality great for watching TV and listening to music.
All Im saying is that those looking for a top-of-the-range Sonos equivalent will be disappointed.
