The clue’s in the name, really. Bose has taken interior design trends to heart for its latest home cinema offering, which debuts a new, softer look that’s part soundbar and part soft furnishing. The Lifestyle Ultra soundbar doesn’t compromise on sound, though; it’s in fact the biggest acoustic overhaul to the firm’s soundbar lineup in a decade.
Arriving on May 15 for $899/£899, it’s the figurehead of the new Lifestyle lineup that also includes the Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer and Lifestyle Ultra Speaker. Fully committed music and movie lovers can combine the lot for an immersive, Dolby Atmos-ready 7.1.4 setup.
I got to hear it in person at a preview event ahead of the reveal, walking away impressed by what effectively replaces the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar we rather liked back in 2023.
Where its predecessor was boxy and angular, the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar is now softer, with a sculpted silhouette and rounded corners. The whole thing is wrapped in a textured knit fabric, and topped with glass. It’s not so subtle you’d mistake it for a decorative ornament, but I found it way easier on the eye than some of the tech-focused alternatives.
I really like the White Smoke version, which looked very at home on a sideboard with no TV attached, but expect the black model to be a better match for most people’s screen setups. It’s comfortably big enough to sit below a 55in set, and won’t look out of place beneath a larger 65in one. Height-wise not much has changed between generations, so whether it’ll fit neatly underneath your TV still depends on what sort of stand it has.
Wired connectivity is minimal, with just a single HDMI passthrough (with eARC), wired Ethernet port, USB-C service port and dual 3.5mms – one for a subwoofer and the other for data.
The top glass could become a bit of a fingerprint magnet – particularly the circular section that contains the touch-sensitive physical controls – but HDMI CEC means your TV’s remote should handle the basics and save you from constantly reaching for a cleaning cloth. It’s not like you have to use Bose’s smartphone companion app to play music standalone, either; Google Cast and Apple AirPlay integration means you can play directly from within your music streaming apps, and even add it to a multi-room setup.
With that in mind, it’s great to see Bose put so much work into redesigning the app to make the soundbar the centre of the attention. It now actively suggests you start there if trying to set up a Lifestyle Ultra Speaker first as part of a surround sound setup. Little points of irritation have also been ironed out, like sharing Wi-Fi credentials between devices so you don’t have to put in a password multiple times.
On its lonesome, Bose says the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar delivers a 5.0.2-channel mix. That comes courtesy of four front-facing full-range drivers, a centre tweeter, two up-firing drivers and two proprietary PhaseGuide drivers, which helps give audio directionality without needing even more speakers.
My demo was in the living room of a large New York townhouse with high ceilings, but that didn’t cause any issues for the sense of height created by the up-firing speakers. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune really showed off the soundbar’s width as well, comfortably filling the demo space with sound that flowed seamlessly between the driver array. There was a sense of texture to the Ornithopters’ wings, with a great amount of detail in the mix.
Even without a subwoofer the very lowest-range parts of the mix had presence, with a very respectable amount of bass as the Sand Worm erupted from beneath the dunes. Clever custom bass ports at the rear and some digital signal processing kept distortion at bay too.
How well the TrueSpatial upmixing tech works on non-Atmos content is TBC for now, as I didn’t get to experience it for very long – though Jacob collier’s Djesse Vol 1 absolutely felt bigger than the bar itself.
According to a Bose audio engineer, the number one piece of feedback the firm had from users of its existing soundbars was muffled dialog. Speech Clarity was developed as a result: the new mode uses a machine learning algorithm to boost speech volume without affecting the rest of the soundtrack. It worked rather well in a busy street scene in Ray, making Jamie Foxx’s soft mutterings a lot easier to comprehend without subtitles.
I’m a bit of a bass head when it comes to movies and games, so would definitely consider adding the Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer to my cart when buying one of these. It’s the most powerful consumer-grade sub Bose has ever made, yet never sounded at all boomy for the sake of it. Just plenty of low-end oomph where it was required. It helps that the colour-matched design and glass top mean it can be left out on display rather than hidden behind a sofa.
Finally in full 7.1.4 mode with a pair of Lifestyle Ultra Speakers, you’ll be getting a fantastic Atmos experience. A clip from Netflix’s 6 Underground revealed a subtle shift towards the rear, with elements you’d expect placed behind and above your head but the bulk of the action still front-and-centre.
While I’d want a head-to-head test before declaring any winner, first impressions are that the Sonos Arc Ultra and even the Sennheiser Ambeo Plus could be in for a shock.
The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar goes on sale on May 15, in black and white colours. Prices start at $1099/£999. The Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer will set you back an additional $899/£899.
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