If you’ve bought a TV in the past decade, you probably know that while things like display quality, processing power, apps, size, and affordability have all improved, one area that has consistently remained flat or even gotten worse is the onboard sound. With a handful of notable exceptions, pretty much every new TV you can buy needs a soundbar just to enjoy basic TV and movies. And with the majority of modern soundbars costing more than TVs themselves, consumers have to be picky with what they put in their home theater.

The Bose Lifestyle Soundbar is best described as a mid-range soundbar that is flexible enough to stand on its own or as part of a larger sound system. For this review, I tested the soundbar by itself and was pleasantly surprised at how well this home theater centerpiece works independent of any additional speakers and how well it delivers room-filling sound in both small and medium spaces.

While the Bose Lifestyle Ultra lacks the advanced features you might find in a more expensive set-up, if you’re just getting started with a home theater space, this soundbar not only delivers Dolby Atmos sound right out of the box, but it has a user-friendly setup process that ensures users, regardless of their experience with sound setups, are getting the most out of it as well.

4/5

Connectivity

eARC HDMI

Ports

Ethernet

Colors

Black, White

Drivers

Forward, Side and Upward-firing

Pros & Cons

• Surround sound feel without additional speakers
• SpeechClarity is helpful for muddy TV dialogue
• Easy, user-friendly set up

• Expensive for a beginner-focused soundbar
• Mirrored top can be distracting
• No remote

Price, availability, and specs

Premium sound at a moderate price

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra features dynamic, 5.1.2-channel sound powered by forward-firing, side-firing, and upward-firing drivers that use Bose’s proprietary PhaseGuide technology to project and reflect sound, filling any small or medium-sized room with spacious audio. And even with no subwoofer, this soundbar uses Bose’s QuietPort technology to deliver deep, clear bass all on its own.

The soundbar features several connectivity options, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI ARC, and eARC. The soundbar is also compatible with AirPlay, Spotify, Google Cast, and can be controlled with Alexa. It is compatible with all major TV operating systems, including Google TV, Fire TV and Roku.

In addition to its HDMI port, this soundbar also features an Ethernet port, additional speaker connections, and a USB-C port for service.

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra is available at Best Buy and the Bose website in black and white for $1100.

What I liked about the Bose Lifestyle Ultra soundbar

Room-filling sound with dialog clarity perfect for movie night

In my house, almost nothing gets watched without subtitles. Between the sub-par onboard speakers that come standard on most TV sets, muddy dialogue mixes and my own mild hearing loss from attending too many concerts in my 20s, I have come to accept needing subtitles as a nonnegotiable when it comes to watching something at home.

However, one of the most exciting features of the Bose Lifestyle Ultra that I couldn’t wait to try out was SpeechClarity. This feature uses proprietary Bose AI technology to boost dialogue, so that even when I’m watching intense battle scenes in something like House of the Dragon or during films with loud music like Jaws I can still hear speech clearly. And fortunately, no matter whether I was watching a movie, TV show, or even YouTube, I found that dialogue came through crystal clear when I had this setting enabled. I even tried turning on SpeechClarity while listening to a podcast, and I was shocked at the difference as it felt like the host was sitting right beside me. Though I wouldn’t recommend enabling this feature while listening to music, for general use, SpeechClarity is a game-changer and is easily my favorite feature of the Bose Lifestyle Ultra.

Outside the dialogue feature, this soundbar performs well in most situations. I tried it out in a medium-sized bedroom and was able to enjoy room-filling sound and directional audio while watching movies like Jaws, Blade Runner 2049, and Project Hail Mary. Sound mixes balanced well with the musical score, and while this soundbar alone doesn’t deliver true surround due to physical limitations, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the directional sound worked at providing a quasi-surround experience without additional speakers.

A lot of the success of this soundbar is due to Bose’s CustomTune calibration tool, which uses the Bose App and your phone’s microphone to tailor the soundbar’s EQ and output to your individual space. This extremely user-friendly tool takes about five minutes to set up and takes into account things like size, layout, surfaces, and furniture reflections to create a mix that hits your ears perfectly with directional sound right from your favorite chair.

What I didn’t like about the Bose Lifestyle Ultra soundbar

Soundbar alone is best in medium rooms and glossy top can produce a distracting glare

Though I was more than pleased with the soundbar’s performance in my medium-sized bedroom, I wasn’t as impressed with its performance in my living room, which is quite large and doesn’t feature very many walls. Though the aforementioned CustomTune calibration did help, my sense of directional sound when sitting more than fifteen feet away from the TV was less impressive than it was in my bedroom, where I was much closer to the TV. I do think that if you are looking for sound options in bigger rooms, you’ll probably need to invest in additional speakers, as the soundbar alone just doesn’t cut it for bigger rooms.

In addition, I found myself a bit annoyed by the soundbar’s glossy top, which not only attracts dust like a magnet but also produces a mirrored image when you are viewing your TV from a higher angle. Though I didn’t see it very much when I was watching movies or TV, I did find myself distracted by it while sitting closer to the TV playing video games. The glossy top looks nice when the unit is powered off and wouldn’t be a problem for those with a higher-mounted entertainment center, I do wish there was an anti-reflective matte option for those of us with lower-sitting TVs.

Another thing that I didn’t particularly like about the Bose Lifestyle Soundbar was that even though it is moderately priced at $1100, it doesn’t come with a remote. And while I was able to control the volume just fine using both my Fire TV and Google TV remotes, I would have liked to have been able to access the soundbar’s settings, including the dialogue-boosting option with a dedicated controller.

Should you buy the Bose Lifestyle Ultra soundbar?

If you are just getting started with sound upgrades, this is a great place to start

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra is a great soundbar that delivers top-tier performance in both small and medium-sized spaces. Though you’ll probably need to invest in additional equipment for large home theaters, if you’re looking for a solid, moderately-priced option that will help you get up and running with Dolby Atmos support out of the box with user-friendly setup and features, this is an easy recommendation. While serious audiophiles will probably be disappointed with the lack of options, the Bose Lifestyle Ultra is a perfect entry-level soundbar for those looking to get started with upgraded sound that fills most rooms and doesn’t require any expertise at all.

4/5

Connectivity

eARC HDMI

Ports

Ethernet

Colors

Black, White

Drivers

Forward, Side and Upward-firing