Bose has a new soundbar. The Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar is part of Bose's new Lifestyle Collection, and bears the same Ultra moniker as the brand's wireless headphones.
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) and QC Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) have fared very well against some stiff competition. It'll be fascinating to see if the new Bose Ultra soundbar can do the same.
Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar vs Sonos Arc Ultra: price
There's really not much to choose between these two soundbars in terms of price.
The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar costs £1000 / $1099 / AU$1800, while the Sonos Arc Ultra is £999 / $999 / AU$1799.
But that's not the full story.
The Sonos has been out for over 18 months now, and so is more prone to discounts. Most recently, it had £150 off, for example. So we'll give this round to Sonos.
** Winner: Sonos Arc Ultra **
Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar vs Sonos Arc Ultra: design
Making a soundbar look attractive is no mean feat, so Bose should be applauded – its new 'bar looks genuinely different to any other.
That's mostly thanks to the sleek glass top that stretches out across a good proportion of the unit. It's not a glorified coffee table, but a home for the touch-sensitive controls.
Now admittedly not many people are going to get up off the sofa to change the volume by sliding their finger around the inner edge, but it's nice to have the option.
Either side of this are the up-firing drivers, which shoot sound up at 90 degrees to add a sense of height to the audio. As with all up-firing soundbars, it does limit your placement options – stick it under a shelf, and the sound will fire point blank into the shelf.
These are joined by four ‘racetrack’ drivers and two Bose PhaseGuide drivers, which use processing to more widely disperse sound. These are all housed in a textured-knit fabric that, like the Sonos, comes in either black or white.
You can wall-mount the Bose, but the wall mount costs extra.
It's a little smaller and heavier than the Sonos Arc Ultra – the former measures up at 6.7 x 111 x 12.5cm (hwd) while the Sonos is 7.5 x 118 x 11cm.
The Arc Ultra also features touch-sensitive buttons on top, though these are situated on the ledge at the back. It's not quite as sleek as Bose's implementation.
It too has a fabric grille which looks and feels pretty premium, as you would want it to at this price.
For its innovative styling, we're giving this round to Bose for now. But we reserve the right to change our minds once we've had a good look at it in our test rooms.
** Winner: Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar **
Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar vs Sonos Arc Ultra: features
These are both high-end soundbars, so as you'd imagine, they're full of features.
Bose's has two QuietPorts on the back – these promise deep and controlled low frequencies with minimal distortion. The only physical connections are an ethernet port and an HDMI eARC socket – like the Sonos, there are no HDMI 2.1 inputs.
You do get plenty of wireless options, though. As well as Bluetooth 5.3 and wi-fi, you get Google Cast, Apple AirPlay and Spotify Connect. Tidal Connect is missing at launch, but we're assured it will arrive at some point. The Arc Ultra does support Tidal Connect, but not Google Cast.
Both 'bars support Dolby Atmos, which will be made more immersive by their up-firing drivers. Neither supports DTS or DTS:X. This format is less common than Dolby Atmos but it's an absence all the same.
Both have room calibration tech for optimising the sound to your surroundings. Bose CustomTune and Sonos Trueplay use the microphone on your phone to analyse your room's dimensions, surfaces and furniture placement to adjust the audio accordingly. Both work on iOS and Android devices.
They both use their company's respective apps, too. The Bose app is more intuitive than it used to be, and lets you tweak the sound. There's no remote control, so you'll find yourself using the app quite a bit.
Sonos' app has had its troubles, but is now much better than it was – and the company is vocal about the fact it's prioritising improvements.
Both soundbars support voice controls, including Amazon Alexa, and the Sonos pairs nicely with the Sonos Ace headphones to give you dynamic headtracking – you just 'swap' the audio from the 'bar to the cans.
Given the quality of Bose's wireless headphones, it's a shame the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar doesn't partner with them.
** Winner: Sonos Arc Ultra **
Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar vs Sonos Arc Ultra: sound
What do they offer in terms of sound quality?
As we haven't tested the Bose yet, we can't give a verdict, but we did go 'ears-on' with it at a briefing.
A sandstorm from the movie Dune proved suitably enveloping, with the 'bar spreading the audio across the sound field convincingly.
We didn't hear any signs of distortion at high volumes, and when the scene switches to calm, it did a good job of communicating the change of pace.
We also watched a scene from Ray to test the Speech Clarity mode. It turned dialogue from a mumble to being "lifted out of the hustle and bustle of the effects around it, with the edges of words a little clearer and better defined," as we said at the time.
It also impressed as part of a 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos system, paired with the Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer and Lifestyle Ultra Speakers as surrounds. But we were only able to have a quick listen at the event – it's no substitute for hearing it in our test rooms.
The Arc Ultra has some impressive specs (9.1.4-channel configuration, 15 Class D amplifiers powering 14 drivers), and as an Award winner, it sounds just as impressive as you would imagine. A "crackingly musical soundbar" we concluded in our Sonos Arc Ultra review.
Tool’s Invincible is bristling with energy and excitement, making for a very engaging listen. But it's even better at conveying movie audio.
Chapter two of Blade Runner 2049 is a good test of bass, and it's a test that the Arc Ultra passes with flying colours, delivering plenty of weight and an impressive amount of control. The bass is "tight, tuneful and expressive in a way that is rare in the soundbar world".
Spatially, it's excellent. Effects sound like they're coming from all around you, and are placed with precision, while certain sounds (like rain) stretch far beyond the confines of the TV to which the soundbar is connected.
And there's plenty of detail without it ever sounding forced – it's delivered naturally, which adds to the sense of realism.
Suffice to say, Bose has its work cut out to compete with what this Sonos can offer.
** Winner: TBC **
Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar vs Sonos Arc Ultra: early verdict
The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar certainly looks impressive.
It's very easy on the eye, and – while a bit less feature-stacked than Sonos' flagship – it offers plenty to get your teeth into. As ever for us, it will all hinge on how it sounds.
On that front, the Arc Ultra is the soundbar to beat. As it's been out for a while now, it's also discounted during most big sales. Your move, Bose...
We'll update this article once we've fully reviewed the new Bose soundbar.
MORE:
Read our Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar hands-on review
And our Sonos Arc Ultra review
The best Dolby Atmos soundbars you can buy
