The new AI dialogue mode feature only ups the ante. Audio brands are getting better and better at centralized effects analysis and reinforcement, and Bose’s latest attempt is the best I’ve heard yet at generating dialogue while balancing other elements. Switching the mode on and off shows how hard it’s working, letting the center channel sing while the surround elements bounce off the walls and around the room.
The Smart Soundbar’s surround and height effects can’t match the immersion of larger Dolby Atmos soundbars like Klipsch’s Core 200 (8/10, WIRED recommended) or the more expensive Sonos Arc (9/10, recommended). recommends WIRED), but it may simply be the bravest Atmos mini bar out there. Its balance of acoustics, digital processing, and really powerful speakers helps it surpass the similarly priced Sonos Beam in terms of spaciousness.
Occasionally the bar can be a little overpowered in the mids or strident in the upper register, but it is rarely muddy or sharp. If you need to take things up a notch, you can always continue with additional components (for a price), including Bose wireless surround speakerssubwoofers and of course the Ultra open headphones.
AR Bar
After more than a decade in the audiovisual space, it’s not often you discover a completely new audio experience, but Bose’s new Open Earbuds-based Personal Surround feature delivers. This isn’t the first time I’ve paired a soundbar with headphones: Sonos’ Ace headphones (8/10, WIRED recommended) have a cool TV-swapping feature that lets you send audio from the bar to the headphones and vice versa. , and Bose has long offered a similar feature with headphones like the Ultra QuietComfort (9/10, WIRED recommended).
However, Personal Surround is different, in part because of the Open Earbuds. As the name implies, they keep your ear canals open to blend the channeled audio with your environment, allowing the bar and headphones to work together. Simply grouping the open headphones lets you hear everything, but turning on Personal Surround means you’ll get most of the sound from the bar itself, while the headphones focus on surround and height effects. (You may also need to adjust the surround mix by tapping the main volume bar to open the headphone settings.)
The result is a kind of augmented reality (AR) experience that seems to put you right in the middle of powerful Dolby Atmos scenes. It works wonderfully with video games, where effects like explosions or magic spells seem to explode around you. Cinematic content like the “Amaze” demo from my Atmos demo disc or the shrinking scenes in Ant Man They’re equally fascinating and seem to launch effects like strafing spaceships over your head or firing gunshots right next to you to the point where you can start looking around to see if you’re still alone.