Bose has announced the new Smart Soundbar 600, a compact TV speaker with wi-fi streaming smarts and Dolby Atmos, designed to deliver immersive home cinema sound in any space.
Measuring just 5.61cm tall, 10.39cm deep, and 69.44 cm long, the Smart Soundbar 600 should fit easily under any TV, with its sleek looks and wraparound metal grille reminiscent of Bose's more premium soundbars.
Inside, the soundbar houses five transducers comprising a centre tweeter flanked by two side-firing racetrack drivers and two up-firing transducers to reflect overhead sounds off the ceiling. Meanwhile, its ported design augments the soundbar's low end and uses Bose's QuietPort technology, which the company claims is virtually distortion-free.
As a Bose product, the Smart Soundbar 600 has all the innovative features you'd expect, with wi-fi, Bluetooth, Spotify Connect, Apple AirPlay 2 and Chromecast built-in. There's voice assistant compatibility courtesy of Google Assistant capabilities and Amazon Alexa built-in, while Bose's Voice4Video technology can be used with Alexa to turn on your TV and change the channel with a single command.
Using SimpleSync in the Bose Music app, the Soundbar 600 can be integrated into a Bose multi-room audio system or paired with the brand's bass modules and rear speakers for a multichannel surround sound set-up. SimpleSync also allows you to pair the soundbar with compatible Bose headphones or Bluetooth speakers.
The Soundbar 600 offers both HDMI eARC and optical for connection to your TV and will automatically up-mix non-Dolby Atmos audio, such as stereo and 5.1, to use all its drivers.
Speaking about the launch, Raza Haider, chief product officer for Bose, said, “For those who want to feel enveloped by their audio but don’t have a lot of space for equipment, the Smart Soundbar 600 is the ideal solution.”
The new Bose Smart Soundbar 600 is available from October 24th, priced at £500 / $499 / AU$800. This puts it in competition with Sonos' mighty Beam Gen 2 compact soundbar with virtual Dolby Atmos.
The What Hi-Fi? award-winning Beam Gen 2 launched at £449 / $449 / AU$649 but can regularly be found for less (including this hefty Early Prime Day reduction). Will the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 be able to give the Sonos a run for its money with its true Dolby Atmos performance? We look forward to finding out.
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