[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The Smart Soundbar was a much-needed upgrade from the Bose Solo 5 TV Speaker which I had been using and frankly had been finding a little underwhelming. I welcomed the Smart Soundbar to our living room a couple of weeks before Christmas, which was perfect timing in terms of taking it through its paces with all the binge-watching of movies and catching up on episodes!
The Soundbar comes packaged with everything you need to get connected right away, and the set up is incredibly easy with the Bose app on my iPhone. Connect with the TV's HDMI eARC and just follow the simple instructions. A point to note - in case one is tempted to stick with the optical connection used with their previous soundbar, Dolby Atmos is only possible through HDMI.
The remote control replicates most but not all of the functions available on the Bose app and I found it a little too "inconsequential" both in terms of size and functionality. I think if the product is going to have a remote control at all, it may as well benefit from taking on some extra functionality available on the app, such as the toggle for the AI dialogue function. Speaking of which, the AI dialogue function works really well, even if only really necessary late at night when watching the TV at low volumes. At normal volumes, I found the dialogue clear enough as is.
Sound-wise, not much to fault at all. It is a massive upgrade from the Solo 5, with a much larger soundstage with great clarity and definition, both for movies and music, but especially for music. With the Solo 5, I found myself going back to my decades-old Lifestyle II set-up for music, but the Smart Soundbar now makes that unnecessary - unless I'm in the mood for some really big bass that is. One really cool function on the app is the ability to select from multiple music services and to create a shortlist for favourites, right there on the app.
The soundbar improved my experience for all types of TV programmes, be they sports or Netflix, Apple TV or Prime Video. Incidentally, for those with both a smart TV and a set-top box, when viewing from streaming services we found it better to by-pass the Sky set-top box in order to obtain the best sound and picture. For movies, I really enjoyed Avatar and its sequel, and The Revenant in particular. The experience was so immersive that it was like watching the movie for the first time. It is indeed awesome to get such immersive experience from such a small and simple set-up!
The soundbar does come with Amazon Alexa built-in but, already having multiple Alaxa devices in the house, I did not need to use it nor did I miss it. Sometimes, with connected devices, less is more!
One function I did not get to test was the pairing of the soundbar to the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds for an even more immersive experience. That would have been great if I already had the said earbuds. But my thinking would be to - if I was going to increase my budget - to splurge for the Smart Ultra Soundbar for what would surely be an all-round improvement, as amazing as I'm sure the experience through the earbuds may be.
In summary - while there may be room for improvement in terms of bass response and level of surround sound immersion - I am very happy with the Smart Soundbar's aesthetics and performance, and certainly as a great upgrade from my previous set-up. While slightly longer than the Solo 5, the soundbar is slimmer, and makes for an unobtrusive and very cool-looking, not to mention functional and pretty much essential, addition to any living room.
