Bose Smart Soundbar 300 review: Sonos Beam-beater
"Packed with features and great sound, it's an investment you won't regret."
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Expansive and rich sound
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Either Alexa or Google Assistant
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Elegant, minimalist design
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Listen to private headphones
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AirPlay 2
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Expensive for a small soundbar
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Some music services are not supported
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No Chromecast option for Android
Bose has gradually expanded its portfolio of smart soundbars and its $ 400 Smart soundbar 300 is the newest addition. It's the smallest and most affordable product in the range, but it has most of the features of its more expensive siblings, the Soundbar 500 for $ 550 and the Soundbar 700 for $ 800.
It might be the perfect choice for those with smaller rooms (or just smaller budgets). Is it right for you Let's try it out.
What's in the box?
In a mostly recyclable box (with some foam inserts that you may need to throw away), you get the Smart Soundbar 300, a power cable, an optical cable, a remote control and a quick start guide.
design
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Bose's soundbar design philosophy is one that I fully support: these speakers should be heard, not seen. The Smart Soundbar 300 is almost invisible with its completely matt black housing and its extremely flat shape.
It will look like home when I'm in front of virtually every television I can think of.
At just 2.25 inches tall and 27.5 inches wide, it won't block the bottom of your screen and (depending on the design of your TV) you might even be able to place it under the screen between your legs.
But it's also elegant. With clean lines, a button-free exterior, and a wraparound metal grille, it will look like home sitting in front of virtually every television I can think of. The $ 400 Sonos Beam – Bose's closest competitor – is a bit narrower, but also a bit bigger.
In the upper left corner, a small multi-colored LED light strip gives you visual feedback on the status of the speaker. Two white bars indicate a break, a single blue bar indicates Bluetooth and a small red point means mute. It would be cool if Bose used it to display the volume, but unfortunately not that lucky.
If you'd like to mount it on the wall, an optional bracket is available for $ 40.
The connection ports, which include an HDMI-ARC, an optical input, an Ethernet port, an infrared expansion port and a subwoofer output, are located on the rear. We'll discuss how these can be used in a moment.
Setup and connections
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As with the Soundbar 500 and 700, the Smart Soundbar 300 is not just a TV speaker, it's also a wireless smart speaker that can be added to other Bose wireless speakers for a whole house audio solution. For this reason, the Bose Music app is required to set up (and use the non-TV features) (free on iOS and Android). Today, most people likely have a phone or tablet that can run the app. If you don't, consider one of the many soundbar systems that aren't based on Wi-Fi or app control.
The music app makes setup effortless. In a few minutes the soundbar will be connected to your wireless network and you can configure the soundbar 300 with either Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, or just skip this step (you can always change it later if you change your mind).
The advantage of connecting the speaker to your TV using the supplied optical cable is that you don't use any of your HDMI connections, which depending on the TV set can be scarce. Since the Soundbar 300 is not compatible with advanced audio formats like Dolby Atmos or DTS: X (which require HDMI ARC), an optical connection is really all you need.
Usually, using an optical connection means missing out on the HDMI enabled TV control features. Thanks to the infrared heater of the Soundbar 300, you can still use Alexa or Google Assistant to operate TV functions without HDMI. This is a neat trick that the Sonos Beam can't.
Oddly enough, Bose recommends using an HDMI cable, which is more reliable than using infrared. It's not included in the box, however, as most people already have an extra HDMI cable, while optical cables tend to be harder to come by.
The bass connector for wiring a subwoofer is proprietary, so it cannot be used with another company's subwoofer. However, if you're not a fan of cables, it makes more sense to upgrade the low-end of the Soundbar 300 to include Bose wireless subwoofers, which cost $ 400 Bass module 500and the $ 700 Bass module 700. If you want to create a more immersive surround sound atmosphere, the soundbar is compatible with the $ 299 wireless device too Bose surround speakers or $ 500 Bose surround speaker 700.
Streaming music from the Bose Music app over WiFi provides the best sound quality for Android users, but it's not a great music management app (more on this below). Instead, Apple users will be happiest with AirPlay 2, which gives every app on your phone or tablet a direct Wi-Fi connection to the speaker. Spotify subscribers can use the Spotify Connect feature to connect to the speaker from any Spotify app. There is also bluetooth on board which will be the best option for Android users.
Speaking of Bluetooth: The Soundbar 300 has the same Bose SimpleSync technology as the more expensive Soundbar 500 and 700. With SimpleSync you can pair a set of Bose Bluetooth headphones or a Bluetooth speaker with the soundbar and control the volume for the two devices independently of each other . It may work with third party headphones – I tried one set Bowers and Wilkins PX5 Headphones and it worked, if a little out of sync. However, your mileage may vary: The Sony WH-1000XM4 was not recognized by the soundbar.
Sound quality
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If you're looking for room-filling sound, look no further. The Bose Smart Soundbar 300 delivers the goods, whether it's bigger, better sound for movies and TV shows, or just listening to your favorite music.
By default, the speaker's EQ is comfortably neutral and has a good frequency balance that works well with a wide variety of music genres and TV content. Given that soundbars are usually the tool of choice for those looking for a simple home theater upgrade, it's a good thing that you can dramatically increase the bass response using the Music app.
Don't get me wrong, the Soundbar 300 can't deliver the kind of bone-jarring bass a dedicated subwoofer can, but in a smaller space, like a bedroom, it has more than enough oomph to bring even the biggest blockbusters to life .
Not that it has to be confined to a small room – the soundbar can get very loud and does so without distortion.
The result is an impressive feeling that the Sonos Beam cannot quite keep up with.
For voice-heavy music or TV dialogues, the soundbar offers flawless, clear playback. Higher frequencies work freely and have both structure and airiness – an unusual combination, even with more expensive speakers.
I was particularly impressed by the sound stage width of the Soundbar 300. The angled full-range drivers impressively reflect the sound from your side walls in the direction of the display / listening zone and create an impressive feeling that the Sonos Beam cannot quite keep up with. The beam feels warmer and has more resonance when it comes to string instruments like bass or cello, but it's also a more reserved sound. The soundbar 300's dispersion pattern feels much more open.
Dialog enhancement mode is essentially a one-click EQ adjustment that brings higher frequencies to the fore and forces other bands to fade into the background. It's not a substitute for something as specific as the Zvox AV157 TV speaker, but it does go a long way in making cloudy speech easier to spot.
Multiroom audio and music sources
Bose Smart Soundbar 300 (front) and Sonos Beam Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
Bose Smart Soundbar 300 (right) and Sonos Beam Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
Bose Smart Soundbar 300 (right) and Sonos Beam Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
The Bose Music app provides an easy way to manage multiple Bose wireless speakers in your home, including the ability to group them for shared or separate playback. It's not perfect – you can't pair stereo speakers or use them as surround to upgrade a soundbar like the 300 – but for most people it provides very good control.
However, this control does not extend very far into streaming music. The app supports a decent selection of music services including Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and SiriusXM. However, there is no consistency. Some services are searchable, others are not, and each has its own interface. There is no way to create playlists with the app. You are therefore dependent on the tools of each service. You can save playlists, albums, and songs as presets, but the app only gives you six presets to work with.
Not only is the Sonos system better, it's orders of magnitude better, with universal search, unlimited favorites, multi-source playlists, and support for every streaming service under the sun.
remote control
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The Smart Soundbar 300 comes with a small and simple infrared remote control. It covers the basics: volume, mute, play / pause, power, and source selection (music, TV, bluetooth). The rubberized surface and the curved back make it easy to hold and use.
The only unusual aspect of this remote control is the ability to use the music app to synchronize the power button function with your TV and / or cable box. When you do this, pressing the power button turns the soundbar and these two other devices on and off.
Voice assistants
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
With the Soundbar 300 you can choose Alexa or Google Assistant as your voice. A.I. You can change your mind at any time, but just like a Sonos smart speaker, you can't do both at the same time.
Regardless of which A.I. If you choose, the soundbar's microphones are great at picking up the wake-up words and commands.
The feature you choose determines which features you can use. Here you will find an overview of the advantages of the individual systems. One important consideration for those who want to use their music to control their music: the service you want to control must be supported by the Bose Music app as well as the voice assistant you choose. Otherwise it won't work.
Although the Google Assistant works well with YouTube Music, you won't be able to bring up YouTube Music tracks on the soundbar 300 (or currently with Bose smart speakers).
Regardless of which A.I. If you choose, the soundbar's microphones are also great at picking up wake-up words and commands from across the room – no shouting required. A tap on the microphone button gives you complete privacy. I especially like the fact that the LED light strip responds to let you know your wake word has been heard. The Sonos Beam can also confirm wake-up words, but instead uses an audio chirp, which I find more intrusive.
Those who set up Alexa in the soundbar can use Bose's Voice4Video technology, which extends the control and control of Alexa to your TV and cable box – even if those devices are not directly compatible with Alexa. Once configured, you can ask Alexa to turn on the TV and even switch to a specific channel.
I found this feature to be a bit successful. Basic commands like “Alexa, turn on the TV” worked fine, but channel changes were found to be more inconsistent. When I asked Alexa to switch to channel 33, I sometimes saw "333" on the screen. At other times the channel request would be correct, but the channel change itself was not performed. And sometimes it just worked.
It is possible that these glitches are related to my particular TV and cable box combination. However, since I was using HDMI rather than optical, I would have expected more consistency.
Our opinion
The Bose Smart Soundbar 300 is an excellent choice for music and movies in small to medium-sized rooms with an expansive sound and some really innovative additional features.
Is there a better alternative?
If you're looking to build a whole house audio system, the $ 400 Sonos Beam is a better choice. It sounds great and its software platform remains the best in the business for those who want complete control over their music and speakers.
However, if you're really looking for a soundbar that can drastically improve the audio performance of your TV for movies and shows, and do an equally good job with your favorite music, the Bose Smart Soundbar 300 sounds better in my opinion.
How long it will take?
The Bose Smart Soundbar 300 comes with a one-year warranty. Bose has an excellent reputation for making quality products, and I trust the Soundbar 300 will last as long as you need it to be.
Should you buy it?
Yes. While the Bose Smart Soundbar 300 is expensive compared to many other TV speakers, its sound quality, customization, additional features, voice control, and expandability make it an investment you won't regret.
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