Last
week,
Bose
unveiled
a
new
version
of
its
Smart
Soundbar
– and
it
has
a
really
interesting
idea
about
surround
sound.
If
you
have
a
pair
of
Bose
Ultra
Open
Earbuds,
you
can
use
them
as
your
surround
speakers.
If
you’re
thinking
“ach,
Apple
does
that
with
AirPods
already”
or
“don’t
those
Sonos
Ace
headphones
do
that
with
the
Arc?”
this
is
something
very
different.
With
Sonos
and
Apple’s
approach,
the
listening
apparatus
strapped
to
your
head
make
up
all
of
the
speakers:
they’re
the
entire
audio
system
and
there’s
no
sound
coming
from
the
connected
‘bar.
But
with
Bose,
your
earbuds
are
only
being
used
as
surround
sound
speakers;
the
rear
channel
speakers
in
a
traditional
setup.
The
soundbar
still
does
all
the
heavy
lifting
for
dialog,
low-end
thump
and
all
the
dynamic
stuff.
And
your
earbuds
take
care
of
the
placement
and
ambience.
That’s
why
this
feature
is
only
currently
available
for
the
Ultra
Open
buds.
Their
design
means
that
unlike
normal
over-
or
in-ears,
they
let
outside
audio
in
rather
than
blocking
or
muffling
it.
So
in
theory
at
least,
they
shouldn’t
interfere
with
the
audio
from
your
soundbar.
Instead,
they’ll
add
an
extra
dimension
to
it
–
think
bullets
flying
over
your
shoulder,
grazing
your
ears.
Bose’s
Smart
Soundbar
surround
really
is
a
smart
idea
(Image
credit:
Future)
The
proof
is
in
the
listening,
of
course.
But
we’ve
tested
the
Bose
Ultra
Open
Earbuds
so
we
know
they
sound
fantastic;
in
fact,
we
rate
them
as
the
best-sounding
open-ear
buds
yet.
We
haven’t
yet
tried
them
with
the
Smart
Soundbar
yet,
but
we
have
listened
to
their
Immersive
Audio,
which
is
what
Bose
calls
Spatial
Audio,
and
we
found
it
very
impressive.
Crucially,
we
found
that
they
blended
their
own
audio
with
the
outside
world
really
well:
we
didn’t
feel
any
disconnect
between
the
audio
in
our
ears
and
the
audio
around
us.
I
think
there
are
some
significant
benefits
to
this
system,
and
one
big
downside.
The
big
benefit
is
convenience:
I
recently
moved
house
and
setting
up
my
AV
system
was
a
real
pain,
especially
for
the
rear
surround
and
the
Atmos
speakers.
I
spent
many
hours,
ran
many
metres
of
cabling
and
uttered
many
swears
to
get
my
surround
speakers
in
the
right
place;
with
the
Bose
system
I
could
have
skipped
all
that
and
simply
stuck
the
buds
in
my
ears.
You
can
adjust
the
balance
of
the
center
channel
and
your
personal
rear-channel
speakers
in
the
Bose
companion
app
(Image
credit:
Bose)
The
downside?
As
far
as
I
can
see,
this
is
a
strictly
one-pair
deal
– so
if
you
want
to
watch
with
a
partner,
friend
or
family
member
then
this
system
isn’t
going
to
support
that.
But
for
solo
viewing
it
could
be
a
really
impressive
alternative
to
traditional
surround
speakers.
The
new
Bose
Smart
Soundbar
is
a
refresh
of
the
existing
Bose
Smart
Soundbar
600,
featuring
the
same
small,
sleek
design
and
boasting
the
“size-defying
immersive
audio
of
its
predecessor
while
introducing
something
new: A.I.
Dialogue
Mode”.
This
is
a
feature
that
arrived
in
the
Bose
Smart
Ultra
Soundbar
last
fall.
It
uses
a
machine
learning
algorithm
to
adjust
tonal
balance
for
clarity
in
real-time
when
it
detects
speech.
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Want
to
try
it
all
out?
Us
too
– watch
this
space,
although
if
you’re
already
sold,
the
Bose
Smart
Soundbar
will
be
available
for
purchase
in
black for
£499.95
from
October
10th
in
the
UK,
with
customers
able
to
pre-order
now.
We
don’t
currently
see
pre-orders
available
in
other
regions,
but
that
pricing
puts
it
at
roughly
$665
or
AU$975.
Tempting…
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