Small soundbar, huge Atmos sound

Whether or not you are an audiophile or you do not know your aux out of your Atmos, the possibilities are you have heard of Bose. The American tech big is without doubt one of the largest audio corporations on this planet, and is a model that individuals instinctively belief to ship good merchandise with respectable sound high quality. The excellent news? Typically talking, that is not far unsuitable.

The agency’s newest soundbar, the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 hopes so as to add to that. It sits round center of the corporate’s soundbar providing and serves up big selection of connectivity choices – to not point out guarantees Dolby Atmos spatial audio from a single speaker, with no subwoofer add-on. Costing $499 / £400, that takes it head-to-head with the wonderful Sonos Beam Gen 2. However can it ship as promised, and the way does it stack up towards its formidable competiton? Here is my full overview.

Design

• Dimensions: 56 x 694 x 104mm
• Weight: 3.1kg
• Wall mount obtainable individually

Should you’re available in the market for a visually discreet however fashionable soundbar, then you’ll be able to think about the Bose Sensible Soundbar 600 the last word box-ticker. Boasting a modern and understated design, there isn’t any doubt it’s going to complement nearly any TV it is plonked beneath, be it a humongous OLED or a smaller TV for a kitchen or bed room.

Count on strong plastic for the principle physique and a perforated steel grille wrapped across the entrance and sides – plus one other grilled part alongside the highest for the Atmos-focused drivers. It is understated but it surely works – it appears the half and feels strong with out shouting too loudly about it.

One of the best half, nonetheless, is the Sensible Soundbar 600’s compact dimension. When it comes to dimensions, it measures simply 56 x 694 x 104mm, and weighs in at 3.1kg, which makes it simply wall-mountable. Though – in true Bose fashion – the optionally available bracket comes at an extra value. Grr.

Nonetheless, it makes it a very easy soundbar to accommodate irrespective of your own home cinema setup, significantly for these in smaller rooms who do not have the house to make means for a separate subwoofer too.

Options

• Dolby Atmos help
• 1 x HDMI eARC, 1 x optical
• Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Spotify Join, Bluetooth 4.2

Whereas the principle promoting level of the Bose Sensible Soundbar 600 is that it is a compact and versatile all-in-one soundbar, there are different issues to shout about right here too.

After all, the biggie is that it gives help for Dolby Atmos soundtracks, however in a really totally different strategy to Sonos’ Beam Gen 2.

That is as a result of, of the 5 drivers that you’ll find right here behind this grille, two full-range drivers hearth upwards to bodily enhance the sense of top by projecting sound upwards – one thing Sonos’ soundbar does nearly. There is a single driver dealing with the centre channel in the course of the bar, whereas a racetrack driver at both finish of the soundbar give some added width, in addition to top.

These bodily drivers are supported by Bose’s proprietary TrueSpace processing. This claims to upconvert stereo and 5.1 channel sources into an Atmos-like soundtracks, with the identical sense of added top as you’d anticipate from a local soundtrack – however extra on that shortly.

Connectivity-wise, the Sensible Soundbar 600 contains an HDMI eARC port for lossless Atmos playback, plus an optical digital audio enter for connecting an older TV that does not help HDMI ARC/eARC. You’ll lose all native Atmos performance over Atmos although, and revert fully to Boses’s TrueSpace processing, so do query your determination to spend the additional on an Atmos soundbar for those who’re not utilizing HDMI.

A second HDMI enter to offer a passthrough could be a pleasant addition, although that is one thing that is not all the time discovered on funds soundbars – the Sonos Beam would not embrace one, for instance.

Wi-fi streaming choices are aplenty, too, with help for Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Spotify Join, and Bluetooth. The Bose Music app integrates quite a few providers for streaming over Wi-Fi, together with Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, Deezer, iHeartRadio, TuneIn Radio, and Sirius XM.

From right here, it’s also possible to management the soundbar’s features, together with deciding on your supply and adjusting the quantity – there’s even an EQ for tweaking sound, in addition to the choice for including different suitable Bose merchandise, like a sub or wi-fi rear surrounds, for a bigger system (although that will, partly, take away from the 600’s compact appeal).

In case your telephone is not handy, the Sensible Soundbar 600 comes with a distant within the field, which feels substantial sufficient for a product of this high quality – a far cry from these low-cost clicky membrane units that by no means actually work all that effectively. There’s additionally the choice to manage it through Alexa, or Google Assistant for those who desire, because the presence of bodily buttons on the soundbar itself could be very restricted – it solely incorporates a mute and voice-control motion button on the highest.

Alexa can supply primary controls like quantity and observe skipping, in addition to entry to music apps supported by the world-famous voice assistant. This works effectively – more often than not. Should you’re extra of a Google Assistant particular person, Bose’s soundbar additionally performs properly together with your voice assistant of selection, providing you with comparable performance when a Google speaker is related to the community.

Alexa has the sting over the 2 for being inbuilt, which means it might probably additionally use Bose’s Voice4Video function to manage features of a related Sensible TV – every part from turning it on and off, to taking part in and pausing video playback and altering channels.

Efficiency

Get the soundbar arrange – which is so simple as plugging it in and connecting it to your TV – and serve it the perfect of its capabilities, like an Atmos soundtrack from Netflix or 4K Blu-ray, and the Sensible Soundbar 600 shines. Watch huge blockbusters like action-packed Marvel movies, as an example, and the Bose handles them with authority and confidence, producing a large, open sound that locations results convincingly.

After all there are limitations to its capabilities, but it surely does sound larger than its bodily dimensions, and people top channels do a good job of including some elevation to the weather of a soundtrack that require it.

The midrange is strong and full of loads of element, and dialogue is delivered with focus and readability. Bass is on the nice and cozy facet, however managed, including presence to the soundtracks of thriller or high-octane flicks. It is a dynamic sound too, the soundbar having the ability to specific any shift in quantity with out second thought.

There may be, nonetheless, an absence of decrease bass right here. In a comparatively massive room, for instance, the deeper rumble you may anticipate from a T-Rex operating amok round Jurassic Park falls somewhat brief – one thing you may get extra from with a separate sub.

Some may additionally discover the insistance of Bose to have the listener embrace spatial audio at each flip somewhat annoying. If you aren’t listening to Atmos soundtracks, Bose’s TrueSpace processing, which makes an attempt to imitiate an Atmos expertise from a non-Atmos soundtrack, is switched on by default – and cannot be turned off.

Whereas it may be convincing with some content material, and add an additional degree of immersion, it is not reliably so, and having some management of the playback on this sense could be appreciated.

Verdict

The Bose Sensible Soundbar 600 delivers huge on Dolby Atmos sound for its value bracket, with an efficient efficiency that provides the sense of top in Atmos soundtracks you’d hope for.

Dialogue readability is commendable, and midrange element is nice, however whereas the bass obtainable is heat and strong, the decrease bass vary is underwhelming in comparison with these soundbar programs that include devoted subwoofers. Anybody in search of a deeper, richer rumble will wish to think about that.

Some individuals can even discover the soundbar’s insistance on spatial audio, even to the detriment of efficiency in some circumstances, irritating. It is a disgrace this cannot be turned off by the person, relatively than being on by default – and this loses Bose some edge.

On a extra constructive observe, the Sensible Soundbar 600 boasts a compelling function set that many different soundbars fall wanting, and the app-based setup is good and simple too – making certain even technophobes will discover it straightforward getting this factor up and operating out of the field.

In the end the soundbar’s compact design and all-in-one kind issue means there’s a stability to think about – whereas aesthetically pleasing, there’s a restrict to its acoustic capabilities. Should you want one thing on the smaller facet, that is most likely one thing you may make peace with, however its huge competitors, the Sonos Beam Gen 2, arguably comes with fewer sonic quirks.