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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Bose debuts its new Lifestyle Ultra collection.
• The collection consists of the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar, Speaker, and Subwoofer.
• Despite no backward compatibility, the built-in Google Cast is a plus.

Modular home theater systems are gaining popularity, encouraging consumers to purchase products at their own pace rather than being tied down to a complete system in a one-time purchase. Bose is the latest to upgrade its modular home theater offerings, with its new Lifestyle Ultra lineup comprising a soundbar, a smart speaker, and a subwoofer.

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Though modularity is all the rage, Bose isn’t fully committing to giving consumers endless options for configuring their home theater. Still, the new products debut with several notable upgrades, and the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker marks new territory for Bose.

Here’s what to know about them.

1. Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar

The Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar features nine drivers: two upfiring, four front-facing, a center tweeter, and two additional horizontal drivers. This speaker array mirrors Bose’s older Smart Ultra Soundbar, but the Lifestyle Ultra debuts with more advanced Bose audio technologies.

Bose borrowed several of its premium headphones‘ audio technologies and implemented them in the Lifestyle Ultra, including CustomTune, which uses your iOS or Android device’s microphones to automatically adjust the soundbar’s output based on room dimensions, furniture, and seating. 

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Previously, Bose used its AdaptIQ technology to achieve soundbar room correction. AdaptIQ required users to use a headset included with their soundbar purchase, plug it into the soundbar, and wear it as they moved around the room. This headset communicated with the soundbar and could account for room correction in five seating locations. It was an outdated method of room correction, so I’m glad to see Bose catching up to today’s industry standard.

The Lifestyle Ultra also features Bose TrueSpatial, which digitally upmixes stereo content into spatial audio. Still, the Lifestyle Ultra soundbar is compatible with Dolby Atmos. Finally, SpeechClarity is on deck, which is Bose’s proprietary AI-powered dialogue enhancement. 

Like the 2023 Smart Ultra soundbar, the Lifestyle Ultra features Bose’s PhaseGuide technology, which should direct audio horizontally to the farthest points in a room, simulating the presence of speakers that aren’t there. Also, Bose updated its QuietPort technology on the Lifestyle Ultra to include a physical opening, which should allow for a more controlled bass response.

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Bose’s latest soundbar has wired connections limited to HDMI for ARC and eARC, while wireless connectivity includes Google Cast, Apple AirPlay, and Spotify Connect.

The Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar will be available in Black and White for $1,099 beginning May 15.

2. Lifestyle Ultra Speaker

The Lifestyle Ultra Speaker is Bose’s most interesting and versatile product in the lineup, as its arrival comes shortly after Bose sunsetted its older SoundTouch smart speakers. On its own, the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker behaves like a traditional smart speaker, delivering audio through its two front-facing and one upfiring driver. A wired power source is required, and the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker supports Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi, and a 3.5mm auxiliary port for connection to your analog devices, such as a turntable. 

Like Sonos’s Era-branded smart speakers, two Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speakers can serve as rear speakers when paired with the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar. Unlike Sonos, Bose’s smart speakers have native Google Cast support, allowing Android users to stream entertainment from their devices to the speakers.

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The Lifestyle Ultra Speaker also supports Apple AirPlay, allowing Android and iOS users to enjoy multiroom audio with speakers from separate manufacturers. 

The Lifestyle Ultra Speaker will be available in Black, White, and limited-edition Driftwood Sand for $299 beginning May 15.

3. Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer

The Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer is the last piece of Bose’s latest lineup, featuring Bose’s CleanBass, QuietPort, and CustomTune technologies found in the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar and Speaker. The Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer takes a traditional subwoofer design: a cubic shape meant for upright positioning. However, Bose’s standout design touch is a glass panel on the cabinet’s topside. 

The Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer will be available in Black and White for $899 beginning May 15.

Which devices work with the Lifestyle Ultra?

According to Bose, there is no backward compatibility between the new Lifestyle Ultra products and previous Bose home theater products. The company says you can wire the older Bose Bass Module 700 to the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar, but that’s the extent of interoperability between generations.

However, users can group their older Bose home theater products with the Lifestyle Ultra collections via AirPlay or Google Cast. 

How does the Lifestyle Ultra compare to Sony and Sonos?

The largest difference between Bose and its competitors, Sony and Sonos, is that the latter companies have several more home theater products to choose from. With that, Sony and Sonos offer more opportunities to mix and match home theater products to better fit your room size and budget.

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Sony’s new Bravia home theater lineup consists of three subwoofers, all of which are compatible with seven Sony soundbars. Sonos’s current lineup includes two subwoofers, which are compatible with three of the company’s soundbars, along with five other home theater products it no longer sells.

However, Bose is the only one of the three to support native Google Cast, allowing Android users to cast audio from their devices to Bose speakers and group it with other Google Cast-enabled speakers in their space. The result is breaking down a small piece of the ecosystem walls that many home theater companies use to confine consumers.