Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker Evaluation: Immersive Sound and Alexa+ Smarts

With the discharge of its new Lifestyle Audio Collection, Bose is recommitting to wi-fi house audio in a giant approach. And the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker is a flexible piece of the puzzle. This highly effective good speaker can be utilized for listening to music, solo or in a stereo pair. It can be used as a rear speaker in a house theater setup with Bose’s new Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar. Even in the event you begin with only one, you possibly can at all times add extra audio system afterward, letting you construct a multi-room setup over time.

For over a decade, I’ve coated Bose, Sonos, and different wi-fi speaker corporations, so I do know precisely what units the greatest good audio system aside. At $299, it is clear that Bose is positioning the Lifestyle Ultra as a competitor to the Sonos Era 100, which generally sells for $220. The Era 100 is the same system, however the Lifestyle Ultra gives a number of advantages — and disadvantages — that make it distinctive.

Whether judged by itself or towards the competitors, the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker is a compelling good speaker. Its upfiring audio driver lifts sound all through the room, providing a vibrant, extensive soundstage, and it is one of many first third-party audio system to help Amazon’s souped-up Alexa+ digital assistant. After spending some high quality time with the Lifestyle Ultra, this is the way it performs and who it is best for.

What the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker can do, and may’t do

From the “Lifestyle” title to the knit cloth on the entrance, the Ultra Speaker is clearly designed to settle into most properties’ decor with out a variety of disruption. It is available in white or black on the entry worth of $299. For $50 extra ($349), you may get the Driftwood Sand color, which features a stable white oak base.

The high of the speaker options contact controls that may be swiped or pressed. But it is the punctured grille on the high, which hides the speaker’s upfiring driver, that pulls a lot of the consideration. This driver beams sound upward, so it bounces off your ceiling, creating a way of added top. There’s additionally a forward-facing woofer and tweeter, together with Bose’s QuietBass ported design seen on the again.

Interestingly, regardless of having an upfiring driver, the Ultra Speaker does not help Dolby Atmos music. Dolby Atmos is a well-liked audio format designed to make the most of upfiring audio system. When a music is mastered in Dolby Atmos, sound mixers can intentionally place sure devices and vocals overhead. But as a substitute of Atmos, Bose makes use of its personal TrueSpatial audio processing to present the songs you play a much bigger, extra immersive sound. It’s an fascinating alternative that has its execs and cons.

The speaker’s wi-fi connectivity is ample, that includes Bluetooth 5.3 for common streaming and WiFi for Apple AirPlay and Spotify Connect. And for many who desire wired playback, there is a 3.5mm jack on the again for plugging in a media participant or file participant — no USB-C adapter required. If you are into voice instructions, the Ultra Speaker helps Alexa and the newer Alexa+ for hands-free operation of music or your complete good house.

The Bose app is stable, however I bumped into points with stereo pairing

For all of the similarities between Bose’s new Lifestyle Collection and Sonos, one clear philosophical distinction lies within the cellular app. Sonos integrates totally different streaming companies into its personal app, whereas Bose does not.

Bose’s chosen methodology for streaming music to its Ultra Speaker is to depend on casting immediately from particular person music companies. For Apple Music, which means utilizing AirPlay. For Spotify, which means utilizing Spotify Connect. For others, which will imply Google Cast. As a common fallback when you do not have a WiFi connection, you should utilize Bluetooth to stream audio from any app, however casting will supply the perfect sound high quality.

While the Bose cellular app appears easy and is not overly sophisticated to make use of, I did encounter a number of bugs. Most notably, stereo pairing two Ultra Speakers hasn’t labored. The app says they’re related, however both just one aspect performs or there is a five-second delay between the left and proper sides. However, after I used two separate Ultra Speakers and simply grouped them utilizing Apple’s AirPlay menu, each performed in sync.

I reached out to Bose about my points, however to date, not one of the proposed options have labored. To be clear, my time with the speaker has included pre-release testing, so I anticipate updates of some type, however the software program and connectivity have positively been wonky.

It’s additionally value noting that the app can be utilized to pair two Ultra Speakers to Bose’s new Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar. This permits the audio system to behave as rear satellites to create a full encompass sound system. I have never been capable of check this characteristic but, however I plan to attempt it out quickly and can replace this assessment with impressions as soon as I do.

Sound high quality is superb with room-filling audio

Simply put, the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker sounds nice. Its three drivers and ported design ship a large soundstage with breathy bass in low frequencies and room-filling quantity at its higher ranges.

To get a way for the way the Ultra Speaker stacks as much as rivals, I listened to it head-to-head with the Sonos Era 100. But regardless of their visible similarities, evaluating these Bose and Sonos audio system is slightly like evaluating apples and oranges. They’re designed in another way and produce distinct sound profiles, and every has its execs and cons.

The ported design of the Ultra Speaker delivers deeper, breathier bass in comparison with the tighter, punchier Era 100. Additionally, due to its top-upfiring driver (which the Era 100 lacks), the Ultra Speaker gives a bit extra separation and a wider soundstage.

Going forwards and backwards between the 2 audio system throughout the identical songs was a problem due to the distinction in energy and dynamics. Setting the Era 100 to 50% was a lot louder than the Ultra Speaker on the similar quantity.

That’s one motive it is arduous to choose a favourite. So far, the Era 100 is a extra established product with what lots of people will in all probability consider as a extra simple bookshelf speaker sound profile. But the Ultra Speaker is enjoyable and, with sure songs, extremely spectacular with its low-frequency resonance.

The Ultra Speaker additionally makes use of Bose’s proprietary TrueSpatial expertise, however I discovered this characteristic to be slightly uneven. TrueSpatial tech expands the soundstage of all music sources to be able to make the most of the Ultra Speaker’s upfiring driver. So, Bose’s processing makes all the choices about the right way to separate the audio and ship it to that upfiring driver. In observe, this principally simply gave the speaker a bigger sound, which is not a foul factor.

Room placement and dimension additionally play a giant position in how effectively the speaker’s TrueSpatial impact works. The greatest use of the speaker shall be in a room with a low, average-sized ceiling so the sound can correctly bounce off it. When I used the Ultra Speaker in a room with a 30-foot excessive ceiling, I did not get the identical top impact as after I used it in a bed room.

While TrueSpatial has its advantages, it is disappointing that the Lifestyle Ultra does not help Dolby Atmos music processing. Atmos processing would solely apply when listening to music mastered in Dolby Atmos by companies like Apple, however it will present a extra genuine expertise. When a monitor is combined natively in Dolby Atmos, it is the artists and music engineers who resolve what components of a music get despatched to the upfiring driver. Most audio system with upfiring drivers (just like the costlier Sonos Era 300) help Atmos, so it is a bit odd that Bose hasn’t included it right here.

It’s additionally essential to do not forget that the speaker’s audio efficiency shall be affected by the standard of the supply it is fed. Since an Ultra Speaker will get its music from no matter app you are presently casting, that app additionally determines the standard.

For instance, some Pandora tiers default to 64kbps, which is low-quality. Spotify makes use of 96 to 160kbps, until you are a Premium subscriber and select a better bitrate or lossless streaming. Services like Apple Music additionally supply lossless streaming, which delivers the perfect audio high quality. Streaming lower-quality music will have an effect on how songs from totally different companies sound.

I additionally related my file participant and listened to a couple songs by the Lifestyle Ultra. It’s positively a viable use for the speaker, and with its versatile streaming and good options, it may save individuals a variety of house on their media console by consolidating a number of units right into a single speaker.

Bose is the primary third-party model to help Alexa+

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra is likely one of the first third-party good audio system to help Alexa+, which is Amazon’s new AI-enhanced model of Alexa. Alexa+ can also be obtainable on the most recent Echo audio system, however Bose is the one model outdoors Amazon to supply it to date.

This upgraded digital assistant makes use of generative AI to help extra pure conversations and reply to extra subtle requests. As a consequence, customers can stick with it longer, extra detailed interactions and mix a number of duties in a single alternate, with out repeatedly utilizing the “Alexa” wake phrase. Alexa+ is free for Prime members, however it prices $20 a month if you do not have Prime.

After linking my Amazon account with the Lifestyle Ultra, Alexa+ labored nice, simply because it has on any Echo speaker I’ve examined. I have never used it in each circumstance or gone heavy on it, however in my preliminary checks, Alexa+ responded very quick and appeared to know almost all the things I stated.

One fascinating perk with Alexa help is you can join Apple Music, Spotify, and different streaming music companies to your Alexa account and have them play through voice command. I’ve my Apple Music account related and was capable of ask it to play a just lately made playlist.

Should you purchase the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker?

At its core, the Bose Lifestyle Ultra is an excellent wi-fi house speaker. The firm has seemingly taken classes from the broader good speaker market and crafted a compelling product that delivers room-filling music and useful Alexa+ smarts. Ultimately, shoppers ought to be the winners right here as they’ll stream the music and audio they need, with out being overencumbered by lock-in platforms.

But whereas the Ultra Speaker is an efficient start line for a Bose whole-home audio system, it has its quirks at launch. I spent my time with the speaker pre-release, so I anticipate the connection points I bumped into to be ironed out, however they did put a slight damper on my expertise to date.

Still, the speaker excels the place it issues most, providing nice sound high quality and loads of connection choices. I’m additionally excited to check a pair with the brand new Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar to see how effectively they work collectively. I’ll be updating this assessment with ideas on the Ultra Speaker’s house theater efficiency within the coming weeks, so keep tuned for extra impressions.