Bose Ultra Soundbar: https://amzn.to/47FfCii
Bose Smart Soundbar 900: https://amzn.to/3SmZvkV
So this is the Bose Ultra Soundbar… its the successor to the Bose Smart Soundbar 900. Now just like the Bose Smart Soundbar 900, the Bose Ultra is very impressive and it has very good instrument separation. But right now I dont like that bose is just changing the name of their products and saying that they’re brand new. Nonetheless, today we’re going to checkout the Bose Ultra Soundbar and we’re going to see if its worth it for you to upgrade from the Bose Smart Soundbar 900.
Now regarding pricing the bose Ultra Soundbar has a retail price of $900, the same as the 900 when it came out. And this is a fully contained soundbar, as in there is no external subwoofer, the ultra makes it own bass. And in general, this soundbar is going to be decent for a medium or large sized room. And its a good option for someone that doesn’t have the room for an external subwoofer. But if you want more bass you can always add an external subwoofer and you can also add satellite speakers. But in this video we’re only going to be focusing on the soundbar itself. Nonetheless if you want to pick this soundbar up it’ll be linked down below.
Now when it comes to the design of this soundbar, the ultra is identical to the 900. They have the same length and width, they have the same grill on the front, and they have the same glass top. Besides the indicator light on the left, the ultra does a really good job of disappearing when you’re watching your movies. They only thing that I want to point out is that depending on your setup and seating position, the glass top on this soundbar can create a reflection in certain situations, which can be a little distracting.
But when it comes to overall dimensions… the ultra has a length of 41 inches, it has a hight of 2 and a quarter inches, and it has a thickness of 4 and quarter inches. And it weighs in at 12.7 pounds. And for comparison sake, here it is compared to the 600… the 600 has the same thickness and hight… but it is not as long. Now you can wall mount the ultra… but the wall mounting kit is sold separately. So don’t go looking for it in the box.
But now lets talk about what does come included in the box. Now obviously you’ve got your power cable. Now the good thing about this power cable is that there is no external power brick that you have to worry about hiding. Which is great especially if you’re thinking about wall mounting this soundbar. However, this power cable is pretty short. Coming in at only 5 feet. So weaving it through your home theater set up could be a challenge.
The ultra also comes included with an HDMI cable which plugs into this soundbar’s eARC port and the other end goes into your TV’s HDMI port that has eARC support. This is usually port number 3 on most TV’s. And just in case, you also get an optical just in case your TV doesn’t have ARC support, but if your tv doesn’t have arc support than you should be more worried about upgrading your TV. Because without eARC support your not going to have dolby Atmos support. And you’re not going to be able to adjust the volume of your soundbar with your tv remote.
But the really important thing here is, the ultra has the exact same port set up as the 900. Theres a single HDMI port that goes connected to your TV. Unfortunly there is still no HDMI In port so that you can directly connect your Blue Ray Player or gaming console. But this soundbar still has an ethernet port if you want it.
But the good thing is that the Ultra still has an input so that you can plug in an external subwoofer, if you dont want to use either of Bose’s wireless subwoofers… and you have your adaptive IQ input which is for the included microphone that comes with this soundbar so that you can calibrate it for your sweet spot. And this whole calibration process can be down through the app.
And speaking of the app, the ultra has the exact same app layout as the 900. From this app you can adjust the sound of this soundbar, personally I like to increase the bass, the height channel and the center channel. But not too much cause this soundbar already leans towards a brighter sound signature.
The ultra has support for Amazon Alexa or google assistant, so you can use it as a smart speaker, but personally I don't like to use my soundbars as a smart speaker cause I don't want my movies to be accidentally interrupted.
And when it comes to wireless connecvity, just like before the ultra has Airplay and chrome cast support, so whether you’re an iPhone user or an android user, if you’re connected to the same wifi network as this soundbar, you can stream music to it… but the ultra still has bluetooth, which I feel is good cause this way you can still share your soundbar without having to give out your wifi password. Or bluetooth is also a good option if you want to stream music to your soundbar and you have a spotty wifi connection.
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. Regarding speak set up, the Ultra has the same speaker set up as the 900. Theres a single frontward firing tweeter, which is then flanked by a total of 4 drivers, there are two bass chambers, with exhaust ports that shoot out the back and on each end there’s an upwards firing driver.
Now the upwards firing drivers on these soundbars gives these soundbars true dolby atmos support. Basically thats going to help these soundbars sound more open and they can make it sound like there’s stuff above you. Now there are soundbars that say that they have digital dolby atmos support… but without the upwards firing drivers, they aren’t going to sound as open.
But most importantly, the main difference between the Bose Ultra Soundbar and the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 is the the ultra has A.I dialogue mode for voice clarity… we’re at the point where companies are just slapping AI on to everything. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test, both the ultra and 900 are playing at 75% volume, and they are both using the same EQ settings. And we’re also going to be using the built in speakers in the 2023 Sony X90L tv but those are going to be playing at max volume so that they can keep up.
Sound Test
So like you may have just heard, obviously a sound bar is just going to sound better than your TV’s built in speakers. Your TV most likely just has a pair of drivers that shoot sound downwards, they don’t get all that loud and when the bass really gets going they’re just going to be a distorted mess.
Now the speakers on the Sony X90L’s get decently loud and distortion isn’t a problem for them like with some more affordable TV’s… but with the Sony X90L you’re still going to want to upgrade to a sound bar if you want to truly enjoy your movies.
Now first, when it comes to the sound quality difference between the Ultra and 900… they’re identical. The AI voice enhancement on the ultra really doesn’t make difference when compared to the 900. And in general, Bose’s soundbars always had a brighter sound signature to them and they always tend to put an emphasis dialog. So Bose’s soundbars have always been a good option for movies and TV shows cause its very easy to hear people when they’re talking.
But also, theres the bass on these soundbars, like I mentioned earlier these soundbars dont come included with an external subwoofer, they’re a self contained system and they make they’re own bass. And that’s really good if your someone that doesn’t have the room for an external subwoofer.
But even on their own, both the Ultra and 900 create a decent amount of bass, and you can still feel whats happening on the screen. Now obviously, they’re aren’t going to rattle the walls in your house like an external subwoofer can… but its enough to satiate most people. But again, the bass coming out of the ultra is the same as the 900.
The only real performance difference that I managed to catch between the ultra and the 900 is the max volume performance. Now both of these soundbars are going to be able to fill a medium or large sized living room and they are both going to be good for entertaining house parties with like 10 guests… however I did notice that the 900 got a little louder than the ultra at max volume. It kind of looked like the 900 was able to get a little louder than the ultra, but at the max volume distortion did start to come in, where as with the ultra, its seems like bose restricted the max volume setting on the ultra so that there wouldn’t be that distortion.
But overall, the Bose Ultra soundbar is a very good sounding sound bar that put an emphasis on people’s voices, it has a decent amount of bass all on its own and its get decently loud for large living rooms… however, the ultra sounds identical to the 900. This brand new AI dialog mode isn’t doing much.
But finally I do want to talk about simple sync on the ultra. Now with simple sync you can connect your ultra soundbar to some of Bose’s headphones, and this is going to allow you to enjoy your content on your headphones, and this is great if you want to watch TV late at night. However, just keep in mind, with simple sync you can only have one pair of headphones connected to your soundbar. Also, simple sync is supposed to be used with other bose headphones and speakers… but I have gotten some none bose headphones and speakers to work… but for the best results, you’re better off using a pair of bose headphones.
But also, since this is a wifi enabled speaker, you can always group your other wifi enabled speakers together and get them to play in sync so that you can have music playing through out the whole house.
But with all of that being said, the Bose Ultra Soundbar is still a great soundbar for a medium to large sized living room that sounds very open and its puts and emphasis on the mids and dialog so its very easy to understand people when they’re talking on the screen. And the Ultra produces an impressive amount of bass all on its own, but if you want more bass you can always add an external subwoofer. And the ultra also have very good instrument separation thank to its upwards firing drivers.
However, the Bose Ultra Soundbar is identical to the Bose Smart Soundbar 900. Now I like the ultra soundbar and I recommend the ultra soundbar… however I dont like this trend where bose is just renaming products and passing them off as successors to their previous products. And unfortunately AI dialogue mode really isn’t doing much on the Ultra when compared to the 900.