New Bose Smart Soundbar 900 features Dolby Atmos, AirPlay 2 support

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The Bose Smart Soundbar 900 fits well under a 50-inch TV, the company said.
The Bose Smart Soundbar 900 fits well under a 50-inch TV, the company said.
Photo: Bose

Bose just rolled out its new flagship soundbar for use with a TV in a home-theater environment — the Bose Smart Soundbar 900. And guess what? The product’s name pretty much matches its price tag — $899.99.

This focus on the home theater market comes just about a week after Bose announced its long-expected upgrade to the classic QuietComfort 35 over-ear ANC headphones. The subtly upgraded QC 45 set, available now for preorder at $329.99, ships on September 23.

Bose Smart Soundbar 900

The Bose Smart Soundbar 900 enters the home theater fray against formidable competition above, below and at about the same price range. You can get quality hardware for a few hundred dollars up to prices pushing $2,000 or higher from makers like Klipsch, Sennheiser, Bang & Olufsen and others.

At a similar price point and also including Dolby Atmos you’ve got the Vizio Elevate and the Sonos Arc. And, for a bit more money because it has a subwoofer, you can get the Sony HT-ST5000.

Like many top contenders, Bose’s new top soundbar features Dolby Atmos. It’s the first a first Bose soundbar to do so. It also sports support for AirPlay 2, HDMI eARC, multi-room Wi-Fi music playback. It works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

Perhaps Bose’s latest soundbar competes most directly with the Sonos Arc, although unlike the Sonos, the Bose accepts streaming audio over Bluetooth.

How it works with Dolby Atmos

Bose said its new soundbar “produces a layer of realism no other speaker can duplicate” because of proprietary “PhaseGuide” technology that enhances positional audio.

“When there’s no Dolby Atmos content, the horizontal spatial effects are just as effective, and Bose TrueSpace technology takes over for the vertical experience, remixing signals to add ‘height’ without adding a ceiling speaker,” the company said in a press release.

Simple, all-in-one setup

The Smart Soundbar 900 attaches to a TV with an HDMI (or optical) cable. Bose does not offer HDMI passthrough support, which you can find in some premium Atmos sound systems.

The soundbar 900 comes in black or white colors. It features a wraparound metal grille and a glass surface on top with capacitive touch controls. It works with the company’s rear speakers and subwoofers for surround sound (which will add considerably to the price).

You can also listen via headphones, like Bose’s new QuietComfort 45s, if you like.

The Bose Smart Soundbar 900 is available for preorder now. Shipping starts September 23.

Price: $899.99

Where to preorder: Bose

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