Bose could trounce the Sonos Arc with its new Dolby Atmos soundbar
Sonos Arc is a tough Dolby Atmos soundbar, but Bose Smart Soundbar 900 is even bigger on spatial audio – in fact, it will be in all directions.
It was announced on Tuesday, Bose Smart Soundbar 900 meets smart moniker by offering Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and support for Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa for voice control. In addition, it offers Spotify Connect, Airplay 2, and interoperability with all other Smart Bose speakers and Bose Quietcomfort 45 to come.
But what makes it very special, however, is how to support spatial audio.
The Soundbar 900 not only supports traditional Dolby atmos through upfiring speakers, but using BosePhaseguide technology to position better audio in your living room. According to Bose, the Soundbar 900 works with “precisely, puts and ‘clamping’ different sounds to the right and left” offering a large sound sound full of audio signals. When there is no Dolby Atmos input, Bose said its use of TrueSpace technology will allow it to maintain its horizontal soundstage when releasing a signal to add virtual high channels.
Analysis: One step closer to the discrete system 7.1.2
At their core, both Bose Smart Soundbar 900 and Sonos Arc tried to re-create a larger sound sound in a compact form factor – something that really struggled with a few years ago when they first made waves.
Thanks to the support of the built-in Dolby Atmos and waveform technology such as Bose’s, the gap between technology starts to run away and we reach the point where some soundbars can match discrete systems – especially at lower price points.
That said, the lower price label in the world of audio does not exactly mean they are cheap: Bose Smart Soundbar 900 will be $ 899 (around £ 650, au $ 1,200) when it falls on September 23. It was a lot cheaper than a full system 7.1.2 will be with AVR and support that capable atmos for HDMI 2.1, but also no pocket change.
We have to test it yourself to see how it stands out to Sonos Arc – now that we consider the best soundbar available now – but, at least, it looks like a dispute.
