Bose uses your earbuds to simulate rear home theater speakers
Bose just launched a unique surround sound feature on their new Smart Soundbar and Ultra Open Earbuds, enabled by the open-design.
Launched in February earlier this year, the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are getting a new unique feature. The open earbuds are sort of anti-ANC headphones, designed to help you stay aware of your surroundings, rather than isolating you from the outside world. While a little pricey at $299, they are a great option for exercising.
The latest software update lets the Ultra Open Earbuds work with Bose soundbars. The feature is called Bose Personal Surround Sound and uses the earbuds as rear speakers, while the soundbar continues playing audio. The soundbar plays the front channels, while the Ultra Open Earbuds handles side and back channels. Thanks to the open-design of the Ultra Open Earbuds, you’ll still be able to hear the soundbar.
Personal Surround Sound has the benefit of a full surround sound system without the cost, noise, space, wiring and complexity of setting up/positioning rear speakers. While the obvious drawback is that it’s only effective for one viewer.
This is a totally unique feature that we haven’t seen elsewhere. It requires both the soundbar and earbuds to work in tandem, as well as an open-style earbud, so Bose are well-positioned to uniquely offer this functionality.
Personal Surround Sound is available now on Bose Ultra Open Earbuds paired with the just-released Bose Smart Soundbar. Simply update the app and earbuds’ firmware, then connect the two in the Bose App. Here you can also adjust levels to your taste.
Replacing the $499 Bose Smart Soundbar 600, also priced at $499, the soundbar is positioned as Bose’s mid-range option, above their $279 Bose TV Speaker and below the top-end $899 Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar.
The Bose Smart Soundbar is equipped with five speakers total, including two upward-firing speakers, enabling Dolby Atmos. There’s also an A.I. Dialogue Mode, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa voice control, and a bunch of input options, including HDMI eARC, optical, Wi-Fi, Chromecast, Spotify Connect, Apple AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth, making it a great choice for wireless music streaming too.
At $800 for the soundbar and earbuds, this is a fairly pricey setup. However if you’re tight on space or you already own the Ultra Open Earbuds, then it’s more reasonable. Personal Surround Sound is also coming to Bose’s $899 Smart Ultra Soundbar later this fall.
