Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker review: Versatile home audio that comes with caveats

Billy Steele for Engadget

RATING : 7.5 / 10

Billy Steele for Engadget

The LS Ultra Speaker is alternatively compact. At 7.27 x 4.77 x 6.59 inches and weighing conscionable 3.7 pounds, it's smaller than 1 of nan Audio-Technica bookshelf speakers that flank my turntable. Bose's latest speaker is astir nan aforesaid size arsenic nan Sonos Era 100 though, isolated from nan LS Ultra is astir an inch and a half deeper. The wide style present is much of an elongated cylinder aliases pill. A cloth speaker grille wraps astir nan beforehand and sides of nan instrumentality for illustration a cover. And if you splurge for nan limited-edition Driftwood Sand color, there's a wood guidelines for an moreover much refined look.

Inside, Bose has packed 3 drivers, including 1 up-firing speaker, alongside QuietPort acoustics for nan company's Cleanbass system. Up top, touch controls springiness you nan expertise to play/pause, skip tracks, set volume, activate Bluetooth, shut up nan mic and summon Alexa (more connected that past 1 successful a bit). The measurement power is simply a radial slider ringing that allows you to quickly swipe to make changes aliases beryllium much precise pinch your tweaks. If you'd alternatively conscionable pat connected nan + aliases – arsenic if they were normal touch-based buttons, you tin do that too.

The LS Ultra Speaker has some Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, successful summation to a 3.5mm aux larboard astir back. With a Wi-Fi connection, AirPlay and Google Cast are successful nan mix, some of which let you to usage nan speaker arsenic portion of a multiroom setup. There's nary request to create rooms successful nan Bose app, you simply nonstop nan audio to each instrumentality via nan AirPlay aliases Cast paper successful your app of choice. Depending connected your preferences, this whitethorn not needfully beryllium a bad thing. Personally, I did miss nan expertise to nonstop audio to each rooms pinch a azygous pat for illustration I could successful nan HEOS app pinch Denon's speakers.

Bose is nan first to support Alexa+ on non-Echo devices. The Lifestyle Ultra Speaker, nan caller Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar and a fewer of nan company's different products are each compatible. Amazon's next-gen assistant arrived last year and delivers a large betterment complete its predecessors. This is nan only sound adjunct that's straight supported by nan LS Ultra Speaker, truthful if you for illustration Gemini aliases Siri, you'll want to disable Alexa+ and shut up nan speaker's microphone. A mini reddish ray connected nan apical of nan speaker lets you cognize nan mic is disabled.

Billy Steele for Engadget

Bose equipped nan Lifestyle Ultra Speaker pinch what it calls TrueSpatial exertion for much immersive sound. And of course, that up-firing driver surely helps pinch nan dimensional audio. However, contempt nan three-driver setup and Bose's bass acoustics, nan speaker's low-end capabilities are restrained. Don't get maine wrong, there's ample footwear drum listen successful Bilmuri's "Twice," but nan bass isn't satisfyingly heavy aliases nuanced.

The LS Ultra Speaker excels astatine wide clarity and specifications successful nan treble and midrange though. Vocals ever trim done cleanly, and instruments for illustration guitars, synths and horns consistently guidelines retired successful nan mix. While it performs good pinch each genres, I do deliberation nan speaker is amended suited for chill tunes: instrumental synth tracks, bluegrass and Midwest emo, arsenic a fewer examples. I kept going backmost to nan caller American Football medium and Watchhouse's Rituals for nan cleanable guitars and acoustic instruments respectively.

In nan Bose app, nan institution gives you nan expertise to dial successful nan sound floor plan pinch a three-band EQ. Try arsenic I might, I wasn't capable to make immoderate tweaks that I felt really improved nan banal tuning; I felt that expanding nan bass only degraded nan wide fidelity by muddying things up. Additionally, you tin summation aliases alteration nan level of nan up-firing driver successful nan aforesaid menu, giving you nan expertise to change that mounting to your liking.

Billy Steele for Engadget

Like a batch of wireless speakers connected nan marketplace today, nan Lifestyle Ultra Speaker tin beryllium utilized arsenic a stereo pair. The Bose app makes this setup ace easy, arsenic it asks if you want to adhd much speakers arsenic portion of a duo aliases location theatre configuration erstwhile you first link to them. Of course, you besides person nan action of leaving each 1 arsenic a abstracted unit, which is what you'd do to put them successful different rooms.

Despite everything looking correct successful nan app, I initially only heard euphony retired of nan first LS Ultra Speaker I group up. Then, weirdly, sound started coming retired of nan 2nd one, but very delayed, and I couldn't region aliases power nan playback astatine each — yet it stopped connected its own. Bose advised maine that this was apt owed to a connectivity rumor and told maine to make judge some speakers had up-to-date firmware and were connected to nan 5GHz set connected my Wi-Fi network. The institution besides recommended cycling audio sources and renaming nan pairing successful nan app. None of that worked, but Bose's past measurement was to move nan speakers disconnected for 15 seconds, which yet did nan trick.

Once I contended pinch each of that, I had nan stereo brace my bosom desired, but location was still 1 changeless hiccup. When you region nan music, some speakers extremity successful unison, but erstwhile you resume nan tunes, 1 starts earlier nan other. Thankfully, erstwhile they some footwear in, nan audio is perfectly synced, but I still recovered this somewhat annoying. Despite each of this, utilizing 2 LS Ultra Speakers enhances nan wide output, conscionable arsenic you'd expect. And if you're readying to usage 1 arsenic a bookshelf speaker successful your agency aliases surviving room, I'd urge investing a 2nd for much balanced coverage. Being capable to perceive to abstracted audio channels is conscionable a amended experience.

While you tin link a turntable to nan 3.5mm aux jack connected these speakers, I don't person nan requisite RCA adapter to do so, truthful I haven't been capable to trial nan LS Ultra Speakers arsenic portion of a vinyl setup. Numerous Wi-Fi speakers support turntables and wired input, truthful that's not unsocial to this Bose speaker.

If you're hoping to usage 2 LS Ultra Speakers to heighten your TV audio, I've sewage immoderate bad news. This speaker isn't designed to beryllium nan main sound root for TVs, moreover though it does person a wired input. Bose says utilizing nan 3.5mm aux larboard aliases Bluetooth will origin latency and articulator sync issues. Of course, if you person an Apple TV, for example, you tin spell nan AirPlay route, but that's not perfect since you person to hop successful nan settings paper to nonstop audio to nan speakers each clip you usage that streaming box.

It's not each bad news though. Bose built nan Lifestyle Ultra Speaker to beryllium utilized arsenic rear situation speakers successful a location theatre setup. This intends you tin employment them alongside nan caller Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar and Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer for a complete audio system. Just statement that moreover though Bose has different soundbars successful its lineup, these speakers are only compatible pinch nan LS Ultra Soundbar.

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When it comes to Wi-Fi-enabled speakers that are tin of multiroom audio, Sonos is ever nan first sanction that comes to mind. Of course, truthful does nan company's monolithic app debacle that it's still recovering from. If you're consenting to contend pinch immoderate package frustrations, nan Era 100 offers a batch of nan aforesaid features arsenic nan LS Ultra Speaker for $80 less. Bluetooth connectivity is location alongside Wi-Fi, though nan Sonos exemplary doesn't person an aux jack. Two Era 100s tin beryllium utilized arsenic a stereo brace and they activity arsenic rear speakers pinch immoderate of Sonos' soundbars. You besides get nan use of Sonos' Trueplay tuning for room calibration.

I'd beryllium remiss not to mention nan Denon Home 200 successful this discussion. This speaker offers amended sound value than either nan LS Ultra Speaker aliases nan Era 100 acknowledgment to its superior bass performance. The HEOS app you'll usage for settings and optional controls is besides speedy and reliable. The downside present is that nan Home 200 is nan astir costly of nan batch astatine $399.

However, for illustration nan LS Ultra Speaker and Era 100, nan Home 200 tin beryllium utilized arsenic rear speakers, truthful agelong arsenic you're bully pinch Denon's Home 550 soundbar.

Bose's Lifestyle Ultra Speaker surely looks awesome connected my shelf. I besides bask nan wide clarity and subtle item this exemplary produces, though I would emotion a spot much nuance successful nan low-end tone. Since location are better-sounding options for standalone speakers, I'd reason nan LS Ultra Speaker is amended suited arsenic portion of a location theatre setup pinch nan remainder of nan company's latest gear.

Sure, you'll apt beryllium pleased pinch its standalone performance, though you whitethorn brushwood immoderate connectivity kinks pinch stereo pairing astatine first. And if you acquisition aggregate Lifestyle Ultra products, you'll request to beryllium okay pinch AirPlay and Google Cast for multiroom use. At nan extremity of nan day, you could astir apt do amended if sound value is your superior concern, but you could besides do a batch worse, particularly successful position of design.