Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar review: Design delight brings sensational audio upgrade for your TV

If you're looking for one of the best soundbars to upgrade your TV's audio, then it's no secret that you're not short on choice – which can make choosing one all the more complex.

Bose's 2026 flagship, the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar, leans firmly into sophisticated design – as its very name suggests – so if you're looking for a style option, then its combination of glass top, material cladding, and physical controls makes for a strong pick.

But this soundbar is just as qualified in the audio department, delivering Dolby Atmos decoding straight out of the box – with two upfiring speakers in its 5.0.2 channel arrangement to treat such audio properly – for a sensationally wide-and-tall soundstage.

With competition from Sonos to Samsung and beyond, however, this Bose soundbar has its work cut out in the price wars. I've been living with one at home – paired with Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer and Lifestyle Ultra Speaker pair for full 7.1.4 surround – and here's why I can thoroughly recommend it.

Price & Availability

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar is on sale right now, priced at £999 / $1099 / AU$1799. It's the upgrade to 2023's Smart Ultra Soundbar, which has since decreased in price.

Around this price point there's a lot else to consider, of course, as even the Sonos Arc Ultra is £/$999 – but has seen recent price drops make it even lower, per the shopping widget embedded below.

To really flesh out the Bose pick, however, you can add the Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer (£899 / $999 / AU$1299) with a Lifestyle Ultra Speaker pair used as rears (£299 / $299 / AU$549 each). Discount bundles also exist, again per the shopping widget below.

Features & What's New?

The move from Smart Ultra Soundbar to Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar wasn't just a nip-and-tuck process. The new flagship represents the "biggest acoustic overhaul in a decade," Bose spokespeople told me at the product's reveal back in April.

The new soundbar features a nine-element array, two of which are Bose's PhaseGuide technology – utilised to control sound directionality, essentially allowing output anywhere within a room without the need for speakers to distinctly point there. This is very good news for immersive audio and Dolby Atmos, of course.

Bass is handled using Bose's QuietPort system, which funnels sound through elongated tubes to magnify the low-end output without a distinct woofer being present. You can add a separate wireless subwoofer, of course, to up the low-end output even further.

Straight out of the box the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar is a 5.0.2 system, the '2' representing the two upfiring speakers at the ends of the soundbar. These aren't visually highlighted as open ports, per the previous product release, instead are 'invisible' beneath the fabric finish that covers the majority of the 'bar – save for the stylised glass top-plate.

Within this glass plate there's a distinctive new sunken control 'wheel' – which I mused was reminiscent of a classic iPod control – while touch-sensitive Bluetooth, mic mute and 'action' buttons sit to the side. Volume up/down and play/pause buttons are within that wheel, but you can use Bose's updated app to handle everything (as there's no physical remote included – and you can't buy an official one).

Design & Setup

As said up top: the Bose is really pushing the style factor with great success, delivering one of the nicest-looking soundbars I've had in front of my TV for some time. And I test a lot of soundbars in tandem with the best TVs.

The soundbar is 110cm long, so in excess of a metre, meaning it's best matched with larger TVs – nothing under 55-inches, I'd suggest, as those will measure approximately the same length. This 'bar the same length as the Sonos Arc Ultra, therefore, meaning it's in direct competition with that product.

It's also head-on equipped with similar specification, as around the back you'll find an HDMI eARC socket, but no further HDMI passthrough. Much as I will criticise that, it's not uncommon – and you'd need to spend more on, say, a Samsung HW-Q990F to gain such an extra (plus a sub and extra surround speakers in the box).

Not that once you're plugged in – with the included HDMI cable ported to your TV to automatically take over sound controls – you'll be paying attention to what's around the back. As the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar is all about how it looks.

I like how Bose has managed to balance elegance and functionality in a discreet way – there's nothing riotous about the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar's design, per se, but little touches such as that top-plate really elevate it above and beyond much of what else is out there.

There's a slight blip in this design, however, as the glass is of course reflective – so you'll see what's on screen mirrored in the surface below, without being able to do much about it. Bose ought to figure out a way to adjust refraction within the material to minimise this; especially as many of the best OLED TVs are now baking in anti-reflective panels.

Aside from the super-simple physical setup process, the Bose is best handled from the Bose app (iOS/Android free download), which has been updated and simplified to make for a really easy end-to-end process. It's within these screens where you can make adjustments and personalisations, too, which only further this soundbar's delivery.

Sound Quality

But it's not all just about looks. Bose has done a brilliant job is getting this metre-or-so-long system to output well beyond its proportions. Its sound width is room-filling – to the point that TVs of 75- or 85-inches or more would be capably catered for by it.

And that's just the soundbar alone. As I noted on my very first listen, any additional products excluded, there's a decent amount of bass drive here from the 'bar alone. That'll be great for those wanting to enhance low-end without paying for a subwoofer – or irking their neighbours, perhaps.

I don't feel like the bass is quite as major as you'll get from Sonos' Arc Ultra, mind, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. If you want to go full system, then the Bose's Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer does a grand job in delivering bold, shaped bass – but it does cost a packet more to buy, unavoidably (much like Sonos' equivalent, in that regard).

Width isn't the only benefit of this Bose's design, though, as the upfiring speakers do a very good job of projecting sound upwards. At its most basic this generates height, which is totally essential in matching believable sound in relation to what's going on on the screen – which Bose totally nails.

No, you're never going to get an 'umbrella' of hemispherical sound from a standalone soundbar like you will with a full surround system. But even when handling object-based audio decoding from a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar brings great exaggeration to sound motion – with sounds seemingly flying to the edge of a room and right up to the ceiling.

The clarity of that sound is wonderful, too, with great balance that a number of other soundbars can't present in quite such a cohesive way. This feels like the full, considered package – from highs to mid to low – with carefully judged separation and ample channels to define the best movie soundtracks' multi-positional output.

Expandability

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As I've already alluded to, you can take the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar from a 5.0.2 system to a 5.1.2 system with the addition of a Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer. From there it can be a 7.1.4 setup when adding a pair of Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker units – adding rear channels, with built-in upward-firing height output.

I've tested this full package and, while it can't go all-out with four speaker separates like the LG Sound Suite, for example, most people aren't going to need that. As a full package, the Bose is a dream for movies and even music – and that you can step by step upgrade, just as you can with Sonos' equivalent, adds accessibility.

Unlike Sonos' recent app debacle, however, Bose's app update is a gem. It brings so much control to the base soundbar alone, but with everything added there's a full suite of tools added to adjust equalisation (EQ) with simple treble/mid/bass +/- sliders. The subwoofer level can be adjusted individually, or switched off. You can also turn off the rear speakers when not desired.

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But the biggest point of interest in the app is the 'Adjustments' section, where you can increase of decrease output from centre, adjust the height mix, and the surround level – enhancing its separation. So many companies – such as Sony in its 360 Audio options for The Collexion headphones, for example – get this so very wrong. But Bose has it spot on.

Indeed, I can't name a company that delivers better spatial upmixes than Bose. It does so in its headphones – such as the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) – and while it's not porting exactly the same movement-based delivery here, the subtlety in adding rear speakers when listening to music is a wonder for percussion, as one example. It never sounds fake or metallic or off-kilter. That's a rare yet wonderful thing.

Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar review: Verdict

With the very same recommended price as the Sonos Arc Ultra, the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar might seem easy to dismiss – but as a stylish alternative with arguably better app integration, Bose's soundbar is a 5-star slammer.

As a standalone soundbar, the sheer sonic width and height impresses, as does the degree of bass – without the need to add any extras. It's great for movies, just as it's great for music – with ample yet simple adjustability options present within the app.

If you chose to upgrade later, however, then the Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer and a pair of Lifestyle Ultra Speaker units totally transforms this 'bar into a successful surround option – albeit at quite the cost – for an impressive cinematic experience.

Bose has really gone nose-to-nose with Sonos in its flagship soundbar fight this year. And while the Arc Ultra might give more bass oomph as a standalone solution, not everyone's going to want that – marking the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar out as a sound and stylish alternative.

Also Consider

Time is as much a benefit as it is curse, however, as the Arc Ultra is currently so well discounted that it's a more obvious purchase – for the cost-savings alone. It also sounds brilliant, is ideal for anyone in the Sonos ecosystem already, and doesn't have a reflective top-plate design.

If surround sound is your ultimate goal, then it's also worth considering Samsung's previous-gen flagship, the HW-Q990F (as the newer 'H' version is negligibly different – and much pricier right now). This includes a sub and rear speakers in the box, plus the 'bar has an HDMI passthrough port (4K/120Hz) too.

All of this too pricey for your needs, or your TV too small for it to be necessary? Then Sonos' Beam 2 is always a sensible suggestion – especially when it's on offer. It's got much more sonic bite than the company's Ray product, too.