Bose Challenges Sonos with Innovative Lifestyle Ultra Home Speakers

Bose has unveiled its new Lifestyle Ultra speaker lineup, aiming to rival Sonos with a fresh approach to home audio. The $299 Ultra Speaker, alongside a $1,099 soundbar and $899 subwoofer, offers impressive sound quality, unique design, and flexible streaming options without relying on a dedicated app.

This launch marks a strategic move by Bose to attract users seeking high-quality audio that integrates effortlessly with existing ecosystems, including non-Bose devices. By embracing open streaming standards and innovative features, Bose hopes to carve out a strong position in the competitive smart speaker market.

A Closer Look at the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker

The Lifestyle Ultra speaker stands out with its distinctive design and powerful sound profile. Featuring a front-firing woofer and tweeter, an up-firing driver for enhanced audio depth, and a rear bass port, it delivers rich vocals and a broad soundstage. Capacitive touch controls on top allow intuitive volume and playback management, while Alexa Plus support adds voice control capabilities.

Available in beige, black, and white, the Ultra Speaker impressed with its clarity and size, though some users might notice a punchy emphasis on snare hits. Bose is exploring room correction features to optimize sound in various environments, which could further enhance the listening experience.

Breaking Free from App Lock-In: Bose’s Open Streaming Strategy

Unlike Sonos, which centralizes streaming control within its app, Bose’s Ultra Speaker embraces an app-less experience. It supports Wi-Fi streaming through Apple AirPlay, Google Cast, and Spotify Connect, allowing users to group Bose speakers with non-Bose devices seamlessly. Bluetooth streaming is also available when Wi-Fi is not accessible.

"We deliberately are trying to be more open and app-less in our experience," said Raza Haider, Bose president of premium consumer audio.—Raza Haider

This approach simplifies user interaction by leveraging familiar streaming apps, avoiding the complexity of managing multiple services within a single Bose app. Bose plans to enable Auracast support in the future and hopes to expand compatibility with other streaming services like Qobuz and Tidal.

The Ultra Soundbar and Subwoofer: Elevating Home Theater Audio

Complementing the Ultra Speaker, Bose introduced a redesigned $1,099 Ultra Soundbar featuring multiple drivers, including up-firing and PhaseGuide units for immersive sound dispersion. While initial demos showed excellent vocal clarity and wide soundstage, some bass frequencies felt lacking without the Ultra Subwoofer.

The $899 Ultra Subwoofer fills this gap, delivering deep, full bass that significantly enhances movie and music playback. Together, the soundbar and subwoofer create a premium audio setup, though the combined cost approaches $2,000, comparable to high-end Sonos systems.

Future Prospects for Bose’s Lifestyle Series

Bose envisions the Lifestyle Ultra as the foundation of a new platform, with plans to expand the lineup. According to Haider, upcoming models will not be smaller but will continue to innovate in design and functionality, potentially including battery-powered options.

With its open ecosystem, strong sound performance, and flexible configurations, the Lifestyle Ultra series positions Bose as a formidable contender in the smart speaker market, offering consumers more choice and integration possibilities than ever before.