Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker review: Versatile home audio that comes with caveats
Key takeaways
- For me, the company is synonymous with noise-canceling headphones since I've spent years testing various Quiet Comfort products.
- Billy Steele for Engadget The LS Ultra Speaker is rather compact.
- Inside, Bose has packed three drivers, including one up-firing speaker, alongside QuietPort acoustics for the company's Cleanbass system.
Billy Steele for Engadget RATING : 7.5 / 10 Pros Great audio vocal clarity Refined design Easy setup Versatile in the living room Cons Underwhelming bass performance Louder/complex genres get muddy at times Stereo pairing connectivity Multiroom limited to Air Play and Google Cast When someone mentions Bose, I don't immediately think of speakers. For me, the company is synonymous with noise-canceling headphones since I've spent years testing various Quiet Comfort products. However, Bose actually has a number of speakers under its belt, a lineup that comprises portable, home and living room models alike. The company's latest home audio option, the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker ($299), is part of a trio of new Wi-Fi-connected devices that can be used as a multiroom setup or as part of a robust home theater configuration. As is typically the case with these types of speakers, the real question is how well Bose is poised to compete with the likes of industry-leading Sonos.
Billy Steele for Engadget The LS Ultra Speaker is rather compact. At 7.27 x 4.77 x 6.59 inches and weighing just 3.7 pounds, it's smaller than one of the Audio-Technica bookshelf speakers that flank my turntable. Bose's latest speaker is about the same size as the Sonos Era 100 though, except the LS Ultra is about an inch and a half deeper. The overall shape here is more of an elongated cylinder or pill. A fabric speaker grille wraps around the front and sides of the device like a cover. And if you splurge for the limited-edition Driftwood Sand color, there's a wood base for an even more refined look.
Inside, Bose has packed three drivers, including one up-firing speaker, alongside QuietPort acoustics for the company's Cleanbass system. Up top, touch controls give you the ability to play/pause, skip tracks, adjust volume, activate Bluetooth, mute the mic and summon Alexa (more on that last one in a bit). The volume control is a radial slider ring that allows you to quickly swipe to make changes or be more precise with your tweaks. If you'd rather just tap on the + or – as if they were normal touch-based buttons, you can do that too.