If your current TV speakers aren’t impressing you, the easiest way to upgrade your movie night is with a sound bar. Our favorite compact option, where you might have limited space or a smaller room, is the Bose Smart Soundbar. It’s currently marked down to $400 at retailers like Amazon and Best Buy, a discount of at least $100. It’s easy to use, small enough to squeeze into tight spots, and still has all the features you’d expect from a soundbar.
Photograph: Ryan Waniata
Despite the tiny footprint, the Bose Smart Soundbar is capable of surprisingly expansive sound, which our reviewer Ryan Waniata calls out in particular, even if you’re just watching sports. Without a dedicated subwoofer, it lacks some punch in the bass department, but is still impressive, with surprising clarity, especially considering how little space it takes up. Because it sports Bluetooth, you can even use it as a dedicated speaker for music, a role it handles quite well.
The Smart Soundbar comes with a variety of intelligent features designed to enhance your viewing experience. We called out the AI Dialogue mode in particular, and were impressed by its ability to help speech stand out, without distorting the other background audio and music. If you often find yourself rewinding or asking what a character said, this soundbar is worth looking into for this feature on its own.
It also has another neat trick Bose calls Personal Surround. By pairing the soundbar with a set of the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, you can incorporate them into your surround setup. The open earbuds still let you hear the soundbar, creating an immersive mix that’s made even more potent by Dolby Atmos support.
If you have the extra space, you may still want to consider one of our other favorite soundbars, which can take advantage of that room to add a dedicated subwoofer, or more drivers. For anyone just looking to upgrade their living room’s audio setup, the Bose Smart Soundbar is an excellent pick that doesn’t take up any extra space, and still sounds surprisingly good.
