Bose Smart Soundbar 600 Review

Soundbars have become increasingly popular in recent years. More users are choosing the mobility and simplicity of a soundbar over the often bulky traditional home entertainment systems. When they first came out, soundbars weren’t taken seriously. However, as manufacturers have gotten better at making them and continually improved the audio standard, folks have started paying attention.

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Just like phones and TVs, soundbars are part of the Smart Device Era…

Bose was one of the earliest high-end manufacturers to have success with soundbars. And they’ve been one of the leaders in the industry ever since. The Bose Smart Soundbar range was launched in 2021, and many users consider them to be the final word on the subject.

The Smart Soundbar 600 is the middle sibling of the “family.” And I spent the last few days finding out whether all the hype is worth it. If you’ve had your eye on one of these but you’re still unsure, hopefully, my in-depth Bose Smart Soundbar 600 Review can help you make up your mind.

Design and Build Quality

Our rating: [usr 4.3]

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As you would expect, the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 is as well put together. The design is a simple one. From a distance, it looks like one solid black mass. Bose has never been keen on making flashy stuff. But that’s why Bose products age so well.

It’s called timelessness, and they’ve gotten very good at it over the years…

The 600 weighs in at joust over three kilograms, which isn’t heavy. But this isn’t the kind of speaker you want to carry around like a lunch box. Furthermore, much of the sound quality will depend on its placement. More on that later.

It’s made from high-grade plastic and has a nice metal grill around the front and sides. There is nowhere this thing won’t look good. There are holes at the back for attaching brackets and mounting it on a wall. However, those handy little brackets are sold separately. There are a few options available, starting at around $20 and going up to the better part of $100. But here’s what is included:

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Remote control with batteries.
1.5m optical cable.
1.5m HDMI cable.

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Connectivity, Features, and Functionality

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As far as controlling the Bose Soundbar 600, there are three options. Firstly, you can use the touch controls located on the front. You get the standard controls for volume, pairing, activating voice assistant, etc. Secondly, there is the remote control. However, it suffers from two drawbacks:

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The rubberized covering tends to attract dust, and fingerprints show up almost instantly.
It does not have a button for activating the voice assistant.

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The voice assistant happens to be the third way to control the Bose Smart Soundbar 600. But, users are limited to the touch control on the soundbar to activate Alexa or Google’s voice assistant. Once you’ve got the voice assistant activated, though, you can control it using just your voice. The built-in microphone array works seamlessly whether you’re using Amazon’s Alexa or Google’s voice assistant.

When it comes to voice control…

Bose has gone the extra mile with its Smart Soundbar range. The exclusive Bose Voice4Video technology expands the capabilities of Amazon’s Alexa to include smart TVs and satellite boxes.

Furthermore, it allows you to make and take calls to and from Bose smart products and Amazon Echo products. Thanks to this feature, the 600 truly becomes a hands-free soundbar. Something that cannot be said for a lot of its high-end competitors.

The Soundbar 600 features Bluetooth 4.2, which should provide a reliable connection up to nine meters. Additionally, there is Wi-Fi, as well as compatibility with Apple Airplay 2 and Chromecast. On the back, you will find ports for the HDMI and optical cables. There is also a USB service port for installing firmware updates and doing software maintenance.

Speaking of software…

Bose’s Companion app has taken some hits over the years. This is mainly due to its frustrating limitations when used with earbuds or headphones. When it comes to soundbars, however, the Bose Music app works great.

There is an EQ with sliders for the bass, treble, center, and height channels. Also, a special “Wall EQ” option for when the soundbar is mounted. Finally, you have Dialogue Mode, which can help clean up and enhance the mid-range should it be necessary. Although, it should be noted that this feature is intended for videos and not for music.

Plays well with others…

The Soundbar 600 is part of the Bose “family.” This means that by using the SimpleSync feature in the Bose Music app, the soundbar can be paired with other compatible devices and used as one system.

And you’ll be glad to hear that Bose’s SimpleSync works with non-Bose products as well. So your other speakers don’t have to feel left out. That said, the app is, of course, optimized for Bose products. Features like this are all good news for users who take long-term value seriously.

But the potential for expansion doesn’t stop there…

If you’ve got the space, and the money, you can add two surround speakers and a bass module to expand the capabilities of the system even further. These additional modules are connected to the soundbar by a 3.5mm AUX cable. No surprise then that Bose offers a set of surround speakers and a sub-woofer that work in perfect harmony with the Smart Soundbar 600.

Sound Quality

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Finally, we get to the big guns, and the 600 has five of them. This soundbar features a center channel transducer, left and right channel transducers, and two upwards-firing speakers to help you get the most out of the Dolby Atmos on the Bose Smart Soundbar 600.

You will be hard-pressed to find another soundbar with upwards-firing speakers at this price. Instead, you’d have to make do with some form of “virtualization,” which is never quite the same. And, despite its unassuming appearance, this is one of the best soundbars for surround sound. It’s fair to say that the 600 packs a more visceral and immersive punch than any of its peers.

An immersive Sci-Fi feature, like Dune, for example, becomes an immersive audio experience with this soundbar. Close your eyes during the desert scenes, and you’ll swear you are surrounded by thousands of miles of empty space.

What about content that doesn’t use Dolby Atmos?

The folks at Bose have you covered there as well with TrueSpace. This feature will upscale standard stereo and 5.1 content to create an effect similar to Dolby Atmos. While this cannot compete with the real deal, it makes enough of a difference to be worth using on your old favorites.

As for the overall sound quality…

It’s in a word – immaculate. The sound signature is rich and well-balanced, with all frequencies well-represented. While the Dialogue Mode feature does what it says on the tin, I honestly don’t see much need for it. The sound quality of the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 is great as it is.

Overall, there is very little you can find wrong with the sound of the 600. And, even if you do, you’d probably be able to fix it using the EQ or some simple adjustment of its placement.

Ah, yes, the placement…

As mentioned, where you place the 600 will be one of the most important factors in the quality of the sound. Put this thing in the right place, and it will fill the entire room with a cacophony of beautifully sculpted surround sound. However, put it in the wrong one, and the opposite will occur.

Therefore, you should test out different placements. This will help you find the best place to put the Bose Soundbar 600 so that you get the sound you want. Height will be one of the most important placement aspects when it comes to getting a good sound out of the 600. So, that makes the absent wall brackets that much more of a downside. But, in the grand scheme of things, a very minor downside.