Bose announces new QuietComfort Earbuds and Smart Soundbar

Bose has announced a new set of QuietComfort Earbuds, as well as the Smart Soundbar together with a new listening experience called Bose Personal Surround Sound.

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds look to be a new mid-priced addition to Bose’s true wireless earphones range. They supply a familiar mixture of powerful ANC, everyday comfort, and seamless voice commands at a significantly lower launch price than the previous Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Ultra.

You can expect 8.5 hours of battery life from a single charge, which will be bolstered by the 2.5 charges provided by the included wireless charging case. The new QuietComfort Earbuds also feature IPX4 certification, while a trio of ear tip and stability band sizes should ensure a snug fit.

Bluetooth 5.3 and multi-point audio are also supported, while the standalone Bose QC Earbuds app lets you customise the touch controls. Voice ID lets you control calls, media playback, volume and more using a vocal “Hey headphones” command.

The new Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are available from today in Black, White Smoke, and Chilled Lilac for £179. That’s £100 less than the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II launched at, and £120 less than the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Ultra.

Bose Smart Soundbar

The Bose Smart Soundbar is a direct replacement for the Bose Smart Soundbar 600, which liked rather a lot.

It’s another compact (5.6 x 10.4 x 69cm) soundbar with features and sound output that punches above its weight. It includes Dolby Atmos support, as well as proprietary Bose TrueSpace technology for immersive audio.

Bose Spatial Technologies use the soundbar’s five transducers to produce immersive audio, even when there are no additional speakers in the set-up. Two side-firing racetrack-shaped transducers project audio horizontally into the room, while a central tweeter handles the dialogue and two up-firing transducers handle horizontal and overhead sound. TrueSpace can handle signals other than Dolby Atmos too, such as stereo or 5.1, essentially upmixing them for similarly spacious sound.

The brand’s A.I. Dialogue Mode also makes its way over from the premium Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar, using a machine learning algorithm to present clearer dialogue that cuts through any background noise.

The Bose Smart Soundbar also sees the debut of a feature called Bose Personal Surround Sound, which lets you pair the soundbar with the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds for audio with an extra dimension.

Using this technique, the Ultra Open Earbuds essentially serves as personal rear surround speakers while the Bose Smart Soundbar carries out the frontal audio duties. This feature will be coming to the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar this autumn.

Besides HDMI eARC and optical ports connectivity, the Bose Smart Soundbar supports Google Cast, Spotify Connect, and Apple AirPlay 2, along with the usual Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. SimpleSync enables the Smart Soundbar to hook up to other Bose speakers for a full multi-room setup.

The Bose Smart Soundbar is available for pre-order from today over on the Bose website for a price of £499.95