Smart Soundbar 900

Overview

The Smart Soundbar 900 is the 2021 Dolby Atmos soundbar from Bose. It is 1045 mm wide, 58.1 mm high and 107 mm deep, and Bose lists a weight of 12.68 lb (about 5.75 kg). It comes in black or white, has a glass top and a metal front grille, and can be wall-mounted with the Bose Soundbar Wall Bracket (sold separately).

Bose describes a seven-speaker arrangement in the cabinet, including two transducers for sound that seems to come from above, and its PhaseGuide technology for directing sound to different areas of the room. Bose TrueSpace technology adds a height effect to content that is not in Dolby Atmos, such as stereo or 5.1.

The TV connects over HDMI eARC or optical; both cables are in the box. The bar also has an Ethernet port, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2. It streams over Wi-Fi with Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect, and it can be grouped with other Bose smart speakers in the Bose Music app.

Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are built in, with a microphone array for voice pickup. With Alexa, Bose Voice4Video technology can also turn on and control the TV and a cable or satellite box. The soundbar has an Action button and a Microphone off button, and it comes with a remote control. The Bose Music app (iOS and Android) handles setup and runs ADAPTiQ. The box contains the remote with batteries, the ADAPTiQ headset, an HDMI cable, an optical cable, the power cord and the printed guides.

What the specs mean

• Speaker setup not stated: Bose does not give a channel layout. It describes seven speakers, two of them up-firing for height effects.
• HDMI eARC: the enhanced Audio Return Channel sends the TV's sound to the soundbar over the HDMI cable, including high-bitrate formats such as Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Atmos. Bose says to use the TV's HDMI ARC or eARC connection for Dolby Atmos content, and the optical cable for TVs without HDMI.
• Audio formats: Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital and Dolby TrueHD. Dolby Atmos places sounds, including overhead effects, around the listener.
• No HDMI passthrough: the bar has no HDMI input. Sources such as a console or streaming box connect to the TV, and the TV sends their sound to the soundbar.
• Room correction (ADAPTiQ): a microphone on the included ADAPTiQ headset measures the sound at several places in the room, and the system adjusts its sound to the room's acoustics. Bose says to run ADAPTiQ after wall-mounting the bar, and again after adding a bass module or surrounds, or moving the bar or furniture.
• Expandable: the Bass Module 500 or Bass Module 700 adds a wireless subwoofer, and the Surround Speakers or Surround Speakers 700 add wireless rear speakers.