TV Speaker

Overview

The Bose TV Speaker is a small 2020 soundbar for the TV. It is 594 mm wide, 56 mm high and 102 mm deep, and Bose lists a weight of 1.97 kg (4.34 lb). It comes in black, with a matte top and a metal front grille, and it can be wall-mounted with the Bose Soundbar Wall Bracket.

Bose lists two angled full-range drivers and a center tweeter for dialogue. A Dialogue mode makes speech clearer, and a Bass button on the remote adds more bass.

The TV connects with a single cable: optical (included) or HDMI ARC (HDMI cable sold separately). The bar also has an AUX input, a USB port for service only and Bluetooth 4.2 for playing music from a phone or tablet. It has no Wi-Fi, no streaming services and no voice assistant.

The bar comes with a remote with its battery. Over HDMI ARC, the TV remote can control power, volume and mute, and the bar turns on with the TV. Bose describes it as Roku TV Ready. The box contains the remote, an optical cable, the power cord and the quick start guide.

What the specs mean

• 2.0 speaker setup: two channels, left and right, with no built-in subwoofer and no height channels.
• HDMI ARC, not eARC: the Audio Return Channel sends the TV's sound to the speaker over an HDMI cable. The newer eARC carries higher-bitrate formats such as Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Atmos; this bar does not support eARC.
• Audio formats: Bose does not list supported audio formats for this model. The owner's guide carries the Dolby Audio trademark notice, and Bose's product page says the bar has no Dolby Atmos.
• 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 speaker.
• No room correction: there is no room calibration.
• Expandable (wired): the Bass Module 500 or Bass Module 700 connects to the bass port with a 3.5 mm audio cable (not included). There is no wireless subwoofer or surround speaker option.