The Bose Soundbar 700 review is a high-end soundbar that offers excellent sound quality and a sleek, stylish design. It’s one of the most expensive soundbars on the market, but it’s also one of the best. If you’re looking for a top-of-the-line soundbar, the Bose Soundbar 700 is a great option.
Contents
Pros And Cons
Pros
- Large front soundstage
- Excellent remote app
- ADAPTiQ audio calibration
- Alexa/Google Assistant voice control
Cons
- Bass is light
- No Atmos/DTSX
- No HDMI inputs
- Reflective top
Design
Bose Soundbar 700 reviews as a premium speaker. It has a stylish and sleek cabinet and excellent build quality. The grille is made of a perforated aluminum wraparound and comes with a tempered-glass top. You can choose from glossy black or arctic white.
The design is too functional, and some elements can quickly become ir extender. The glass top quickly becomes stained with a fingerprint magnet and reflects what is on the screen.
The Soundbar 700’s height is only 57mm, so it won’t block your TV. The Soundbar 700 is wide enough to fit TVs with screen sizes between 45 and 55 inches. There’s also an optional bracket that can be used as a wall mount bracket.
It is minimalistic in sophisticated design, has only the buttons for all the functions at your fingertips. Only two touch-sensitive controls are available: one to turn on built-in smart assistants and one to power them. The display is minimal, with just a row of lights. However, you will need to know how to interpret the meanings.
Design TL:DR: The slim soundbar is stylish and well-made. However, the glass top will reflect the TV screen.
Setup
The Soundbar 700 is a soundbar, but it can also be used as an intelligent wireless speaker. New Bose Music App is available for both iOS and Android. It guides you through the setup process.
Although it’s easy to assume that everyone has a smartphone or tablet capable of running the Bose Music app, you might be surprised to learn that not all people have the Soundbar 700.
The Bose Music app makes it easy to set up your rear surround speakers, provided you have a compatible device. It also offers easy-to-understand steps with lots of feedback.
The Soundbar 700 is tuned to your room’s acoustics by using the included Adaptiq mic, a wired headband you wear as a pair of wireless headphones. The Bose Music app will take care of the rest. You need to choose five spots you like watching TV.
Although Bose’s music app is not as intuitive as Sonos TruePlay, which uses an iOS device’s microphone to achieve the same result as the app, it’s compatible with all smartphones.
The process for adding your home theater included universal remote will be completed quickly. You can also choose between Alexa or Google Assistant built-in to use the speaker’s voice command capabilities. I highly recommend it.
Connections and Remote
Bose Soundbar 700 houses all its physical connections in two recess areas on the underside. However, there is very little space for actual plugging in of cables due to another design flaw. You can connect this soundbar to your TV using HDMI ARC or optical cable, which is a credit to them.
There are several physical connections. You will find an HDMI input, optical digital input, Ethernet port, and a micro USB port to streaming music services in one recess. The socket for the power cable box is located in the other recess. Four 3.5mm jacks can be used for a subwoofer or data extension, as well as the ADAPTiQ headset.
Considering the price, it’s not surprising that there is only one HDMI port. It supports eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel), which allows you to send lossless audio back from your TV stand to the soundbar. This assumes your TV supports eARC.
Wireless connections are available in three frequencies: Wi-Fi network (2.4GHz & 5GHz bands), Apple AirPlay 2, and Bluetooth connection. This latter option is restricted to the SBC codec and so the best choice for audiophiles who demand the best quality audio.
The sound bar comes with a redesigned universal remote control made of metal and equipped with a motion-activated light. You can pair it with multiple external devices such as a TV, Blu-ray player, games console, video streamer, or set-top box. This allows you to use wireless control everything from one wand.
The zapper is a victim of the same shortsighted design decisions as to the soundbar. It’s too large, and the soft rubber buttons attract fluff and dust. They are also challenging to see with the motion-activated backlight off and don’t always make sense, but that only the button useful to your specific set up illuminate.
The Bose Music App has a well-designed interface and is easy to use and enjoy limited voice control. You can fine-tune aspects like the center channel, bass, and treble and access Spotify, Amazon Music, internet radio stations, Apple Music and TuneIn, or favorite music services.
Features
Bose Soundbar 700 has a variety of new features. Many of these are focused on its capabilities to be a smart speaker. The Bose app allows you to link your existing accounts with the Bose app, which will enable you to set up both Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant built-in.
It’s easy to set up, and you will have a fully functional smart speaker that can play music, provide news and weather updates, control voice assistants, select a radio station and pick a channel. You can choose from four music services: Spotify, Amazon Music, radio stations, and TuneIn Radio.
Bose’s PhaseGuide technology and QuietPort technology are both included in the soundbar. The former sends audio to the sides to create a more prominent front soundstage, while the latter deliver deeper, cleaner, and less distortion-free bass.
This sound bar is lacking in multi-channel audio support. It can only decode 5.1 Dolby Digital, and DTS, but it doesn’t support lossless codecs such as Dolby TrueHD Master Audio or DTS-HD MA. Nor can it handle object-based audio formats such as Dolby Atmos or DTSX.
This is a significant omission considering the price. The inability to support lossless sound essentially negates the benefits of eARC. The 700 is more suited for wi-fi youtube music and TV than movies due to the lack of upward-firing drivers or a separate subwoofer.
You will need to spend more to upgrade the soundbar or add surround channels. Bose 700 soundbar review also offers to Surround Speakers 700 and 700 (PS615) options. This means that a complete 5.1 sound system would cost more than PS1,800, which is very expensive.
Features TL:DR: Although Alexa and Google Assistant are excellent features, they are not essential for a soundbar. However, a major omission is the absence of lossless Dolby or DTS HD master audio support.
Performance
The Bose Soundbar 700 has four mid-range drivers, two on each side of a central speaker. The PhaseGuide technology is located at the extreme left and right. It is intended to increase the wider front soundstage. However, the company is not specific about the driver sizes or amplification.
This soundbar is single-unit, so it’s straightforward to set up. Place the unit in front of your TV. It’s easy to set up: simply launch the Bose Music App and follow the instructions. This will guide you through the ADAPTiQ automatic calibration process.
The microphone must be worn on the head. While it may seem silly, this method allows you to measure where your head is located. Bose should be commended for including auto-cal. It’s a shame that other manufacturers don’t offer it.
ADAPTiQ analyzes a variety of frequencies and adjusts for distances, levels, and adverse effects that the room has on them. Five measurements are taken, beginning at the sweet spot, and moving on to other seating positions within the room layout, ensuring optimal performance.
Engaging ADAPTiQ improves the wide soundstage of the 700. It has a pleasant balance and a vibrant sonic signature with plenty of width and depth. Film fans can also enjoy some excellent imaging and immersive listening experience thanks to the stereo separation.
The 700 is at its best when it’s playing music. Placebo’s Every Me; Every You has a driving urgency delivered with precision. Their cover of Running Up that Hill has a sparse beauty that is just as impressive. It features a beautifully rendered mid-range and some outstanding high frequencies.
The Bose is not stressed by TV viewing. Most programming has a solid overall performance. This ensures that music is well reproduced, effects are clearly defined, and dialogue stays focused and clear. This is a benefit to news, game shows, and documentaries. The coverage of the Rugby World Cup attracted large crowds and clear commentators.
This soundbar wirelessly has issues with movies and gaming. The soundstage is more restricted here, with little bass, surround channels, and immersive effects. Although PhaseGuide technology expands the front soundstage at the cost of imaging, the results can sometimes sound less precise than if you use a more directional driver.
This means that less demanding films sound great, with clear dialogue and well-written music. Like Spider-Man: Far From Home, a more directional soundtrack can lose much of its ability to control and localize the negative effects. This is especially true for gaming, where products can make the difference between life and death.
A separate subwoofer is an issue, and the soundbar does not have a lot of low-end punch despite using QuietPort technology. A bass-heavy film such as Overlord will be less enjoyable due to the lack of low frequencies. This makes the opening parachute drop less visceral and the explosions and percussive kicks less powerful.
Performance TL:DR: This soundstage is broad and deep, and overall it is competent. However, a separate subwoofer results in light bass.
Sound quality
Bose Soundbar 700 has excellent sound quality and, unlike other soundbars that we tested, it can handle streaming audio quality as well as TV soundtrack audio.
Behind the grille is a set of midrange drivers and a central Tweeter. These provide the most direct sound, as well as obvious dialogue. Bose’s proprietary Phaseguide technology arrays are hidden in the bars.
These tunnels, which are cleverly shaped, project sound to the sides of Bose soundbars, giving the illusion that there are wireless speakers above your TV and a few off to the sides if you have walls on either side.
It does everything we expect of a soundbar: it gives us immersive home theater sound content without the need for a power cord or wireless rear speakers.
Dolby Atmos/DTS:X are two crucial points to remember, especially since the Soundbar 700 is an expensive investment. These new surround sound formats, which are object-based, can produce thrilling results when paired with compatible soundbars and DTS:X soundtracks. The sounds will feel as if they match the action on the screen.
The Soundbar 700 isn’t one of these smart speakers. Although it’s still a great speaker, it can’t future-proof you from new technologies that you may want to explore.
If you are new to soundbars, I want to make one thing clear: While the Soundbar 700 can provide a sense of depth and width, it cannot produce the deep, feel-it in-your-guts bass that a complete home theater system makes. It is impossible to do so given its small dimensions.
It doesn’t lack bass performance; it does a great job. But it can’t match systems that come with their subwoofer.
You can also add a Bose Bass Module to your optional Bass Module. However, this will increase the cost.
Although it may not shake furniture with its low-end bass, this device can get very loud. Even if your home is large and luxurious, I bet there’s no room that the Soundbar 700 cannot fill with sound.
This speaker’s outstanding feature is its dialogue reproduction. The smart speaker is clear and crisp, with excellent separation from background sounds, even before using the available dialogue enhancement mode. If you feel it is not adequate, you can adjust the volume level of the centre channel within the Bose Music App.
The Soundbar 700 was priced at $800. I expected it to be a good TV speaker. But I wasn’t expecting to be too obsessed with the Soundbar 700’s music skills. It exceeded my expectations.
The modern studio mixes such as Beck’s Hyperspace benefit greatly from the bar’s ability to project sound throughout the room. However, older tracks such as The Who’s Pinball Wizard are to live by the Soundbar 700.
Because the Tidal app was advertising it, I decided to try Buju Banton’s The Upside Down 2020 Experience. The Soundbar 700’s potential, given the suitable material, could not have been better.
Banton’s voice sounds like he is on stage, with his backing singers, strings, and occasional sax extending outwards to envelop you in a rich mixture of tones. My son asked, Is all of this coming from one speaker? Yes, it is.
The Soundbar 700 did not vibrate once when listening to Hans Zimmer’s deeply bass-laden time from the Inception soundtrack.
Multiroom audio
The Bose Soundbar 700 is a wireless speaker that can be operated through the Bose Music app. Products such as the Bose Home Speaker 500 and the Portable Home Speaker fall under this category. Following in Sonos’ footsteps, you may combine these speakers to play the same music or stream different music to each one.
However, when it comes to genuine multiroom intelligence, Bose still has some catching up to do if it wants to do more than just follow.
Sonos, for example, allows you to use any matched pair of Sonos speakers — from the $100 Ikea Symfonisk Bookshelf speakers to the $499 Sonos Five — as surrounds for its $900 Sonos Arc Dolby Atmos soundbar. You’ll need to purchase a separate pair of Bose wireless surround speakers if you want to do the same with the Soundbar 700.
You can’t also transform two Bose speakers into a stereo pair, but this is less of an issue when dealing with soundbars.
Music sources
While the Bose Music app is user-friendly and simple to use, it lacks key capabilities that I’d like to see, such as universal search, support for other music services, and the option to stream music from a personal library on the network.
Within the app, you can access Spotify Premium and Free, Apple Music, TuneIn, Pandora, SiriusXM, Amazon Music, Deezer, and iHeartRadio, or you can use any music app on your phone or tablet to stream to the Soundbar 700 via AirPlay 2, Chromecast Built-in (where supported by your applications), or Bluetooth. The drawback of these alternatives is that control and content are concentrated on a single device, and other people in the house will be unable to change the playlist or continue listening if the person with the source device leaves the house.
You’re also restricted to only six faves (which Bose refers to as presets), so choose carefully whether it’s a favorite radio station, podcast, or playlist.
Voice assistants
Voice assistant-compatible soundbars are becoming more widespread, but few allow you to choose which assistant you wish to use. The Soundbar 700 allows you choose between Alexa and Google Assistant, and you can change your mind at any moment (albeit you can’t use both at the same time).
One of the finest advantages of having a great smart speaker is being able to summon your favorite songs just by asking for them.
However, although Google Assistant and Alexa can handle a range of music services, if the service you wish to control isn’t accessible inside the Bose Music app, you won’t be able to control it with these voice assistants. Google Play Music (now mainly replaced by YouTube Music), Apple Music, and Tidal are just a few of the services that cannot be voice-controlled by either assistant on the Soundbar 700.
Bose’s smart speakers feature a tiny multi-color LED light strip to provide visual input about their current condition. Two white bars represent pause, a single blue bar represents Bluetooth, and a little red dot represents mute. However, the strip will animate to notify you that a spoken command has been received, which is a fantastic feature.
What I don’t understand is why Bose doesn’t utilize it to display volume level, which I believe it should do in a future software update.
When I tried it with Google Assistant, voice instructions were clearly received, even over some rather loud noises, and response times were extremely excellent.
Price and competition
The Soundbar 700 is not inexpensive. The manufacturer’s website specifies a price of £800 for both the black and Arctic White variants; the black model can be obtained online for £695, but the white version that I tested costs the full £800.
There are other choices to consider for that price, many of which offer either Dolby Atmos or DTS:X – or, in some instances, both. These systems use a combination of upward, sideward, and front-firing drivers to provide a more immersive experience than the Soundbar 700. The Samsung HW-N850 costs £665, LG’s SK9Y soundbar costs £549 and the SK10Y costs £709, while Onkyo’s HT-S5805 system costs £599.
These systems also all have a subwoofer, whereas the Bose does not. The Bose Bass Module 500 costs £380 more to offer real cinematic depth to your Soundbar 700, while the more powerful Bass Module 700 costs £684.
If you don’t require a subwoofer, the fantastic all-in-one Samsung HW-MS750 is a significantly more economical £369 alternative to the Soundbar 700. If you don’t care about Dolby Atmos or DTS:X, the Samsung HW-N650 simulates a surround sound experience using Samsung’s “Acoustic Beam” technology for under £300.
The obvious competition for those looking for full multi-room capabilities is the £699 Sonos Playbar. If you like the concept of voice assistant integration, the £227 Polk Command Bar has Amazon Alexa – and, once again, a separate subwoofer is included in the price.
Other Soundbars to Consider
The Sonos Playbar is an obvious choice: it sounds great, is easy to set up, and can be used as a TV speaker or standalone Sonos speaker. The Sonos Playbar benefits from all Sonos features, including an intuitive control app, voice assistant via an Alexa or Google Assistant-enabled device, and class-leading multi-room capabilities.
The Samsung HW-Q70R will be a better alternative if you’re a movie buff or a gamer. The soundbar and subwoofer combo deliver immersive Atmos and DTSX performance and an HDMI connection.
Although it doesn’t come with a smart assistant built-in, the soundbar can be used with Alexa, and the sub provides deep bass to add impact to your blockbuster movies.
FAQs
Is Bose Soundbar 700 worth it?
The Bose Smart Soundbar 700 can be used for music sources. The sound profile is well balanced, making it suitable for listening to too many different music genres. It does not have any bass, but you can get a separate subwoofer to improve the performance.
Bose 700 supports 4K?
This feature is available on many soundbars, including the JBL SB450 (read the review here), Bose offers a 4K HDR passthrough and makes it the HDMI inputs hub underneath your TV.
The Bose 700 has an optical digital input, USB input CEC and, of course, a port to the ADAPTiQ headset.
Is Bose Soundbar 700 compatible with Dolby Atmos?
It offers voice control via Amazon Alexa or Google voice Assistants, just like the 700.
What number of speakers does the Bose 700 Soundbar boast?
Yes. The Bose 700 one-surround speaker system is an excellent solution for home theater sound quality. It can be customized with surround speaker modules and a subwoofer to adapt to your needs.
Conclusion
It is a high-end device that has a two rear surround speakers system with a built-in amplifier, aiming to provide a more immersive cinematic experience in the home.
It also has Bluetooth wireless technology for wireless music streaming, complete with six high-quality digital audio inputs. Although it has a complex setup process, the Bose Soundbar 700’s benefits far outweigh its downsides. In terms of sound, it delivers a full and powerful sound that will fill your entire living room.
If you want an excellent soundbar that can also do justice to your music library, I’d recommend giving it a try.
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