Bose Smart Soundbar 300 Soundbar Review

The Bose Smart Soundbar 300 is a 3.0 setup from Bose's 2020 lineup. It's a small model that you can expand down the line. Unlike the Bose TV Speaker, which is also from the same 2020 lineup, you can connect to the bar using Apple AirPlay 2 and use the Bose Music companion app with it. It also has a Wall EQ setting that's advertised to improve the bar's sound when wall-mounted. Its main competitors are the Bose Soundbar 500, the Bose Soundbar 700, and the Sonos Beam.

The Bose Soundbar 300 is a small model with a black plastic top. It has a metal grille that covers its front and sides to help protect its speakers.

The Bose Smart 300 soundbar doesn't have a subwoofer in this setup. However, you can purchase the Bose Bass Module 500 separately, which is a small subwoofer that connects wirelessly to the bar.

This setup doesn't have any satellites. However, you can purchase Bose Surround Speakers separately, which wirelessly connect to the bar.

While it's not as small as the Bose TV Speaker, this bar can easily fit between the legs of a 55 inch TV. It's not very tall either, so it shouldn't obscure your TV unless the screen sits flush to the table.

The back of this soundbar has one opening for the power cable and inputs. There are also holes so that you can mount it to your wall. However, you need to purchase a Bose Soundbar Wall Bracket to wall-mount it.

The Bose Smart Soundbar 300 has a great build quality. It's partially made of plastic, which feels sturdy and durable. There's also a metal grille covering its front and sides to protect its speakers.

• Manual
• Optical cable
• Remote with battery
• Power cable

The Bose Soundbar 300 has a decent stereo frequency response. It has a slightly V-shaped sound profile that adds a little extra punch in the bass range while making vocals and lead instruments bright and sparkling. Unfortunately, it lacks some low-bass, so you don't feel the deep thump and rumble in bass-heavy music and action-packed movies. There are also bass and treble adjustments available if you want to customize its sound.

The Bose Soundbar 300 has a satisfactory stereo frequency response with calibration. With its bass set to '-30' and its treble set to '-20', it has a neutral, balanced sound profile that's suitable for listening to lots of different types of audio content. Unfortunately, it still struggles to reproduce a thumpy low-bass, so it isn't ideal for bass-heavy music.

The Bose Soundbar 300 has a good stereo soundstage performance. Its soundstage is perceived to be wider than the bar itself, which is pretty impressive given its small size. Unfortunately, its focus isn't very good, so sound objects like voices seem to come from a more general area rather than a pinpoint location.

The Bose Smart Soundbar 300's stereo dynamics are good. The bar can get loud, making it suitable for a large or crowded room. However, when pushed to max volume, there's a little bit of thumping and compression, particularly in the bass range. It shouldn't be too noticeable to most users, though.

The Bose Smart Soundbar 300 has a great THD performance. At a normal listening volume, the THD falls within good limits. If you push this bar to its max volume, there's a small jump in THD, particularly in the high-mids, but it can be hard to hear with real-life content.

The Bose Smart Soundbar 300 has a great center channel performance. Thanks to its 3.0 setup, this soundbar has a discrete center channel that helps to pinpoint voices to an accurate location within the sound image. Its frequency response is also neutral, especially in the mid-range, where most voices are reproduced. As a result, dialogue is clear and detailed.

The Bose Soundbar 300 has a poor surrounds performance. It has to downmix surround content into stereo to play it, which doesn't sound as immersive as a discrete setup. Audio seems like it's coming from in front of you rather than from speakers placed all around you. Its frequency response is also a bit bass-heavy, which some listeners may find overwhelming.

The Bose Soundbar 300 has a bad selection of sound enhancement features. If you want to customize its sound, there are bass and treble adjustments available, but it lacks an EQ or preset modes. There's an extra feature called Wall EQ advertised to optimize audio quality when the bar is mounted on the wall, but we don't consider this to be an EQ. It lacks room correction, too, so it may sound different depending on the room you're listening in.

The Bose Soundbar 300 has a couple of physical inputs. There's an HDMI ARC port so that you can connect it to your TV. While there's a micro-USB port, it's only for servicing the bar. This bar also has an IR port so that you can connect an IR emitter as well as a BASS port so that you can add on a Bose Bass module.

Update 01/13/2021: We re-evaluated our methodology for ARC support and concluded that DTS and Dolby Digital+ support should be reported the same over an ARC connection as over an HDMI IN and Optical connection, so we updated our results from "Yes" to "No". Some TVs, like the one we initially used for testing, may convert this content, but other TV brands may not. Ultimately, your experience may vary depending on your TV.

The Bose Smart Soundbar 300 has mediocre audio format support via its HDMI ARC port. It supports some very common formats, like Dolby Digital, but it has to downmix this content into stereo to play it. It doesn't support eARC or Dolby Atmos.

Unlike the Denon Home Sound Bar 550, the Bose Smart Soundbar 300 doesn't have a Full HDMI In port.

This soundbar only supports Dolby Digital via its Optical In port. This format is commonly found on Blu-ray discs as well as streaming platforms.

The Bose Soundbar 300 has an excellent latency performance. Over its ARC and Optical ports, latency falls within good limits, so you shouldn't notice a delay between the audio you hear and the video you see. As a result, it's suitable for watching videos and movies over these connections. That said, some apps and TVs can compensate for latency differently, so your real-world experience may vary.

The Bose Soundbar 300 has incredible wireless playback support. You can wirelessly stream audio from your phone or tablet to the bar via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Apple AirPlay 2.

The Bose Smart Soundbar 300 has a simple interface. There's a small light under the microphone icon to let you know whether the microphone and voice assistant is enabled or disabled. There's another light underneath the 'Active' button. This light changes colors depending on the bar's functions, including whether you're in setup mode, recovery mode, or if there's no internet connection available.

This bar has two touch-sensitive buttons located on the top left of the bar. There's a button to turn the microphone on/off and an 'Action' button that activates voice assistant and stops alarms or timers.

This soundbar has a straightforward remote. You can control most of the bar's features, but if you want to use the dialogue enhancement feature, Wall EQ, or bass adjustment, you need to use its companion app.

The Bose Soundbar 300 has built-in support for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. According to the manual, you can access the voice assistants even when the bar is turned off. You can also mute the microphone if you don't want them to listen to you.

This soundbar is compatible with the Bose Music app. It offers a bit more functionality than the remote, as you can access a few features that aren't found on the remote. You can set up voice assistant, adjust bass, switch sources, and even access a dialogue mode.

This soundbar goes into standby mode after 20 minutes of inactivity. You can turn this feature off by using the app or wake up the bar by sending a sound signal via its Optical In port. You can also use your TV remote to control the basic functions of the bar.