The Bose Smart Soundbar 600 is a 3.0.2 setup with the same size and shape as the Bose Smart Soundbar 300. It adds Dolby Atmos capabilities, meaning you can enjoy height content on many different streaming platforms and Blu-rays. Even if you're watching stereo and 5.1 surround content, the bar's TrueSpace technology upmixes sound with added effects for a multi-channel experience. With built-in voice assistant capabilities, you can control this bar with your voice, and you can even add a separate sub and satellites from the manufacturer if you want to improve its performance.
The Bose Soundbar 600 is decent for mixed usage. It reproduces dialogue in your favorite TV shows with clarity, along with detailed voices and instruments in many different music genres. With its TrueSpace technology, you enjoy additional height effects, even when you listen to stereo and 5.1 surround content. Aside from its bass and treble adjustments, there aren't a ton of customization tools, though, and you'll need to add on a sub and satellites if you want better bass reproduction and surround sound.
The Bose Soundbar 600 is satisfactory for dialogue-centric content like TV shows and podcasts. Its discrete center improves vocal reproduction, with a balanced frequency response that ensures dialogue is accurately emitted. There's also a dialogue enhancement feature to make voices more clear and crisp. Plus, there are many wireless streaming options on hand, making it easy to send audio from your phone to the bar.
The Bose Soundbar 600 is decent for music. Its frequency response is quite balanced and even, with a clear and accurate reproduction of voices and lead instruments in your favorite tunes. You can adjust its output, too, thanks to its bass and treble levels. That said, there's not a lot of rumble in the low-bass, given that it's a standalone bar. You can improve its bass reproduction by adding a separate sub from the manufacturer, but it'll have to be a separate purchase.
The Bose Soundbar 600 is decent for movies. The bar's TrueSpace technology upmixes all audio with additional height effects, bringing a more cinematic sound to your living room. It can playback Dolby Atmos content, as well as 5.1 surround sound formats like Dolby Digital. However, without rear speakers, you don't get the same clear and real feel with sound effects. Without a sub, too, you don't notice the same rumble in the bass, especially with action-packed scenes.
The Bose Soundbar 600 is available in Black. You can see the label for the model we tested here.
It's also available at Costco as the Bose Soundbar 550.
If you come across another version of this soundbar, let us know in the discussions, and we'll update our review.
The Bose Soundbar 600 is the Dolby Atmos-enabled cousin of the Bose Smart Soundbar 300. Its built-in TrueSpace technology is unique from other Bose bars, as it upmixes stereo and surround sound with additional height effects. Given its small size, it's not much surprise that you don't get the same wide, cinematic feel as some of Bose's more premium models, like the Bose Smart Soundbar 900. However, it's a solid pick at a more affordable price if you don't want all the extra premium features.
You can also check out our recommendations for the best Dolby Atmos soundbars, the best Bose soundbars, and the best standalone soundbars.
The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) and the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 are both smart soundbars with Dolby Atmos support. Their small designs make them easy to fit into your living room, too, which is nice. The Sonos's stereo soundstage is better, resulting in a more immersive feel with your audio. It also supports DTS content, unlike the Bose.
The Sonos Arc and the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 are standalone Dolby Atmos soundbars with smart features, such as built-in voice assistant support. The Sonos is better overall, with a wider stereo soundstage that makes audio stretch all around you as if you were in a movie theater. It's a bit bigger than the Bose, and it gets louder. Plus, you find more sound enhancement features, like room correction.
The Bose Smart Soundbar 700 is a wider, better-built alternative to the Bose Smart Soundbar 600. The 700's larger size means it's little surprise that it gets louder than the 600 and has a better stereo soundstage. That said, unlike the 600, it doesn't support Dolby Atmos content, which is disappointing if you watch a lot of content on streaming platforms.
The Bose Smart Soundbar 900 is a better Dolby Atmos soundbar than the Bose Smart Soundbar 600. The 900 is a better-built 5.0.2 setup that's larger and gets louder than the 600. Plus, it offers a better soundstage with stereo content, meaning you get a more cinematic sound that stretches all around you.
The Bose Smart Soundbar 600 is better than the Bose Smart Soundbar 300. While both bars have the same size and shape, the 600 adds support for Dolby Atmos content, which you're likely to come across on many different streaming platforms.
While the Bose Soundbar 500 and the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 offer similar performances, the 600 is the more versatile pick. Unlike the 500, the 600 supports Dolby Atmos content, meaning you can enjoy an immersive sound with content often found on streaming platforms and Blu-rays.
The Bose Soundbar 600 is similar to the Bose Smart Soundbar 300, with a sleek plastic design. The main difference between the two bars is the 600's metal grille, which covers the up-firing drivers within.
Bose sells compatible satellites, which you can purchase separately.
The Bose Soundbar 600 is the same size and shape as the Bose Smart Soundbar 300, so it's quite compact and fits between the legs of a 55" TV stand.
The Bose Soundbar 600 has great build quality. It's mainly made of plastic, which feels really solid and durable. The metal grille on top helps to protect the up-firing drivers within, too.
The Bose Soundbar 600 has a decent stereo frequency response. It's a unique bar with TrueSpace technology inside to upmix stereo content with height effects when you listen. The overall sound is pleasing, with a clear and detailed representation of voices and other lead instruments in the mix and a touch of extra punch in the high-bass. It's a little processed, though, as you can tell the bar is pushing the soundstage wider and wider. You can't turn TrueSpace off, but if you like a more cinematic sound, it's not an issue. Of course, as a standalone bar, there isn't much rumble in the low-bass, but you can add a separate sub if you wish to improve its bass reproduction.
You can adjust the bar's bass and treble, and they're marked by increments of 10 by the manufacturer. Setting the bar down one bass setting to '-10' results in a more balanced and even sound, as you notice less punch in the high-bass. Voices and other instruments remain clearly and accurately reproduced from the bar.
The Bose Soundbar 600's stereo soundstage is decent, thanks to its unique side-firing stereo drivers that push sound well past the edges of the bar itself. However, the overall effect isn't as immersive-sounding as with Bose's more premium offerings since the focus is just okay. Sound effects seem to come from more general areas, and there's a different timber to audio as it stretches to the far edges, which doesn't feel as real or natural.
The Bose Soundbar 600 gets loud enough to fill larger, more open spaces with sound, making it a solid choice for living rooms and basements alike. That said, as you crank up the volume, there's some compression in the mix that impacts the quality of audio reproduction.
Distortion falls within good limits, whether you're listening at a normal volume or with the volume cranked up.
Its discrete center improves vocal reproduction, and the channel offers a balanced and even frequency response, so dialogue remains clear and accurate in the mix. You shouldn't have trouble following along when you watch movies or TV shows.
The Bose Soundbar 600's surround performance is pretty unique compared to others in the Bose lineup. With its TrueSpace technology, it uses its side-firing stereo channels, center channel, and up-firing height channels to simulate a phantom surround. The extra height effects bring a more cinematic feel to the sound. Still, it's not quite as clear or accurate as the performance with discrete satellites, which you can purchase from the manufacturer separately.
The bar uses up-firing drivers to ricochet sound off the ceiling, simulating the illusion of height. It's not quite as clear or as real as what you get with a home theater setup's down-firing speakers, but it's a common setup with soundbars. The balanced frequency response on these channels means that sound effects are reproduced with accuracy, too.
Subjectively, the bar's soundstage with Atmos content is impressive, given its small size. Sound extends to the space around you as if you've been dropped right into the middle of the action. Compared to more premium models like the Bose Smart Soundbar 900, you don't notice as much height. Helicopters and drones don't seem to fly from overhead, but rather, it feels like they're centered in front of you. There's not a lot of rumble, either, but for a small standalone bar, it does well.
If you choose to mount the bar to your wall, use the Bose Music app to activate the Wall EQ, which lets you choose between different audio settings based on its positioning. However, there's no setting for leaving the bar flat on a table, and you don't get a true room correction feature like with more premium models such as the Bose Smart Soundbar 700. As a result, the bar sounds a little different depending on the room you're in, but at least you can adjust its bass and treble to compensate a bit. You won't find an EQ, though. The presets in the app let you set up your favorite radio stations for easy access, but they don't impact the bar's audio reproduction.
You can connect the bar to your TV over Optical or HDMI connections. There's also a BASS port to connect a Bose Bass Module, an IR port for an IR emitter, and a micro-USB port to service the bar. However, there's no HDMI In, so you can't use the bar as a hub between devices or for video passthrough.
Via ARC, the bar supports many different audio formats, including 5.1 surround formats like Dolby Digital, as well as lossless and object-based formats like Dolby Atmos.
The bar supports Dolby Digital over Optical, which is commonly found on many different streaming platforms and Blu-rays.
The bar has low latency, meaning you can enjoy movies and videos without any noticeable lip-synching issues. The video you see on screen matches the audio you hear, which is great. Some apps and TVs may compensate for latency differently; however, if you have any issues, there's an audio sync feature in the Bose Music app to manually compensate for the delay.
The bar lets you wirelessly stream audio from your phone or other mobile devices over lots of different platforms. With Chromecast built-in, you can connect a third-party Google Assistant device to the bar to control it with your voice.
There's no display, but a group of LED lights on the front of the bar flashes different colors and patterns depending on the settings you adjust. You can see the manual for a full list of the meanings behind each pattern.
The bar's controls are simple: there's a microphone mute button to disable the built-in voice assistant, as well as an Action button that lets you manually enable Alexa. You need the remote or the app to play and pause your audio.
The remote is simple and lets you control the bar's most basic features. You can find additional support via the Bose Music app, so if you own compatible Bose speakers, you can connect them to the bar.
Built-in Amazon Alexa support lets you control the bar with your voice, and you can set up this feature in the Bose Music app. Plus, if you have a third-party Google Assistant device, you can connect it to the bar using Chromecast built-in for additional voice assistant support.