The Bose Solo 5 is a small, compact soundbar that doesn't take up a lot of space in your existing setup. Its sound profile is pretty balanced and neutral, especially in the mid-range, so voices and lead instruments are reproduced clearly. However, its integrated subwoofer struggles to reproduce low bass, and this small soundbar doesn't get very loud. That said, it's Bluetooth-compatible, so you can easily stream audio from your phone or tablet to the bar wirelessly.
Our Verdict
The Bose Solo 5 is mediocre for mixed usage. Its balanced mid-range can reproduce dialogue-heavy content like podcasts and TV shows clearly. However, its integrated subwoofer struggles to create a low bass, which can be disappointing for some music fans. It doesn't support Dolby Atmos content, and it downmixes surround sound into stereo.
- Good build quality.
- Bluetooth-compatible.
- Doesn't support Dolby Atmos.
- Lacking low-bass.
The Bose Solo 5 is good for dialogue-heavy content like TV shows. Though it has a phantom center channel, it can still reproduce voices clearly thanks to its balanced mid-range. It's also Bluetooth-compatible, so you can easily stream podcasts to the bar from your phone wirelessly. You can even use the dialogue enhancement feature to make voices sound more clear and crisp. Unfortunately, it doesn't get very loud.
- Good build quality.
- Bluetooth-compatible.
- Dialogue enhancement feature.
- Not very loud.
The Bose Solo 5 is passable for music. Its sound profile is decently well-balanced, especially in the mid-range where vocals and lead instruments are reproduced. However, its integrated subwoofer doesn't create a very extended low-bass, which may be disappointing for fans of bass-heavy music genres. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of sound customization features available.
- Good build quality.
- Lacking low-bass.
The Bose Solo 5 is poor for movies. It doesn't support Dolby Atmos content, and it has to downmix surround sound into stereo, which doesn't sound as immersive. Its sound profile is lacking a bit of low-bass, so action-packed scenes lack deep thumps and rumbles. Also, it doesn't get very loud.
- Good build quality.
- Not very loud.
- Doesn't support Dolby Atmos.
- Lacking low-bass.
Changelog
- Updated Jun 19, 2023: Converted to Test Bench 1.2. Updated the results for audio format support via ARC/eARC, HDMI In, and Optical. Added Video Passthrough to TV results as well.
- Updated Mar 27, 2023: Added cable lengths to In The Box.
- Updated Mar 22, 2023: Converted to Test Bench 1.1. With this update, we've added a Mounting test and added information aboutSubwoofer Output, Spotify Connect, and Microphone Mute.
- Updated Sep 27, 2021: Changed RCA In from 'Yes' to 'No'.
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Bose Solo 5 TV Sound System only comes in one color variant: 'Black'. If you come across another variant of this soundbar, let us know in the discussions.
Popular Soundbar Comparisons
The Bose Solo 5 is one of the smallest soundbars we've tested. It has a decently neutral sound profile, so it's suitable for lots of audio content. It won't get as loud as other soundbars and lacks bass as it doesn't have an external subwoofer. See our recommendations for the best budget soundbars, the best small soundbars, and the best soundbars under $200.
The Bose TV Speaker is a better 2.0 setup for dialogue and TV shows than the Bose Solo 5. The TV Speaker feels better built, and its sound profile is more neutral. The TV Speaker also has an HDMI ARC port. However, while the Solo 5 doesn't get as loud as the TV Speaker, it can reach max volume with less thumping and compression artifacts.
The Sonos Playbar is a better option than the Bose Solo 5. The Sonos can get noticeably louder and is better built. The Sonos also has a room correction feature to optimize its audio reproduction. The soundstage of the Sonos is also wider. On the other hand, the Bose supports Bluetooth, while the Sonos soundbar is only Wi-Fi compatible.
The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is better than the Bose Solo 5. The Sonos is a better-built 5.0 setup with better soundstage, center, and surround performances. Unlike the Bose, it supports Atmos content, has built-in voice assistant capabilities, and offers HDMI ports for connectivity. There are even more sound enhancement features available, including room correction.
The Sony HT-S100F is a better 2.0 soundbar than the Bose Solo 5. The Sony can get louder with fewer compression artifacts, which is handy if you have a large room, and it has some EQ presets so you can adjust its sound. It also has an ARC port, which supports Dolby Digital, a format common to streaming platforms and Blu-rays. That said, the Bose has a better build quality and a more balanced and neutral sound.
Test Results
The Bose Solo 5 is a very simple, all-black soundbar. It's mostly made of plastic, and there's a metal grille that covers the front and the sides of the bar. The subwoofer is also embedded in the bar, and the port is visible on the back. Overall, it looks similar to the Bose Solo Soundbar Series II, but its logo is in a different location.
There's no external subwoofer with this soundbar setup. The subwoofer is embedded in the soundbar. For a stereo 2.1 system with an external subwoofer, check out the Polk Audio Signa S2.
The Bose Solo 5 is a fairly compact bar. It's smaller than other 2.0 soundbars like the Yamaha YAS-109/ATS-1090 and should easily fit between the legs of a 55" TV stand. Also, it's not very tall, so it shouldn't obstruct your view of the screen unless your TV screen sits flush on your table.
The Bose Solo 5 has a good build quality. It's made from solid plastic, aside from the metal grille that surrounds the bar on the sides and at the front. The grille helps protect the drivers, which is nice. The subwoofer is embedded in the bar and its port is at the back. The entire build feels solid, although not too premium.
- Remote
- Power cable (4.9 ft / 1.5m)
- Power adapter (cable length 4.9 ft / 1.5m)
- 2x batteries
- Optical cable (4.9 ft / 1.5m)
- Manuals
The Bose Solo 5 has a decent stereo frequency response, especially for its size, but it noticeably lacks bass. Its low-frequency extension is fairly high, which means it has a hard time producing deep thump and rumbles, but it still reproduces more low-bass than the Vizio SB3220n-F6 and the LG SK1. On the upside, the rest of the response is well-balanced and vocals and instruments are reproduced accurately. It has a fairly neutral sound profile, but unfortunately, it doesn’t have a lot of features that let you modify the sound profile to your liking.
The Bose Solo 5 has a mediocre stereo soundstage. The bar is very small and although the drivers are angled outwards, the soundstage size is about the width of the bar. On the upside, it's well-focused and sound isn't diffused, which is good because objects seem to be coming from a more accurate pinpoint location rather than from a general area.
The Bose Solo 5 has decent stereo dynamics. It doesn't get very loud, likely due to its small size, so it may not be ideal to use in a large room or at a crowded party. There's a bit of compression when you play it at max volume, too.
This soundbar has a satisfactory stereo THD performance. At normal listening volumes, there isn't a lot of distortion, resulting in clean and pure audio reproduction. There's a bit more distortion when you play it at max volume, but this may not be noticeable with real-life content. However, the bass port does produce some audible noise.
The Bose Solo 5 has a decent center performance. This 2.0 setup has a phantom center, so it uses its left and right speakers to simulate a center channel. However, this doesn't sound quite as immersive as a dedicated center channel. That said, its mid-range is very balanced, so vocal-centric content is clearly and accurately reproduced.
The Bose Solo 5 performs poorly when sending surround content to the soundbar. Everything is downmixed to a stereo signal since this soundbar is a 2.0 setup and it uses the left and right speakers, which won’t create an accurate and clear representation of surround objects. This means the result won't be very immersive and the objects are perceived as coming from the front of you instead of coming from your sides or behind you. The overall sound profile is hyped with excess in bass and treble, but the bar isn't able to get very loud.
This soundbar doesn’t have height channels and doesn’t support Atmos.
Update 02/08/2021: We updated our results to reflect that this soundbar has a dialogue enhancement feature and a bass adjustment feature.
The Bose Solo 5 has a poor selection of sound enhancement features. There's a dialogue enhancement feature that can help make voices sound more clear and crisp, and a bass adjustment to help you customize its sound. However, it lacks a full graphic EQ.
Update 09/27/2021: We previously reported that this soundbar comes with an RCA In port. However, after reviewing the bar, we concluded that its Coaxial port isn't the same as an RCA In port.
The Bose Solo 5 has a limited number of inputs so you must follow a very specific setup when connecting it to the rest of your devices. There's an Optical Audio In, which can be used for surround sound, and a Coaxial which can connect to older devices. There are no HDMI ports, but there's an Analog 3.5mm input where you can connect a mobile device or any other device that doesn't support Bluetooth. For a 2.0 system with more input options, check out the JBL Link Bar or the Roku Smart Soundbar.
There's no HDMI ARC support on this soundbar. If you're looking for a small soundbar with an ARC port to play Dolby Digital content, check out the Bose TV Speaker.
There's no HDMI Input on this soundbar.
The Bose Solo 5 can decode Dolby Digital via its optical port but it downmixes it to 2.0. Dolby Digital 5.1 surround content is very common in most streaming platforms and Blu-rays. It also doesn't support DTS, but this format isn't widely common on its own. Instead, it's the fallback for the higher quality DTS-HD MA found on many Blu-ray discs.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of Full HDMI In, you can't use this soundbar as a hub for your other devices.
The Bose Solo 5 allows you to play content wirelessly, but only through Bluetooth. You can easily connect your smartphone or tablet to stream audio to the bar wirelessly, but you can’t connect to the network or cast to the soundbar from Chromecast built-in or Apple AirPlay.
The interface of the soundbar is very simple. There are only two discrete LEDs behind the grille. One serves as a status light that shows that the soundbar is working, and the other one is for Bluetooth. The lights flash when there's a change in settings. There are no controls on the soundbar.
There are no controls on the bar. You can only control the soundbar through the remote.
The Bose Solo 5 comes with a very versatile, and very large remote control that can also act as a universal remote. You can only control the soundbar with the remote as there are no controls on the bar. Once you change the settings, a small LED light behind the grille will flash to indicate that you've registered a command.