Bose Lifestyle Ultra speaker review: Great alone, but it's clearly built for two

When I first started reviewing tech back in the early 2000s, Bose was the brand to beat. It wasn't the most expensive or luxurious brand, but it was far from being cheap. Its speakers and headphones were premium, but premium for the masses.

Bose never went away as a brand, it's still one of the biggest home audio companies around. But the Lifestyle Ultra still somehow feels like a return.

It's a powerful and stylish wireless bookshelf speaker that works well in a bedroom as a solo speaker, a stereo pair, or as part of a fuller home theatre system.

As you might expect, the sound quality is exceptional, even with a single speaker. But the whole time I was testing the Lifestyle Ultra, I longed for a second speaker to throw together a stereo pair.

What makes the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker stand out?

Part of the reason I say the Lifestyle Ultra feels like a return for Bose is that it feels fresh. The design, both in terms of looks and how it functions, feels like Bose has intentionally gone away to try to deliver something visually and sonically superior to other speakers in the category.

At its core, this is a wireless speaker. There is a 3.5mm aux input at the back for wired sources like a turntable, but it's clearly designed for wireless music streaming over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

Inside the Lifestyle Ultra are three drivers, with two front-facing and one pointed upwards. This combination lets the speaker bounce sound off the walls and ceiling of a room to create a nice, broad soundstage, arguably more immersive than most similarly sized speakers.

Combined with Bose's TrueSpatial audio processing and CleanBass technology, the Lifestyle Ultra is designed to sound great on its own. But it's also designed to improve the performance when you grab two and connect them as a stereo pair. Or when you chuck two together with a Lifestyle Ultra soundbar for surround sound.

It's a scalable system for either a single room, or expandable as a multi-room audio setup.

Supporting AirPlay, Google Cast and Spotify Connect, the Bose Lifestyle speaker is designed to work with your own music apps, rather than through the Bose app, though you still need that to set up your speaker.

Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker specs

Design and build quality

Bose has done a great job on the design of this speaker. Combining a textured knit fabric over the grille with a plastic body and rubber base, the Lifestyle Ultra is available in both black and white smoke colours. I tested the black and it looks fantastic, though there's a "driftwood" version overseas that looks even nicer.

Because this is a wireless speaker, there's literally only a port for the power cord and a 3.5mm aux input at the back, for hooking up a turntable or other wired source rather than a headphone output.

The top of the speaker has touch controls for controlling your music, standard play/pause, plus and minus for volume control. There are also dedicated buttons for Bluetooth and muting the on-board microphone for Alexa control.

The touch controls are nicely responsive. You can tap or slide your finger around the ring to adjust volume quickly, and pressing and holding the play button lets you switch from wireless to the aux port input.

There's no IP rating on this speaker, which means you probably don't want to install it outdoors. It's also not portable, it needs access to mains power, so you can't really take it with you on a camping trip.

If you do want to make the installation a bit more permanent, Bose offers both wall mounts and floor stands, which I would definitely consider if I was using a couple of these as wireless surrounds along with the soundbar.

For a bedroom, though, just sitting it on a table is more than enough. It looks great and is simple to control.

Performance

I've made no secret here that I love my Sonos speakers.

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra speaker sounds better than the likes of the similarly sized Sonos Move 2 or Sonos Play. Obviously those are portable speakers, so it's not quite a 1:1 comparison, but the Bose sounds fantastic.

Listening to some classic Melissa Etheridge, Like the Way I Do is powerful and forceful, while Smashing Pumpkins' 1979 is perfectly balanced, giving thumping bass blending with Billy Corgan's strained vocals.

You get a really physical sense of the strings when they kick in at the start of Springsteen's Streets of Philadelphia. And if you like things a bit heavier, Tool's Ænima slaps, though I did find that it was a bit better after I boosted the bass levels in the Bose app.

At full volume, the speaker fills a bedroom well, though wasn't quite enough for a larger living room, at least not on its own.

I didn't get to test the speaker as a stereo pair, which is disappointing, because I think that as good as the speaker is, it yearns for a stereo experience. Nothing is lacking necessarily from a single-speaker setup, but pushing two channels through the solo speaker just doesn't hit in the same way.

The on-board microphone lets you use Alexa to select music with voice controls if you're interested in that sort of thing. Reviews from overseas also state that this is the first model outside of Amazon's own Echo devices that supports Alexa+, though obviously I haven't been able to test that given Amazon hasn't launched the advanced assistant in Australia yet.

The app is actually quite basic, especially when compared to the complexity of Sonos' music app. Bose doesn't let you control music from its own app, instead making you use your own music app (Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music) and AirPlay or Google Cast to stream music to the speaker.

That works well, and there's Bluetooth there as a backup if you need it.

Otherwise, the Bose app is mostly there to set the speaker up as a stereo pair or as part of a home theatre system, or to tweak the tuning in its three-level EQ.

Verdict

The worst part about this speaker is the fact that you know it would be even better with a partner. The sound you get from a solo Lifestyle Ultra speaker is so good that you know it would be mind-blowing if it could split the stereo channels as they were mixed.

Which is a testament to the quality of the product Bose has launched here. It's so good, you immediately think about buying a second one to make it even better.

I do feel that Sonos has an edge on the multi-room audio thanks to its proprietary software, but Bose's acceptance of Google Cast and AirPlay means you get the advantage of being able to multi-room with non-Bose speakers as well. The experience maybe isn't as refined, but it works well.

For a single speaker with great design, this is a versatile addition to your home. I would love to see how it fits into the full Bose Lifestyle Ultra suite, but even as a standalone bookshelf speaker, this is an easy product to recommend.

Buy the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker if

• You're already building a Bose Lifestyle Ultra home theatre system. The Lifestyle Ultra Speaker pairs directly with the Soundbar and Subwoofer, so it slots straight into a bigger setup as rear surrounds or an additional zone.
• You want a premium bedroom or office speaker that isn't locked into one streaming app. AirPlay, Google Cast and Spotify Connect mean you can keep using the apps you already have.
• You're prepared to buy two. The soundstage opens up as a stereo pair, and that's clearly how Bose designed this speaker to be heard.

Skip the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker if

• You need something portable or weatherproof. There's no IP rating and no battery, so it's staying wherever you plug it in.
• You're only after a single, casual speaker. At $549.95 for one unit, there are cheaper ways to get a good-sounding speaker if you don't need the multi-room or home theatre features.
• You're already deep in the Sonos ecosystem. Bose's open approach to casting is handy, but if you've already got Sonos speakers set up around the house, there's no compelling reason to mix in a different system for one room.

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Nick Broughall

Nick Broughall is an award-winning technology journalist with 20+ years experience, previously Editor at Finder, Gizmodo and TechRadar. He founded BTTR Reviews and regularly contributes to News.com.au's Checkout section.