Bose’s Lifestyle Ultra Speakers Are a Stylish Take on Home Audio

By Jonathan Zavaleta

Jonathan Zavaleta

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The best home audio gear should, ideally, complement your home. Bose’s latest Lifestyle Ultra Speaker doesn’t claim to be the most feature-rich smart speaker on the market — but it has a strong claim on being the most stylish, with a sleek look that fits in any home. Whether you’re upgrading your TV audio or breathing new life into your record collection, Bose’s Lifestyle speakers simplify multiroom home audio in style. 

The Lifestyle Ultra speaker is available in black, white, or driftwood sand. Each speaker features a textured fabric grille wrapped around the speaker’s plastic body, and the neutral colorways can fit in almost any room. The speakers are part of Bose’s broader Lifestyle collection, which also includes a soundbar and subwoofer in complementary colors. 

The top of the speaker features intuitive playback controls, including a satisfyingly tactile volume dial, plus controls for playback and Bluetooth pairing. The back has an aux input if you prefer a wired connection. 

The speakers can be used as rears for a multichannel home theater setup, but they’re more than capable on their own or as a pair. In addition to Bluetooth, the Wi-Fi-enabled speakers support Spotify Connect, or you can cast audio from another source using Google Cast and Apple AirPlay. The speakers are also Alexa-enabled. 

Crucially, the speakers suit a variety of use cases. You can use them as part of a multiroom setup to fill your entire house or apartment. Or you can set them up as a stereo pair, which is a good option if you’re planning on connecting them to a turntable (they don’t have RCA inputs, so you’ll need an AUX adapter).  

In terms of sound quality, the speakers have impressively room-filling sound, thanks to the rear bass port and up-firing driver, allowing for more immersive sound than what you can get from a traditional pair of bookshelf speakers. 

For home theater enthusiasts, the speakers can also be used as rear surrounds and paired wirelessly with Bose’s Lifestyle Ultra soundbar and subwoofer. The soundbar features Dolby Atmos for immersive audio, and the sleek speaker also has rear-firing bass ports for room-filling bass, with or without the subwoofer. As for the subwoofer, it can be connected to the soundbar wired or wirelessly.

You can shop Bose’s new Lifestyle Ultra speaker at Best Buy below. 

Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker (Black)

$299.00

Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker (White Smoke)

$299.00