If you’re after premium performance with no compromises, look no further than the superb SoundTouch ST300 soundbar (£599.95) from Bose boasting Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth connectivity.
Boasting high-end design and designed to fit straight into your life, it’s great for any music and movies and – naturally – it looks the part, too.
This isn’t just the best sounding soundbar around, it’s the best-looking as well. Design is core to the ST300 line, with top quality materials all around. A premium tempered black glass top and stylish metal finish to the grill makes the soundbar stand out from the competition.
At 98cm wide, it’s best partnered with larger screen sizes of 50-inch and above. This width also has the benefit of creating a truly convincing stereo spread.
There’s built-in Wi-Fi, meaning you can stream your favourite music using the Bose SoundTouch app – the app is also the way to control all your SoundTouch products.
Available for iOS and Android, the app is designed for music streaming services as well as streaming from devices such as a network storage drive. It also offers presets that can be assigned to different sources.
As you’d expect, the ST300 supports HDMI with 4K, ARC (Audio Return Channel), plus HDMI loop-through, optical digital audio input, Ethernet, Acoustimass jack, Adaptiq microphone input and micro USB connection. All the connections are recessed into the back of the unit so the cabling doesn’t spoil the sleek, clean finish. The HDMI ports are v2.0 and support 4K HDCP 2.2 sources, such as Sky Q 4K or the Roku 4.
Connecting ST300 via HDMI over ARC is the best way to get the most from the soundbar. The SoundTouch will seamlessly relay whatever audio is being output from the TV, while that HDMI loop-through accommodates another source not directly connected to the TV (just select the HDMI ARC input to view).
There’s also Bluetooth with NFC for easy pairing with your mobile devices. There’s also support for the seamless Spotify Connect, so you can play music direct from the soundbar.
QuietPort tech ensures the sound is kept distortion-free, while ADAPTiQ technology adapts the system’s sound to the uniqueness of your room. Using an on board mic, the soundbar rather brilliantly measures exactly the right listening height for the room. Everything from music to movie dialogue sounds clear and crisp, while sports atmospheres are propelled into another realm with the Bose.
Clever PhaseGuide tech makes up for having more speakers by making you believe you’re hearing sounds where there are no extra speakers.
Rubber pads on the base of the soundbar ensure that it won’t slip around in front of your TV.
Should you wish, you can also add optional surround speakers or another bass module for even beefier and truer surround sound.
The ST300 surround package gives you two Virtually Invisible 300 wireless surround speakers. The bass package gives you an Acoustimass 300 wireless bass module designed for thunderous yet clean bass.
You can create a superb whole home audio setup by adding the Virtually Invisible 300 speakers to the bass package
The SoundTouch 300 soundbar and surround package is £899.90, while the SoundTouch 300 soundbar and bass module package is £1,199.90 and it’s £1,499.85 for the bass module, surround package and SoundTouch 300 soundbar.
