A small and fashionable soundbar, the Bose Solo Soundbar Series II was introduced in 2021. This soundbar boasts a range of features that make it an attractive choice for home entertainment. In this detailed review article, we’ll explore the Bose Solo Soundbar Series II and evaluate its performance in terms of sound quality, ease of setup, and convenience. Also, we’ll evaluate how well it performs when playing movies/TV shows, or music.
Bose Solo Soundbar Series II Features
With its many features, the Bose Solo Soundbar Series II is perfect for watching movies or TV shows, and listening to music. We are going to learn more about the Bose Solo Series II soundbar’s design, sound quality, connectivity options, and other features in great detail.
Design
The Bose Solo Soundbar Series II boasts a sleek and stylish design to match the modern aesthetics of any living space. The soundbar has a height of just less than 3 inches, making it small enough to fit under any TV. Moreover, the soundbar is accompanied by accessories like wall brackets that allow for wall placement options.
Although this soundbar would work fine with any TV, we would recommend that you only use it for mid-sized TVs for better results, especially those that are between 32 and 43 inches. For larger TV, we would suggest a bigger and more powerful soundbar for better performance. Nonetheless, the Bose Solo Soundbar Series II would still provide decent results when paired with large-screen TVs.
Sound Quality
The Bose Solo Series II soundbar produces great sound quality for its size and price. It delivers crisp and clear audio which is perfect for voice clarity. With Bose’s Dialogue Mode feature, the sound is optimized for speech and dialogue so that you don’t miss any important plot details. Built inside the soundbar are two speakers giving you powerful sounds.
The Bose Solo Series II also features Dolby Digital decoding technology, which allows you to enjoy the sound of movies, TV shows, and music with great clarity. However, the sound from the soundbar isn’t that loud or heavy compared to other and pricier Bose soundbars.
Connectivity Options
When it comes to audio inputs, the Bose Solo Series II soundbar has three, of which two are digital, and one is analog. Digital inputs are the optical and coaxial audio inputs, and the analog input is the 3.5mm Aux. These inputs offer a wide range of options for connecting to any audio source, and the soundbar can be connected to your TV, Blu-ray player, or other devices.
Additionally, the Bose Series II soundbar supports Bluetooth connectivity. This means you can pair devices other than your TV, such as your smartphone, tablet, laptop, or other Bluetooth-enabled devices, with the soundbar. Unfortunately, the soundbar doesn’t support WiFi connectivity, which has limited it from playing tracks from music streaming platforms.
Ease of setup
Products that have easy installation and operation features will always be preferred by their users. This is the reason why the Bose Solo Series II soundbar has an easy setup process. In order to get your soundbar up and running, you need to connect the optical audio cable to your soundbar and then your TV. Then, turn on your TV, and you are ready to make some noise.
Furthermore, the accompanying remote is very simple and easy to use. For instance, it has a Bluetooth button, which, when pressed, will turn on the soundbar’s Bluetooth. This allows you to instantly pair with your phone or other devices.
Accessories
When you get the Bose Solo Soundbar Series II, you don’t just get the soundbar. It is also accompanied by a remote and a steel wall bracket. If you have a wall-mounted TV, then you can also mount this soundbar with these wall brackets. They are made of steel, giving you durability and sturdiness. This means your soundbar will securely stay on the wall. Additionally, you get an optical audio cable and power supply, and cord with the Bose soundbar.
Bose Solo Soundbar Series II Specifications
Here are the specifications for the Bose Solo Soundbar Series II.
- Soundbar Dimensions: 2.8″ H x 21.6″ W x 3.4″ D
- Soundbar Weeight: 3.7 lbs
- Remote Dimensions: 4.1″ H x 1.6″ W x 0.5″ D
- Remote Weight: 4.9 oz
- Optical audio input (digital)
- Coaxial audio input (digital)
- 3.5mm aux input (analog)
- Power output: 36W
- Bluetooth range: 30 ft (9 m)
Bose Solo Soundbar Series II performance
In this section, we’ll be evaluating the overall performance of Bose Solo Soundbar Series II. We’ll find out how this soundbar fares against movie/TV shows and then for music.
Movie/TV Show Dialogue
When it comes to movie or TV show dialogue, the Bose Solo Soundbar Series II performs great. The voices reproduce clearly and with detail thanks to their balanced mids. The Solo Soundbar Series II also has Bose’s Dialogue Mode feature, which can be easily enabled at the push of a button. This function will further help you enhance the clarity of your dialogue. Even though there is no built-in center channel or an accompanying speaker, you can still follow every word that is being said in your favorite show or movie.
During action-packed sequences, the Dialogue Mode ensures that dialogue remains crystal clear and can be heard above the roar of any special effects or musical accompaniment. This ensures that dialogue remains crystal clear no matter the sound of the special effects or music. So, when it comes to watching movies or TV shows, the Bose Solo Soundbar Series II is a great addition to your TV.
However, the main downside that we could find is that the soundbar doesn’t have an auto-volume feature, which helps you balance the volume when switching between shows or commercials.
Music Performance
When it comes to music, the Bose Solo Series II soundbar isn’t that bad, considering its price point. It offers the decent sound quality, allowing you to enjoy music at a moderate volume level. The sound profile offers balanced mid and treble ranges, making vocals and lead instruments clear and detailed. It has limited bass response and may not be able to handle high-volume levels well.
Even though the Bose Solo Series II doesn’t provide as much bass as other, more expensive models, it’s still a great choice for people looking for a reasonably priced soundbar with good sound quality. Overall, the Bose Solo Soundbar Series II is a great soundbar for casual music listening, but it will struggle to deliver if you want loud party sounds.
Pros and cons of the Bose Solo Soundbar Series II
For those looking for an affordable soundbar with relatively decent sound quality, the Bose Solo Soundbar Series II is a brilliant option. Here, we’ll look at both the positive and negative aspects of it.
Things we like about it
Compact Design
The sleek and slim design of the Bose Solo Series II soundbar allows you to easily fit this soundbar under your TV, and it won’t take up much space. This is great for those who have limited space and want something that can provide great sound quality without taking up too much room.
Versatile Placement
We already know that the slim profile of the Bose Solo Series II soundbar allows it to be easily placed in small spaces. However, the soundbar also comes with steel wall brackets. These allow the soundbar to be mounted on walls, especially when your TV is also wall mounted.
Simple Setup Process
The Bose Solo Series II, like most Bose soundbars, boasts an easy installation process. Within just a few minutes, you can get the soundbar booming with sounds. All you need to do is plug one end of the accompanying optical audio cable to your TV and the other end to the soundbar, and you’re good to go.
Clear Dialogue
The Bose Solo Series II soundbar delivers clear sounds, which makes it perfect for watching your favorite movies and shows. It is also helped by Bose’s Dialogue Mode feature that furthermore enhances the clarity of the voices reproduced by the soundbar.
Things that we didn’t like about it
Lacks HDMI ARC input
The Bose Solo Series II soundbar doesn’t feature HDMI ARC or the latest HDMI eARC inputs.
No WiFi Support
The lack of WiFi support has prevented the Bose Solo Soundbar Series II from being able to play soundtracks from music streaming platforms like Spotify, Pandora, etc.
Limited Bass Response
The Bose Solo Series II soundbar also suffers from the limited bass response, which can cause some audio tracks to sound thin or muffled.
FAQs about Bose Solo Soundbar Series II
Does Bose Solo soundbar II have Bluetooth?
Yes, the Bose Solo Series II soundbar does have Bluetooth connectivity. You can turn on the Bluetooth of your soundbar by pressing the Bluetooth button on the accompanying remote. With this feature, you can pair your smartphone, laptop, or another device wirelessly with your soundbar.
How do I connect my Bose Solo Soundbar Series II to my TV?
The steps to connect your Bose Solo Soundbar Series II to your TV are very straightforward. The most preferred pairing method is using the optical port of your TV and soundbar. It might be why you get an optical audio cable with the soundbar.
Here’s how to connect your Bose Solo Soundbar Series II to your TV with an optical audio cable.
- Ensure that your Smart TV and Bose soundbar are turned off.
- Plug in one end of the accompanying optical audio cable into your Bose soundbar’s OPTICAL port.
- Now, plug in the other end of the optical audio cable to your TV’s OPTICAL OUT port.
Here’s how to connect your Bose Solo Soundbar Series II to your TV with a coaxial audio cable.
- Plug one end of the Coaxial audio into your TV’s coaxial port.
- Now plug the other end of the coaxial cable into your Bose Soundbar’s coaxial port.
Now if your TV doesn’t have optical and coaxial ports, then there are alternate connection methods.
- For instance, if your TV has a 3.5mm AUX port, then connect your Bose soundbar using a 3.5mm headphone cable.
- Or, if your TV has an RCA port, then you can use a 3.5mm to RCA stereo cable.
However, if your TV doesn’t have any audio ports altogether, then you can connect the soundbar to another source, such as a cable/satellite box, DVD/Blu-ray Disc™ player, gaming device, or DVR, and then pair that with your TV.
Wrapping Up
The Bose Solo Soundbar Series II is a compact and budget-friendly soundbar. It is a perfect addition and enhancement to your TV’s speaker. It is perfect for watching your favorite movies or shows with friends and families because of its amazing voice clarity. Due to its size and power, you cannot expect it to perform better than the other and more expensive Bose soundbars.
Read more: