Bose Soundbar 700 Sound Projector Review

Bose Soundbar 700 Sound Projector – Test & Review

The Bose Soundbar 700 positions itself as a smart soundbar, thanks to built-in support for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
However, its lack of HDMI inputs, absence of Dolby Atmos/DTS:X support, and high-gloss glass surface—which reflects the TV screen—are drawbacks that feel out of place in this premium price range.

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Key Advantages:

• Wide soundstage with immersive projection
• Integrated Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant
• ADAPTiQ audio calibration system for room-based optimization

Main Drawbacks:

• No Dolby Atmos / DTS:X support
• No HDMI input (only HDMI output with eARC)
• Reflective glass top, which can be distracting when placed beneath a TV

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Technology & Features

Like other Bose models, the Soundbar 700 incorporates:

• QuietPort™ technology for deeper bass with minimal distortion
• PhaseGuide™ technology to direct sound precisely across the room

It features:

• eARC via HDMI for simplified connection to modern TVs
• Apple AirPlay 2 support
• The Bose Music app for control and streaming
• A redesigned universal remote control for easier navigation

Thanks to the built-in voice assistants, the soundbar doubles as a smart speaker, allowing users to control playback, check weather, or manage smart home devices via voice commands.

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Final Thoughts

Despite its elegant design and smart features, the Bose Soundbar 700 falls short in audio format support.
The absence of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, coupled with the lack of HDMI inputs, is difficult to overlook—especially at this price point. And with no included subwoofer, its bass performance may not satisfy users seeking cinematic punch straight out of the box.

It’s a great choice for casual users who value smart features, clean aesthetics, and Bose’s signature sound tuning, but not the best option for home theater enthusiasts looking for immersive surround formats.

Bose Soundbar 700 sound projector features:

Design & Build Quality

The Bose Soundbar 700 certainly looks like a high-end speaker, with a sleek cabinet and excellent build quality.
It features a perforated aluminum grille that wraps around the sides, combined with a tempered glass top panel—available in either gloss black or white.

However, despite its premium look, the design has some drawbacks:

• The glass surface picks up fingerprints instantly, even with the slightest touch
• And once the TV is turned on, the glass reflects the screen, which can be quite distracting in dark or cinematic settings

That said, the soundbar is just 57 mm high, so it fits comfortably in front of most TVs without obstructing the screen.
Its wide form factor is suitable for larger TVs, and for those who prefer a cleaner setup, an optional wall-mount bracket is available.

The overall aesthetic is minimalist and refined, with only two touch-sensitive buttons:

• One for power
• The other for muting the voice assistants

Unfortunately, there’s no traditional display. Instead, it uses a thin LED light bar to communicate status.
While this looks sleek, understanding what the light signals actually mean requires the skills of a code breaker or a spy decoder ring.
A clear and readable display would have been much more practical for everyday use.

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Connections & Remote Control

Connections & Remote Control

All of the Bose Soundbar 700’s physical connections are housed in two recessed compartments on the underside of the unit.
Unfortunately, this otherwise neat design comes with a drawback:
→ The limited space in these recesses makes it difficult to connect larger or angled cables.

To Bose’s credit, the package includes both an HDMI and an optical digital cable, which helps ease setup.

Available Connections:

• 1 × HDMI port (eARC compatible)
• 1 × Optical digital input
• 1 × Ethernet port
• 1 × Micro-USB (for service only)
• 4 × 3.5 mm jacks: for subwoofer, IR extension, ADAPTiQ calibration headset, and control connections
• 1 × Power socket

Surprisingly, there are no HDMI inputs—only a single HDMI output.
Thankfully, this output supports eARC, which enables the transmission of lossless audio (like Dolby TrueHD) from the TV to the soundbar—provided the TV also supports eARC.

Wireless Connectivity:

• Wi-Fi (2.4GHz and 5GHz)
• Apple AirPlay 2
• Bluetooth (limited to SBC codec only)

For the best wireless sound quality, Wi-Fi or AirPlay 2 are the recommended options.

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Universal Remote Control

The Soundbar 700 comes with a well-designed universal remote, housed in metal and equipped with motion-activated backlighting—a great feature for evening use.

It can be programmed to control:

• TVs
• Blu-ray players
• Game consoles
• Streaming devices
• Set-top boxes

However, the remote isn’t without flaws:

• It’s large and somewhat bulky
• The soft rubber buttons attract dust and lint
• When the backlight is off, the button labels are nearly impossible to see
• And even when illuminated, the layout can be confusing to navigate

It’s a solid attempt at a premium remote, but not quite as intuitive or polished as expected at this price point.

At the very least, the Bose Music App is well-designed with an intuitive interface that makes it easy to navigate the settings. It allows for fine-tuning such as mid, bass, treble settings, and the remote also gives you access to Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, TuneIn, AirPlay and Bluetooth.
The Bose Soundbar 700 boasts a range of features, many of which focus on the capabilities of the smart speaker: once set up, you get a fully functional smart speaker, you can listen to the news or weather, play music, radio is available and voice control is also possible. There are four music services to choose from: Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer and TuneIn Radio.

The speaker itself uses Bose’s proprietary PhaseGuide and QuietPort technologies; the former is designed to transmit sound to the sides of the Soundbar for a wider stage image, while the latter is designed to transmit deeper, clearer and distortion-free basses.

This sound projector is capable of decoding 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS formats, but does not support lossless codecs such as Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio, let alone Dolby Atmos or DTS:X.
Considering the price, this seems like a major omission.

In our opinion, the 700 is better suited to TV and music, not to movies. If you want to upgrade the bass notes or add surround channels, you’ll need to spend more. This means that it will cost a lot more to set up a full 5.1 system.

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Power

The Bose Soundbar 700 uses four mid-range drivers, two on each side of the central tweeter. On the far left and right are PhaseGuide technologies, designed to widen the front soundstage.
Fortunately, the speaker is easy to install: just place it in front of your TV, plug it in and it’s up and running. Setting it up is just as simple: launch the Bose Music app and follow the instructions, which will guide you through the ADAPTiQ automatic calibration process. This includes using the microphone.

ADAPTiQ analyses the frequency range, adjusting for distances, levels and negative acoustic effects caused by the room. There are five measurements in total.
There is no doubt that ADAPTiQ certainly improves the overall sound quality of the 700, with a pleasant sense of balance and a lively sound with an expansive width and even depth. There is also good stereo effect, resulting in nice imaging. It should be noted, however, that for perfect sounding, room acoustics are essential, with bass absorbing panels and acoustic panels with diffusers required for walls, ceiling and corners.

The testing was done in a large room with quite a few windows and glass doors opening to a patio, so reverberation was quite a problem. We recommended the owner to install acoustic curtains to reduce and remedy acoustic issues.

The 700 is certainly best for listening to music, with ideal midrange and nice highs. The sound frequencies are well defined and human speech reproduced by it is clear and focused.

The speaker struggles though when it comes to games and movies. Here, the soundstage seemed more limited, with immersive effects and surround sounding, without limited basses. PhaseGuide technology widens the sound field, but does so at the expense of imaging, so effects are often less accurate. Essentially, this means that average performing movies sound quite good, with detailed music and dialogues, as well as testifying a clear audio. But a more serious soundtrack lost much of its accuracy. The same was true for games.

The lack of a separate subwoofer is also a problem, and despite QuietPort technology, this speaker is not capable of intense, punchy basses. The lack of low frequencies means that some sound effects are not reproduced, which detracts from the experience.

The Sonos Playbar is a better alternative in our opinion because it sounds good, is incredibly easy to set up and works well as a TV speaker and as a standalone Sonos speaker. It takes advantage of all the features that come with Sonos, including an intuitive control app, voice control via an Alexa-enabled or Google Assistant-enabled device, and multiroom and additional TV features.

If you’re a movie fan or gamer, the Samsung HW-Q70R is a much better choice. This stunning soundbar and subwoofer combo delivers immersive Atmos and DTS:X performance, and features HDMI input. It doesn’t have a built-in smart assistant, but the speaker works with Alexa and crucially, it delivers dedicated basses.

In Summary

It’s clear that the Bose Soundbar 700 is designed to compete with Sonos, with a focus on music playback and smart features.
However, unlike Sonos, it lacks a true multi-room system, which is one of Sonos’ biggest strengths.

With no multichannel decoding, no support for Dolby Atmos or DTS:X, and limited bass response, this soundbar may leave movie lovers and gamers disappointed.

While the inclusion of Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant adds smart functionality, it feels more like window dressing—especially considering there are far more affordable smart speaker options available.

That said, this is still a well-designed speaker that sounds good overall, offering:

• Decent clarity
• Respectable soundstage
• And an elegant, minimalist look

But if you’re seeking deep, impactful bass and precision audio for movies and gaming, you’ll need to make some compromises—or look elsewhere.