The Breaker Times

Bose is combining the strengths of its soundbars and clip-on Ultra Open Earbuds for a new home theater feature that can fool your ears (and brain) into thinking that you’ve got actual rear surround sound speakers — simply by playing audio through the earbuds.

Since the $299 Ultra Open Earbuds don’t obstruct your ears, you’ll still hear audio coming from the soundbar clearly, while the buds will focus on rear surround effects. The company claims that this feature, called Bose Personal Surround Sound, creates “an unparalleled sonic experience of sound all around you” without requiring the space or investment of proper rear speakers.

Back in January, during a visit to Bose’s headquarters in Framingham, Massachusetts, I got a firsthand demo of the experience while it was still under development. And I was impressed by how convincing it was. Bose isn’t going overboard with the trick, but it adds some nice dimensionality to the sound.

“Not everyone wants to invest in the thousands of dollars of rear speakers, surround speakers, all that stuff,” Raza Haider, Bose’s chief product and supply chain officer, told me. “And so the team here found a way to actually deliver a home theater like experience without any of the speakers other than just a soundbar.” He called it “a simple example of something we think open-ear audio helps solve.”

Bose Personal Surround Sound will be available first on the brand new Smart Soundbar that the company is announcing today for $499. The Dolby Atmos soundbar comes equipped with five drivers, features an AI dialogue mode, and has a variety of music playback options including Wi-Fi, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, and Apple’s AirPlay 2. Personal Surround Sound will come to the company’s flagship Smart Ultra Soundbar later this fall.

If nothing else, the Ultra Open Earbuds now have a unique selling point within Bose’s lineup as the only earbuds capable of Personal Surround Sound; you can’t use it with any of the company’s over-ear headphones or the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds since they’ve got a closed design and would make it harder to hear audio emanating from the soundbar. The Ultra Open Earbuds are also comfortable enough to wear for long stretches of the day, so they won’t cause any discomfort or get distracting while you’re watching something.

A controlled demo is one thing, but I need to try this out more thoroughly to get the full details on exactly how Bose Personal Surround Sound works, what audio quality is being sent to the earbuds, and so on. Regardless, it’s refreshing to see tech companies thinking outside the box when it comes to the way we experience home theater.