The Bose 300 is small, which isn’t such a bad thing if you’re keeping your TV on a stand. Although the black plastic top is rather thick, the bar’s 2.25-inch height allows it to fit under most TVs – as long as they don’t have a flat stand. The metal grille wraps around the front and sides of the bar to protect the speakers – two class D amps on each side and one frequency crossover amp for the tweeter. That technically makes it a 3.0 channel bar, which means it must downmix denser content into stereo sound and a narrow sound field – not ideal, but still impressive. The excellent build quality feels sturdy while remaining lightweight enough to pick up and move around. Although you won’t need to touch this soundbar once it’s set up, not having such a bulky device in case you move house or want to relocate your TV is a nice little bonus. If you want a true surround sound setup, you’ll need to add a Bose Bass Module 400 and some Bose Surround Speakers to this bar, which obviously raises the price significantly. Manufacturers are clearly attempting to offer plug-and-play soundbars because they know the category can be quite overwhelming for those who haven’t yet experimented with one. With two input options – HDMI ARC and optical – the Bose 300 couldn’t be easier to set up. The former will always provide better functionality, but having the option of using the TV’s optical audio port is always a plus. The third way to use the soundbar is through WiFi and Bluetooth, which provide a strong and reliable connection for streaming music either directly or through your preferred voice assistant. Alexa and Google Assistant are supported. Streaming is also possible via Apple Airplay 2, rounding out a robust set of connectivity options.
