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Bose Smart Soundbar review: Using earbuds as surround sound speakers

Bose’s latest compact soundbar integrates the company's earbuds in a clever way and has ample directional audio out of the box.

For the Smart Soundbar though, the company allows you to use a set of its wireless earbuds as rear surround speakers, taking a slightly different approach than Sonos on bringing headphones to the living room. I think Bose wanted to offer something akin to Sonos’ TV Audio Swap without directly copying it, and Personal Surround Sound allows users to add rear speakers with an investment that doesn’t just sit on a shelf when it's not in use. Also, lowering the volume on the speaker completely turns the Bose earbuds into something closer to Sonos’ TV Audio Swap, which is great for movies and shows when others are sleeping or don’t want to be disturbed.

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