Bose revives its Lifestyle brand with three new speakers — and the first Alexa+ device outside Amazon

Bose is bringing back its Lifestyle brand after quietly killing it in 2022, and the comeback lineup is its most direct challenge to Sonos in years. Three products launch simultaneously on May 15: the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker ($299), the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar ($1,099), and the Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer ($899). Preorders are open now, per Bloomberg. UK pricing lands at £299, £1,000, and £900 respectively.

The hardware

The Ultra Speaker is a compact wireless speaker that supports AirPlay 2, Google Cast, and Spotify Connect. It uses Bose's Direct/Reflecting and TrueSpatial processing, and comes in Black Smoke and White Smoke finishes — plus a limited Driftwood Sand edition with a white oak base for $349 (£349). It also carries a 3.5mm input for wired connections.

The Ultra Soundbar packs six full-range drivers, two upfiring units for height channels, and Bose's PhaseGuide modules for a wider soundstage. It supports Dolby Atmos. The Ultra Subwoofer connects wirelessly and rounds out the low end. Combine all three with additional speakers and you can build a 7.1.4 surround setup.

The Sonos angle

Pricing puts the Ultra Speaker $150 cheaper than the Sonos Era 300 ($449) and level with Apple HomePod 2 ($299). The soundbar at $1,099 undercuts the Sonos Arc Ultra, per What Hi-Fi. Unlike Sonos, Bose leans into open standards — Google Cast and AirPlay mean the speakers can group with third-party devices, not just other Bose hardware.

The bigger differentiator is Alexa+. The Ultra Speaker is the first non-Amazon device to support Amazon's upgraded AI assistant, which handles contextual, multi-step commands rather than simple one-liners. Alexa+ is currently US-only, with no confirmed rollout date for the UK or EU.

Worth buying?

The Lifestyle Collection positions itself against ecosystems that lock you in. The open streaming support and cross-brand grouping are genuine advantages if you already own a mix of smart speakers. The rebuilt Bose Music app is central to the experience — Bose says it's been reworked from the ground up, though real-world reliability will only emerge after launch. All three products are available to preorder directly from Bose now.