We have a very interesting matchup today in the Bose Smart Soundbar 300 vs the Bose SoundTouch 300. We recently did an article called, Bose Soundbar 300 vs 500 vs 700 which was more epic than Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor having a tussle in the first Avengers movie. Now, though we are looking at a soundbar from a couple of years back, The SoundTouch 300, and how that comparison with what Bose has offered more recently. The SoundTouch was pretty popular when it was first released, before being replaced by what Bose has on the market now, but is it better than the 300? That is what we are trying to find out today.
The Price
If you know Bose then you know that the products they produce are not exactly “cheap”. However, I will say that you get excellent quality for your money. While soundbars like the ones featured in our Best Soundbars With Subwoofer Under $200 guide are great, they are clearly a lower quality than what we are getting here. Still, it is important to know how much bang for your buck you are getting and that is why price is such an important category in our Bose Smart Soundbar 300 vs the Bose SoundTouch 300 guide.
Bose Smart Soundbar 300:
As of right now the Bose Soundbar 300 is one of the more “affordable” offerings from Bose when it comes to their cinema quality soundbars. You are looking at around $399.99 if you were to buy this directly from Bose or on Amazon, although I have seen the price on Amazon fluctuate between $380 and 425 over the last year or so. Bose does a great job in their pricing and I think that the asking price for the 300 is more than fair when you consider the quality of it. I will say that there are many of these on eBay and I have seen them as low as 300 bucks on there. You can get them even cheaper if you are willing to take a gamble on a used one, but I am not sure I would recommend going down that route.
Bose SoundTouch 300:
The Bose SoundTouch 300 is hard to talk about in regards to its price as the soundbar has been discontinued. In its heyday, it was priced at around 700 bucks before it would be replaced by the Bose Smart Soundbar 700. This still has quite the reputation though. I had a quick look online and I found a few stores still selling this and it has kept its price very well. Even on eBay, this commands a pretty high price going for more than what the Bose Smart Soundbar 300 costs brand new! I saw used Bose SoundTouch 300’s going for as much as 800 bucks! There were many that had multiple bids on them all in the 200 to 500 bucks price range! As you can see the pricing for this thing is all over the place.
The Verdict: I have to give this one to the Bose Soundbar 300 mainly because it is still very easy to find brand new at retail. You can purchase it directly from Bose or even Amazon for the regular 400 bucks. The Bose SoundTouch 300 on the other hand is hard to come by if you want one brand new and a pre-owned one can cost you easily as much as a brand new Bose Smart Soundbar 700 in some cases!
The Design
Clearly, the sound is the most important aspect of what a soundbar is offering, but I think you also have to take a very close look at the design as well. To start with, when you are spending this kind of money, you want something that looks cool! Also, a soundbar 99/100 is going to be out on display so you want to make sure it, first of all, looks good, but also that it fits on your unit or on the wall.
Bose Smart Soundbar 300:
I, first of all, recommend that you check out this video demo and review as you can get a good idea of exactly what this looks like. Bose always makes cool and sleek looking stuff and I think that the Bose Smart Soundbar 300 is no different. It has a very stylish and modern look to it and the fact that the dimensions are 2.21″ H x 26.58″ W x 4.02 means that you do not exactly need a ton of space to have this thing out. The majority of this is made from black plastic and it has a very cool look to it. The grille on this wraps around the front which is a design that I really do like. I think that Bose did a wonderful job with this and even with its rather small stature, it makes quite a big impression.
In our living room, we have a large 4K TV and I have to say that the Bose Soundbar 300 would look kind of ridiculous underneath it. The kind of person this is aimed at is someone who has a smaller TV and a smaller TV unit. For example, my parents use this soundbar and they have it sitting under their LG 43UP8000PUA Alexa Built-in 43″ 4K Smart UHD TV and it looks great. The thing is they have a rather small TV unit (the TV just barely fits on it) so this soundbar looks perfect sitting on there. I also think for a smaller room, this is ideal as well as you do not need something larger like the Bose Soundbar 700.
As we move around the back of the soundbar, you have all of your connections including the power port. I like how this is compatible with both HDMI and optical cables. They also have a port for connectivity to a subwoofer and the idea here is that you would use this with the Bose Bass Module 500 which is a great pairing let me tell you! You also have the ability to keep this thing up to date thanks to the micro-USB port.
Round the back of the soundbar, you have your various connection options. You can use HDMI Arc and optical with this soundbar which is neat. There is also a port for a subwoofer and this is designed to go hand in hand with the also awesome Bose Bass Module 500. There is also a micro-USB port which is there to keep the firmware up to date.
Bose SoundTouch 300:
Coming in at 5.7 x 98 x 10cm the Bose SoundTouch 300 is much larger than the 300. This is a much more premium offering and you can tell that as soon as you lock eyes on this thing. A quick look at this Unboxing and Set Up video from Bose lets you see just how cool and sexy this thing is. This has a very similar look to the 700 and clearly, that is where Bose drew their inspiration for that soundbar from. It has a grille that goes around the front which looks very cool, but it is the top of the soundbar that captures your attention. It is made of glass and it looks so freaking awesome. Granted, it will be a magnet for dust and fingerprints, but a wipe with a cloth every few days is a small price to pay for something that looks this cool.
As this is so large, this is designed for larger rooms and being under bigger TVs. I think a TV like this LG OLED65C1PUB Alexa Built-in C1 Series 65″ 4K Smart OLED TV would look awesome with this right next to it. It is so large that I would wager even a home theatre would look cool with this sitting under the screen. Plus, the size is so massive, it is not going to look out of place or too small in a much larger room.
On the back of the Bose SoundTouch 300, you have a vast amount of ports to check out. There is of course your power socket, but there is also both an HDMI and optical port here. Not to mention there is your standard jack for something like the Bose Base Module 700. This also has your micro-USB port for any updates (although due to this being discontinued, updates will no longer be a thing. It also has an ethernet port if you want to connect this thing to the internet.
Speaking of the internet, the connectivity this thing offers is just amazing. I will touch on this more when we get to the remote section, but being able to stream music via something like Spotify or Amazon Music via your phone and the dedicated app is pretty damn awesome.
The Verdict: I love my technology to look cool and both of these certainly look cool, but I have to say that the Bose SoundTouch 300 is the clear winner here. The 300 looks great in its own right, but side by side there is no comparison. That glass top and the massive size of it make it a true showcase kind of soundbar.
The Sound:
Next up in our quest to see who wins this battle to the death between the Bose Smart Soundbar 300 vs the Bose SoundTouch 300 is sound. Sound is the main thing that you should be concerned with when getting a soundbar. The reason that the soundbar market blew up in my opinion is because current TV speakers just do not cut the mustard!
Bose Smart Soundbar 300: Even though the Bose Smart Soundbar 300 is not the biggest of what Bose offer, for its size I think it is one of the best soundbars around. I have watched many movies through this, over the summer I went to visit the folks and we ended up watching Zack Snyder’s Justice League and I was very impressed with how this thing sounded. I have tested this myself quite a bit as well, but sitting in a smaller room at my parent’s house, I truly realized just who this soundbar is aimed at. Bose are all about that cinema quality sound.
The 3.1 nature of this soundbar means that you get some excellent stereo sound. I fire up the Avengers: Infinity War trailer from the Dolby YouTube channel and I was very impressed. Now, granted this is not going to pack that same punch that you get with the 700 or something like the Sonos Arc. However, I truly do think that this more than holds its own and even if you do not have a subwoofer, which my parents do not, you are still going to be impressed by the level of bass this offers. It is about a million times better than any set of speakers I have seen on a TV; I can tell you that for sure.
One thing that Bose does great is their connectivity options, while I had one of these to test out at my house my son and I played a lot of video games through this and they sounded great. However, music played through this thing is awesome! I am not even talking about hooking one of my turntables up to it, just streaming music via Spotify and Bluetooth through this thing on my phone sounded amazing!
Bose SoundTouch 300: I know I sound like a broken record comparing this to the Bose Smart Soundbar 700, but it truly is unavoidable. On its own merit, the Bose SoundTouch 300 delivers fantastic cinema style sound. Watching something like the recent Star Trek Trilogy via this is amazing. It truly fills the room with sound and gives you close to surround sound (well as close as you can get with a soundbar) that makes you feel like things are flying above you or someone is shouting from the other side of the room. It does what it does amazingly well and I will say that it is quite close to what the 700 offers.
I think that this was right where Bose started hitting their peak when it comes to their soundbars. If you have checked out or 4 Best Ultra Short Throw Projectors Under $1000 guide you will know that I am a big home theatre guy. I would hand on heart have this as my soundbar in my home theatre that is how impressed I am with this thing. It is not even just stuff that is loud and powerful. Vocal clarity is great too so you will never miss anything that is being said.
I really cannot say enough good things about this. I will say that side by side with the 700, I think they perfected what they were going for here as that has a more balanced sound. however, no matter if it is music, movies, or video games, the Bose SoundTouch 300 truly will impress you.
The Verdict: I do have to say that this is a bit of an unfair comparison, but as this is the Bose Smart Soundbar 300 vs the Bose SoundTouch 300 fight to the death I have to say that the Bose SoundTouch 300 clearly offers the superior sound. It is louder, gives you more options to play with, and in general, it is just amazing in every regard. Do not get me wrong the Bose Soundbar 300 is no slouch, but side by side there is only one winner here.
The Remote Control
Being able to control your soundbar is pretty damn important so that is why I have a whole category in our Bose Smart Soundbar 300 vs the Bose SoundTouch 300 guide dedicated to the remote control. For me, Bose are one of the best around when it comes to making a solid remote control.
Bose Smart Soundbar 300: Ok, so first thing, whenever I talk about the remote control for the Bose Smart Soundbar 300, I always compare it to a remote for an Amazon Fire Stick. Well, I was today years old when I found out that you can get a Mandalorian Themed Amazon Fire TV Stick!! Amway, back to the point. This soundbar comes with a pretty small and basic remote that gives you the most basic of control over your Bose Smart Soundbar 300. In order to get access to all of the features that this offers, you will need to download the Bose app. The app is great, but at the end of the day, you should be able to control all of the functions with the remote control that comes in the box if you ask me!
Bose SoundTouch 300: You can use the Bose App with this if you want, but it is not necessary. This has an awesome remote control and this is what really laid the groundwork for what Bose would end up doing with the Bose Smart Soundbar 700. This remote gives you a ton of control over the sound of the soundbar and you can even program it to control other devices as well, it is truly amazing stuff.
I recommend that you check out this Bose SoundTouch 300 – Advanced Features video that Bose put on their official YouTube channel to see why this is such an awesome remote control. Very few companies make remote controls like this one anymore!
The Verdict: I think that the Bose Smart Soundbar 300 remote is fine if you just want the basic controls, but the way some features require the app is kind of annoying if I am being honest. The Bose SoundTouch 300 is the clear winner here, this remote is awesome and the only thing better than it is the one that followed this up with the 700
What Is In The Box?
If I had not made the whole Seven “What’s In The Box?” joke about a million times before I would do it right here… which I guess I kind of just did. Anyway, here we are going to see what exactly you are getting for your money as we look at what is in the box for each of these soundbars.
Bose Smart Soundbar 300:
Bose themselves have a good Bose Smart Soundbar 300 Unboxing and Setup video which I suggest you check out. Inside the box are the actual soundbar along with its power cord. There is that little remote control and then you get an optical cable as well. One thing that drives me kind of nuts is that they did not throw in an HDMI cable. At this price, they could have given us both an optical and HDMI cable.
Bose SoundTouch 300: This thing is stacked with what you get in the box. You of course get your soundbar and power cable, but Bose gives you everything you need to use this right away inside the box. You get both an HDMI and an optical cable, you also get a handy little cleaning cloth to help keep the kid’s fingerprints off the glass top. They also give you a Bose ADAPTiQ Headset which is there to make getting the sound in your room just right. This is a fun extra, but I got one of these with my 700 and I ended up flipping it on eBay and buying a couple of movies with the money. They even give you batteries for the remote control! Hardly anything includes batteries these days so that was pretty cool of Bose.
The Verdict: The Bose SoundTouch 300 is the winner here. It comes with everything you need, plus more if you count the cleaning cloth and the ADAPTiQ Headset to get this soundbar up and running right away. The Bose Soundbar 300 I feel should come with both an HDMI and an optical cable. I mean you can get a 6 feet long decent quality 4K HDMI Cable on Amazon for under ten bucks! So, I think that a company the size of Bose could have thrown one in here.
Which Is The Better Soundbar?
For 400 bucks (less if you shop around) I think that the Bose Soundbar 300 is one of the best soundbars in the 350 to 450 bucks price range. It is very well made, looks super stylish and it produces a fantastic sound quality that blows your TVs speakers out of the water. However, with that being said the Bose SoundTouch 300 is the superior soundbar. It looks way cooler; it sounds better and it just offers more. But as it is double the price that is to be expected. This is also a much harder soundbar to track down. To be honest with you while I do think it beats the 300. If you are willing to spend $800 or at least be in that ball part on a soundbar. The Bose Smart Soundbar 700 is what you need to seriously consider buying. Be sure to check out my Bose Soundbar 700 Review to see why I think it is one of the best soundbars around.