ReviewedByPhil

Buy it at Amazon: Arvicka Bluetooth Soundbar R7000 [Affiliate Link]

Takeaway: Syncs w/TV audio, improved sound but the balance could be better, gets pretty loud.

You'll receive the soundbar, a remote control with CR2032 coin cell battery, AC adapter, power cable, male-to-male TRS audio cable, 1/8" jack to RCA audio cables, optical Toslink cable, a set of wall mounting hardware, and an instruction manual. The speaker measures 30.5" W x 3.75" H x 3" D. The front is lined with mesh fabric over a plastic grill which covers the two 2.5" main drivers, 3" subwoofer and dual 3" passive radiators for a combined 60 Watts of output.

On the back are the input for 1/8" jack line in, digital coaxial, optical TOSlink and DC power. There are two built-in metal brackets on the back for wall mounting. This soundbar does not have an internal battery and must be plugged in to operate. On the right hand side are a few on-board controls like power, source, volume control, mute, a USB port for music input and a headphone jack. The remote has additional functions like track navigation, treble and bass EQ control, and a 3D mode. This speaker also supports Bluetooth for wireless streaming, and there's an LED display in the top right hand corner that shows you what mode you're in.

I used the optical cable with my LG TV and the sound output synced up nicely with no latency lag or delay. Just remember to remove the plastic caps on the optical cable connector tips. The sound quality of the soundbar is okay considering this is a budget sound bar. The balanced is on the bright end, lacking in bass response with has somewhat muddy midranges. The volume can get quite loud, however, and fills a medium sized room adequately. I like to keep the speaker in 3D mode as this adds additional bass for a fuller sound but also some excess reverb. I would only use the non-3D mode if you need to keep the volume low because it doesn't sound as good.

Overall, the audio can sound a bit contained/restrained rather than clear and crisp. While the soundbar performs better than the built-in speakers of my TV, the improvement is incremental at best but I wasn't expecting Bose quality sound at this price point. It's fine if you need more projection and sound for a small TV with lackluster speakers, but you won't get anywhere close to an audiophile experience with these. I like that you can also stream music to it wirelessly via Bluetooth, and that it is compatible with Xfinity universal remote controls so you don't necessarily have to add yet another remote control to your TV setup.

Buy it at Amazon: Arvicka Bluetooth Soundbar R7000 [Affiliate Link]

Buy it at Amazon: Lonpoo Bluetooth Soundbar (LP-609B) [Affiliate Link]

Takeaway: Decent sound in movie mode, good sync and volume output.

You’ll receive the sound bar, a remote control, AC adapter, male-to-male audio cable, RCA audio cables, digital coaxial cable, optical Toslink cable, a set of wall mounting hardware, and an instruction manual. The speaker measures 31"0W x 2.5"H x 2"D. There are two main drivers in this sound bar and a bass reflex port in the middle. Along the right hand side are the physical controls: Power/Source, Volume keys, and Aux-in port which they’re calling Aux 2. Aux 1 is actually the RCA input.

On the back are the inputs for the RCA cable, optical TOSlink, digital coaxial, and power port. This sound bar does not have an internal battery and must be plugged in to operate. The remote requires 2 AAA batteries which are not included. There are additional functions on the remote like mute, music playback controls for streaming via Bluetooth, source selection, and EQ selectors. You can adjust bass/treble up and down or select a preset mode like music, TV, movie, and the speaker default. For me, movie mode produces the best sound with enhanced bass, fully supported mid range and sparkling trebles at a overall louder volume level that far beats what comes out of the TV's built-in speaker. The sound quality of the soundbar is pretty good for a low-cost sound bar and I’d say comparable to a Vizio sound bar. The sound is clear and full and as long as you don’t push the volume to the max, is largely free of distortion. When using the optical input with my TV, the sound is perfectly synced and there is no delay, so the TV sound can be on at the same time and you won’t hear an echo.

When selecting the different sources, the only indicator for mode are the LEDs in the front, blue is Bluetooth mode, Yellow-Green is digital coax, orange is RCA, white is optical TOSlink and bright Green is Aux in. The Red light indicates the soundbar is plugged in and receiving power and in standby or Off mode. The remote must be pointed at the top right hand corner of the speaker with a clear line of sight in order to work, though it'll work from about 20 ft away. When using the optical cable, don't forget to remove the protective caps over the tips of the connectors; also be sure not to pinch or bend the thin gauge cable too sharply or you could damage the glass fibers inside that carry the sound signal.

This sound bar works great in a small bedroom for watching TV shows or movies and also doubles as a wireless Bluetooth speaker if you're looking to spend on a budget. The only minor issue I had was line noise in Aux-in and RCA mode if no sound was coming in from the source, but unplugging the cables gets rid of the noise.

Buy it at Amazon: Lonpoo Bluetooth Soundbar (LP-609B) [Affiliate Link]

Buy it at Amazon: Taotronics Bluetooth Sound Bar (TT-SK15) [Affiliate Link]

Takeaway: Okay sound for a budget unit, loud enough for a small room, lacks bass but sound is clear.

The soundbar comes with a 5' power cable, 45" RCA audio cable, remote control, and an instruction manual. The speaker measures 34" across, 3" wide, and 2.5" high. The front is wrapped in a simple mesh cloth. On the back there are two centrally located hanging holes for wall mounting and cutouts with the input ports and power input. On the right side of the speaker is an AUX input port, but it doesn't come with a cable for this connection. The on-board touch controls are along this gray strip in the middle. On top you have the power button, then volume control and then input selection. The LED indicators are for standby, Bluetooth, Aux in or RCA, and Coaxial or Optical. The only setup up required is to plug in the power cable. Then if you'll be using the RCA input, plug that cable in the white and red ports respectively. The black coaxial port is for digital coaxial connections (cable not included). If you'll be using an optical cable (not included), make sure to remove the tip protector first, then align it with the optical port before plugging it in.

The remote control is pretty basic. It's got the power button, a button for each input mode, track navigation, volume control, play/pause, and mute. The remote requires 1 AAA battery which is not included. To connect to the speaker over Bluetooth, touch the Power button to turn it on. You'll see all the LED indicators light up and then shut off one by one. Then press the 'Input' key until you've selected BT mode and you'll see the LED indicator blink blue. Select ‘Taotronics Soundbar' in your device's Bluetooth menu to pair with the sound bar. A couple of folks said that the LED indicators are confusing, but I guess I never really thought about how it's weird to have one LED do double duty by changing colors. Also the Standby/On button just means the unit has the power plugged in, but it's actually 'Off' and won't be outputting any sound.

So far I've used the optical input with my TV, which was confusing at first because the light was green but in coax mode, so pressing the input key again changed the light to red which was optical mode. I was also able to try AUX-in mode while plugged into the headphone jack of my phone; just remember this light should be green as red is used for RCA. I wasn't able to test RCA with my TV because it lacks this type of output. Make sure you are NOT trying to connect the red/white RCA cables to any of the input RCA ports on your TV because, of course, there would be no sound transmitted out of any input ports. I also did not try out the digital coax since I don't have this output on any device either.

However, with the inputs that I did try, they worked fine including Bluetooth and the sound from the speaker is clear and crisp. It tends to lean on the bright side adding extra sibilance to the trebles, and it doesn't have a lot of sub bass response. You'll get a little mid and high bass, enough to elicit tight drum beats, but not enough for a feel-it-in-your-bones kind of rumble. The soundbar does get pretty loud for its size, but the sound tends to crackle at max volume and vibrate the housing a lot. You may also hear an electronic whisper during quiet passages, so it works much better at moderate volumes.

When using the optical output with the soundbar hookup to my TV, there was a very minor delay between what was happening onscreen and the sound coming from the soundbar. With the TV speaker on, you could tell they weren't in sync (slight echo), but with the TV sound off, the delay was almost imperceptible. Overall, the soundbar has decent quality for a budget unit and definitely projects and has better sound than the one built into the TV. It can't compete with higher end soundbars of course, but works well in a small room.

Buy it at Amazon: Taotronics Bluetooth Sound Bar (TT-SK15) [Affiliate Link]