Design: Extraordinarily thin, without visual touches
The small size serves as a good look for the device, as it will sit under your TV (or on the wall) in as unassuming a way as possible. The whole device is smooth matte black with a soft mesh speaker lining. It sports six buttons on the top and a series of bright indicator LEDs. It’s meant to be a minimalist soundbar, and in our opinion, it achieves this goal really well.
Build quality: Light, simple, and slightly flimsy
Though build quality isn’t going to be your first concern with a device you mostly won’t move around, we do think it’s important to note that the soundbar seems to be constructed entirely of cheap, thin plastic. This has its pros and cons. On the one hand, we don’t recommend being careless about wall-mounting, because a drop from any substantial height will likely ding the enclosure which could possibly hamper performance. On the other hand, the lightness serves as a positive because it adds to the slim, sleek form factor afforded to your setup. Because it weighs just over three pounds, you most likely won’t need to drill into a stud to mount the soundbar, as most drywall should support the weight. It doesn’t take much effort to pick it up and move it, it’s easy to slide it into whatever setup you need. We can’t speak to long-term reliability (we spent a week with the soundbar), but the low build quality doesn’t bode well on that front.
Setup & Connectivity: A simple plug-and-play solution
Sound Quality: Despite the specs, the sound is impressive
There are only two full-range speakers included, and it only covers a frequency range of 90Hz–20kHz. This is missing a good 70Hz on the bottom end, and because the drivers can’t be larger than 2.5 inches, you might expect a thin sound. Fortunately, while it wasn’t the most striking sound profile we’ve heard, we were surprised at just how substantial the soundbar made our entertainment setup feel.
Features: As basic as you get
What you do have is simple Bluetooth connectivity which was extremely reliable during our testing. You’ll have limited range and stability with the dated Bluetooth 2.1 spec, but because you’ll most likely only be connecting to the soundbar device when you’re in the same room, this wasn’t a huge problem for us. Otherwise, the soundbar has all the input and output options you’d expect, with none of the flashy apps or integrated sound-shaping of more premium options.
Price: Essentially the most affordable soundbar you can get
Barring off-brand or refurbished units, this is basically the cheapest soundbar that came across our desk that was at least slightly worth your time. The price typically hovers just below $70 (at the time of this writing, it was $68), and when you compare it to its closest competitors that have trouble breaking below $80, this becomes a clear bargain winner. There’s not a whole lot to convey here—if price is your main priority, this soundbar should be at the top of your list.
Competition: Few options at this price point, many more expensive
Vizio 29-inch: The closest unit we tracked down in price is the 29-inch soundbar from Vizio for about $80. You’ll get a reasonably better sound response with the Vizio, but in this case, you’re paying mostly for the brand name.
