Great video and sound from a soundbar? You must be streaming – CNET

From Netflix to Disney Plus to Apple TV Plus to HBO Max to…well, you get the idea, streaming TV is blowing up. And that means media streamers are being built into not only smart TVs but also soundbars. I was pretty disappointed in first hybrid soundbar-streamer I saw, the JBL Link Bar, but after reviewing the capable and affordable Roku Smart Soundbar, I’m thinking it’s a worthwhile combination after all.

The Smart Soundbar has been rock-solid from day one of my tests. Its sound quality is very good for a subwoofer-less bar and the streaming section works as smoothly I’ve come to expect from any Roku device, running the company’s simple software to stream thousands of apps to your TV.

There are some weird trade-offs made in the name of simplicity. You need to have the TV on to add Bluetooth, there are no buttons on the bar itself and the optical port doesn’t really work in any functional way. And there’s the larger issue of redundancy: Roku streamers are cheap, most new TVs are capably smart and many separate soundbars are better overall values. But if you don’t already own a Roku or other streamer and want a soundbar too, the Roku Smart Soundbar makes a slick all-in-one entertainment system that’s ideal for older TVs or smaller living areas.

Design

Unlike last year’s Roku Wireless Speakers the smart soundbar works with any TV, although pairing it with a Roku TV would be the height of redundancy. The design is slick for a sub-$200 soundbar with its rounded ends and seamless plastic construction. It looks more like the Bowers and Wilkins Panorama than any of its budget competition.

The speaker is relatively compact at 2.8 inches high and 32.2 inches wide, and it includes a cloth-wrapped front with a single operation LED light. Behind that grill the unit incorporates four 2.5 inch full-range drivers.

There’s no controls or even a power button on the unit itself — just a Roku logo. Everything is handled by the remote.  As someone who misplaces the remote a lot I found the lack of buttons a massive hassle. While there is a remote finder on the Roku Ultra, there isn’t one on the soundbar. Yes, you can use Roku’s phone app to control the bar in a pinch, but that’s not ideal for a lot of users.

At the back of the unit is an HDMI ARC port, an optical port and a USB port for playing media files. There are also a couple of wall-mounting screw holes.

The Roku includes Bluetooth as well as compatibility with Spotify Connect (if you install the Spotify app) but the connection of the former requires using the TV interface by navigating to the Bluetooth tile. The system will decode PCM and Dolby Audio soundtracks — no fancy immersive codecs like Dolby Atmos here.

The Roku system includes 4K video and support for HDR10 which means that apps like Netflix and Vudu will look great on a compliant TV.  

If you’re familiar with Roku TVs you’ll know that the interface offers all of the inputs at the top and they helpfully display the device each port is connected to. The Roku Smart Soundbar, on the other hand, offers a choice of two inputs, but it only wants you to use HDMI and connect everything to your TV. It’s not possible to switch to the optical input, and optical will only work if there’s nothing plugged in the HDMI port. Since it’s not really possible to use the speaker without the TV interface over HDMI, I’m left to wonder why the optical port is there in the first place. Why would anyone buy a streaming soundbar and not use the streaming features?

The Roku comes with the company’s familiar voice remote. It lets you search with your voice by hitting a button in the middle of the wand, as well as offering volume controls on the side. It’s a fun little clicker. If you want to use Roku’s headphone feature to listen without disturbing others, wireless use the Roku app is the only option.

For more bass, the company offers a $179 wireless Subwoofer as a complement. It’s a sizeable unit for the money, too, at 12-inches cubed, and it incorporates a 10-inch driver. Unfortunately, you can’t disable the sub while it’s connected — for example, if the neighbors complain during a loud movie — you need to physically remove it from the power.

Setup of the soundbar was easy and much simpler than the competing Yamaha YAS-109, which needed a specific app (from a dozen Yamaha apps) to work at all. In comparison, the Roku steps you through every step of the process and I was ready to go in minutes.  

How does it perform?

The soundbar’s video quality was as fine as any of the other Roku units I’ve tested recently, like the Streaming Stick Plus — and I didn’t notice the loading issues I’ve seen at home on my older-gen Roku Ultra. My test Vizio 4K TV was able to glean and display the HDR information the soundbar was sending from The Mandalorian. 

As you’d expect from a unit without a sub, the Roku doesn’t offer much in the way of home cinema slam, but it has a convincing amount of clarity and pop with both music and movies. There is some bass weight in there for the music, but you may want to experiment with the controls nestled in the menus depending on the content.

For example, I found the bass was a little overpowering for our test track Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The song sounded much better with the Reduced Bass setting enabled. I compared the sound against the Yamaha YAS-109 and found that the Yamaha made the song bigger and more majestic sounding, with still-discernible bass. Yet no matter which sound mode I chose on the Yamaha, the song’s stabby organ chords sounded too harsh and difficult to listen to. Going back to the Roku I found the organ sounded much more organic and integrated within the song.

Don’t expect huge walloping home theater sound out of the Roku. It doesn’t go all that loud, but least this means it doesn’t distort at maximum volume. It was still perfectly audible within the compact CNET AV room, though.

With the Oppo UDP-205 plugged in over HDMI and feeding into the soundbar over ARC, I found the dialog at the start Avatar’s Thanator chase scene to be admirably clear. There wasn’t as much of the jungle’s ambient buzzing, however, and neither was there any thump when the shell trees collapsed. There were glimpses of ambience on certain sounds but it wasn’t as involving when the action ramped up: I felt a lack of danger or dynamics as the Thanator was attacking. 

The Yamaha’s dialog wasn’t as clear — Dr. Grace Augustine’s voice sounded a bit more chesty — but the jungle came to life: Bugs appeared from on high and the pachyderm thing that charges Jake reverberated around the room. It offered more of a thump with the shell trees resulting in more drama, more dynamic range and more bass.

I also compared the Roku to my favorite budget soundbar, the Vizio SB3621. It has the unfair advantage of a subwoofer and made its prowess with the content clear. The jungle came alive, as it had before with the Yamaha, and the Vizio’s sub made my chair move in a way the sub-less Roku simply couldn’t. I needed to add the Roku sub for better punch, but it makes the product twice the price. It’s worth considering the sub though, as it makes it an even better system.

Should you buy it?

What do you want a soundbar for? Is it to play from your existing sources? Get the Yamaha YAS-109. If you’re starting from scratch or just want to keep the number of devices to a minimum, however, the Roku is a fine choice.

As good as the Roku sounds, it’s outclassed for home theater by the Vizio SB3612, and so if you’re not fussed about the streamer aspect, or having HDMI, the Vizio is a cheaper, better option. While its streaming is redundant for people who already have a Roku or other streamer in their system, the smart soundbar brings a wealth of content and enjoyable sound quality to older TVs for not very much money.