Realme 100W Soundbar Review: Powerful And Immersive Audio On Budget

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Published: Saturday, October 24, 2020, 18:13 [IST]

The budget ‘Soundbar’ market is the new playground for Chinese companies. Following Xiaomi’s footsteps, Realme has now introduced a sub-10K soundbar to enhance your big-screen TV viewing experience. Realme’s soundbar goes one step ahead of the Mi Soundbar in terms of design and audio drivers.

PROS

Powerful Audio
Subtle Design
Adequate Connectivity Options

CONS

Severe Latency Issues On Wireless Connection
Poor Sound Customization Features

The 2.1 channel music setup comes fitted with a powerful 100W audio unit combining a 60W bar and a 40W subwoofer. It is aggressively priced at Rs. 6,999 and is available at realme.com, Flipkart, and Amazon.in. Is it the best entry-level soundbar in the Indian market? Let’s find out.

Design And Speaker Setup

The rectangular soundbar and the subwoofer unit come in black color with a matte finish which creates a subtle look. Both are made up of plastic but feel pretty sturdy and do not look cheap. In fact, this is one of the nicest looking soundbar setups in the budget price bracket. A metallic mesh grille covers the front of the soundbar unit which houses two 2-inch full-range speaker and two 2-inch tweeters.

The soundbar unit measures 940 x 93 x 70 mm and supports both wall-mount installation and table-top setup. Make sure you leave some space between the unit and the wall in case of a wall-mount setup as the input/output sockets are positioned at the rear side of the rectangular unit. And while you get a remote controller with all required features, the soundbar unit also has buttons on top for basic functions such as On/Off, Volume+/-, Last/Next song, and Power button.

You can also keep the soundbar unit on a TV cabinet as it does not spoil the overall look and feel of the setup. The sub-woofer unit (250 x 110 x 350 mm) weighs 2.53KG and can be placed accordingly. Realme is offering everything you would need for the setup in the box. The package includes- soundbar, sub-woofer, remote controller, AC adaptor, HDMI cable, coaxial cable, wall screws, AAA batteries, instructions manual and warranty card.

Connectivity Modes And Ports

As far as connectivity ports are concerned, the soundbar unit has the most widely used connectivity ports such as Aux-In, Line In, USB, Optical HDMI (ARC) and Coaxial port in addition to the Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless connection. The sub-woofer unit connects to the soundbar unit for additional audio support.

I started with wireless connection by pairing the soundbar with the smart TV but soon shifted to the wired connection. The entry-level soundbar has severe latency issues despite streaming audio through Bluetooth 5.0 standard. You would not be able to enjoy movies or series if the audio is being streamed via wireless transmission. The Aux-in worked just fine and was free of any audio delays.

Audio Performance

The combined audio output from the music setup (Soundbar- 60W + Sub-woofer- 40W) generates powerful audio which is more than sufficient for a bedroom setup and even for a medium to a big living room. I missed the stereo effect while watching action movies and sports events; however, you cannot expect much from an entry-level 2.1 channel soundbar setup which is designed to throw one-directional sound.

Nevertheless, the dialogues came out clean and music files streamed via Bluetooth and USB drive also sounded immersive. The sound delivery is clean and expansive, which gets the job done.
You can also customize the sound output via the remote controller; however, audio profiles are very limited. There are only three predefined audio modes- Music, Movie and News to help you fine-tune the audio depending upon the content being streamed on the music setup. For an audio-centric product, Realme should have offered all the required audio features for a better sound customization experience.

Verdict

The Realme 100W soundbar is a good buy for anyone looking for an affordable music system to step up the smart TV viewing experience. The immersive and powerful audio can elevate your movie-watching experience on a big-screen TV at the comfort of your living room. The only letdown is the audio latency on the wireless connection, which could hamper your movie-watching experience.

Thankfully, the adequate wired connection support compensates for the loss. Overall, Realme has done a good job with its very first entry-level soundbar for Indian consumers. The entry-level 2.1 channel setup will impress you with its sound delivery.

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