Vizio’s tiny, budget-priced SB2021n-G6 soundbar is a champ on the subject of beating expectations. This 20-inch, $150 soundbar (which you’ll be able to snag for $98 at Walmart.com) doesn’t appear to be a lot, but it manages to crank out impressively wealthy, detailed audio for its measurement, whereas DTS Virtual:X processing helps to ship 3D results that sounds wonderful given the SB2021n-G6’s pared-down specs.
Naturally, some severe corners have been minimize to attain the SB2021n-G6’s price range price ticket, with the soundbar missing such primary options as HDMI inputs (neglect lossless and even Dolby Digital Plus audio) and Wi-Fi connectivity (which means you received’t be capable of management the soundbar with an app). For these causes, I wouldn’t suggest the SB2021n-G6 for a big and even medium-sized residence theater setup. That stated, the SB2021n-G6 makes for a terrific, cheap option to improve the sound on a bed room TV or in a cramped dorm room.
This evaluation is a part of TechHive’s protection of the best soundbars, the place you’ll discover opinions of competing merchandise, plus a purchaser’s information to the options it is best to take into account when buying.
Configuration
Being the $130 2.1-channel soundbar that it’s, the Vizio SB2021n-G6 comes outfitted with simply three drivers: a pair of 1.61 x 2.24-inch drivers in the principle unit for the left and proper channels, plus a down-firing 5.25-inch driver for the wi-fi subwoofer. Save for a small rear vent that helps to reinforce the soundbar’s bass response, that’s all you get by way of drivers and different acoustic options.
Measuring simply 20 by 2.19 by 4.45 inches, the soundbar itself is surprisingly compact, and at a mere 3.69 kilos, it’s simple to hold. Indeed, you can simply match the SB2021n-G6 on a shallow dresser in entrance of your bed room TV. That stated, the soundbar doesn’t include any mounting brackets or holes, so until you give you your individual wall-mounting resolution, you’ll want to position the soundbar on a flat floor in entrance of your TV set.
A small vent within the rear of the Vizio SB2021n-G6 helps to spice up the soundbar’s bass response.
The 7.68 x 7.68 x 8.46-inch wi-fi subwoofer can also be fairly small so far as soundbar subwoofers go, though it nonetheless manages to pack a punch. The diminutive sub makes for simple placement in a cramped room, though try to be aware of the uncovered down-firing driver on the underside of the housing.
Inputs and outputs
Like a lot of its present entry-level soundbars, Vizio’s SB2021n-G6 doesn’t include any HDMI ports. (Starting in 2020, all Vizio soundbars, together with the price range fashions, will characteristic HDMI inputs.) Instead, you get an optical (Toslink) enter, a digital coaxial enter, a 3.5mm audio jack (which comes with a 3.5mm-to-stereo RCA cable), and a USB port for thumb drives. The excellent news is that Vizio provides all of the cables you’ll want within the field.
While each the optical and coaxial digital audio inputs can help compressed Dolby Digital and DTS audio, they lack the bandwidth for Dolby Digital Plus or lossless Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. And evidently (however we’ll say it anyway), there’s no 4K passthrough or any type of video passthrough on the SB2021n-G6; as a substitute, you’re merely sending audio to the soundbar your TV’s Toslink, digital coaxial, or analog RCA connectors.
Ben Patterson/IDGThe Vizio SB2021n-G6 affords optical and coaxial digital inputs, together with a 3.5mm jack for the included 3.5mm-to-stereo-RCA cable. No HDMI ports, nevertheless.
Setup
Because of its restricted assortment of inputs, establishing the SB2021n-G6 is a chunk of cake. You merely plunk the soundbar in entrance of your TV, join it to your TV utilizing one of many provided audio cables, then plug within the soundbar’s energy twine.
The wi-fi subwoofer (which isn’t utterly wi-fi because it wants an influence twine) that comes with the SB2021n-G6 and arrives pre-paired with the soundbar. In my case, the subwoofer related seamlessly to the soundbar, however should you encounter any wi-fi connection hiccups, you may pair the subwoofer manually by urgent and holding a button on the again of the unit after which urgent and holding the soundbar’s energy button.
Because it lacks Wi-Fi connectivity, you may’t use an app (corresponding to Vizio’s SmartCast app) to regulate the SB2021n-G6’s capabilities or settings, and Alexa and Google Assistant help are (naturally) out of the query. Looking on the intense aspect, nevertheless, the shortage of app help means you don’t must deal with connecting the soundbar to your Wi-Fi community, an usually tedious and irritating course of.
Controls, distant, indicators, and Bluetooth
Sitting on the highest of the SB2021n-G6’s fabric-covered housing are buttons for energy, enter choice, Bluetooth, and quantity up/down. The entrance of the soundbar includes a single LED indicator that’s little greater than a dot, which glows totally different colours relying on which audio enter is energetic. Unfortunately, which means there’s no visible indicator for the amount stage, so you can be in for a loud shock should you beforehand left the sound cranked up.
The SB2021n-G6’s non-backlit, considerably chintzy distant solely has just a few buttons, but it surely’s additionally comparatively simple to make use of. The enter button on the highest is flanked by the ability and Bluetooth buttons, whereas a five-way management pad simply beneath helps you to regulate the amount, skip tracks, and play or pause your music. Beneath the five-way pad sits a mute button, with the volume-leveling TruVolume button and DTS Virtual:X button on the left, whereas Movie and Music mode buttons are on the best. A ultimate row of three buttons allow you to tweak the subwoofer, bass, and treble settings. Missing in motion are night time mode and dialog enhancer settings.
Ben Patterson/IDGThe Vizio SB2021n-G6’s non-backlit distant feels a bit chintzy and lacks a show, but it surely’s comparatively simple to make use of.
While neither the distant nor the soundbar itself have precise shows, the SB2021n-G6 does emit sound cues that inform you whether or not you’re turning a given setting on or off. For instance, should you press the DTS Virtual:X button, a rising sample of beeps means you’re turning the setting on, whereas a lower-pitch sequence of beeps means you’re turning it off.
Pairing the soundbar with my iPhone XS was a snap; I simply pressed the Bluetooth button to place the soundbar into pairing mode and related my iPhone utilizing its Bluetooth settings display screen.
Overall efficiency
Now, let’s be completely clear on a few factors: a $150 soundbar and subwoofer combo with simply three drivers can’t compete with a $1,000-plus soundbar with a number of foward-, upward-, and side-firing drivers. By the identical token, DTS Virtual:X can’t replicate the exact sonics of bodily encompass and top audio system. If you need to hear vivid, discrete sound results coming from behind you or above, otherwise you need to benefit from the finer particulars of a high-resolution music observe, you’ll must pony up for a a lot pricier soundbar package deal.
That stated, I used to be mighty impressed with the audio that this comparatively puny soundbar was in a position to crank out, full with a large soundstage that belied the SB2021n-G6’s slim 20-inch housing, to not point out a palpable encompass presence, noticeable top cues, aggressive (however not too pushy) bass, and an honest dose of high-end element.
Of course, DTS Virtual:X does the heavy lifting so far as the SB2021n-G6’s encompass efficiency goes, and I used to be significantly happy that Vizio’s implementation of the digital 3D expertise didn’t sound as harsh as I’ve heard on competing soundbars. Indeed, I saved DTS Virtual:X enabled throughout most of my testing, turning it off just for music.
Movies and TV efficiency
I began my testing with the thrilling opening title sequence from 1978’s Superman, which has been remastered in 4K and Dolby Atmos. Of course, for the needs of the two.1-channel SB2021n-G6, Superman’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack is first downmixed to stereo earlier than getting the DTS Virtual:X remedy.
Given that, nevertheless, the outcomes are spectacular for a mere 20-inch soundbar. John Williams’ Oscar-nominated rating sounded crisp and punchy (albeit with a touch of harshness from the brass part), and I might detect top cues as Marlon Brando’s credit score soared over the display screen, whereas Richard Donner’s “directed by” credit score was capped by a formidable thump from the compact subwoofer. I even appreciated how the SB2021n-G6 dealt with the difficult encompass results when the Phantom Zone scoops up General Zod and his minions, with the sound of the interstellar jail panning convincingly over my proper shoulder because it twirled out of the body. (Just to be clear, once I switched again to my standard 5.1-channel system with Dolby Atmos top virtualization, the Phantom Zone encompass results had been way more pronounced and detailed, significantly from the rear.)
Next, I attempted a scene from X-Men: Apocalypse that we frequently consumer as a useful Dolby Atmos demo: particularly, the scene through which a excessive school-aged Scott Summers destroys a toilet stall together with his nascent vitality beams. As with the soundtrack for Superman, Apocalypse’s Atmos soundtrack is downmixed to 2.0 Dolby Digital by the SB2021n-G6 earlier than being upmixed by DTS Virtual:X processing. Even with these caveats, the scene sounded fairly darned good, with the particles of plaster from the ruined rest room ceiling clattering successfully from the edges and even a tad from above. For $98, that’s not dangerous in any respect.
I completed up my film scenes with the launch sequence from Apollo 13, which options an object-based DTS:X soundtrack on the 4K Blu-ray model. Again, the SB2021n-G6 is simply giving us its DTS Virtual:X interpretation of the disc’s DTS:X audio, however I used to be nonetheless pretty wowed by how this slim, $130 soundbar managed to shake my lounge because the Saturn V rocket roared to life, with the soundstage widening impressively because the gasoline pumps gurgled and the spacecraft slowly rose from the launchpad.
To get a way for the way the SB2021n-G6 handles spoken dialog, I dipped into an episode of Suits. While I by no means had hassle listening to the quips and film quotes from the chatty, dapper attorneys, the dialog did sound a tad harsh and echo-y, which is fairly typical on the subject of 2.0-channel soundbars that lack devoted middle channels.
Music efficiency
Switching over to music (and for these checks, I turned DTS Virtual:X off and enabled the Music EQ sound mode), I teed up the title observe from Bruce Springsteen’s The Ghost of Tom Joad, and as soon as once more the tiny SB2021n-G6 punched properly above its weight. Streamed over Bluetooth through my iPhone, The Boss’s uncooked, spare vocals sounded impressively crisp and clear, with a pleasant rising heat because the synthesizers kick in. Pricier soundbars that I’ve examined have, in fact, executed a greater job reproducing the high-end particulars of the Springsteen’s acoustic guitar work, and naturally the SB2021n-G6’s slim (with DTS Virtual:X turned off) soundstage is fairly cramped in comparison with soundbars within the 30- and 40-inch vary. That stated, this 20-inch soundbar nonetheless managed to show in a surprisingly punchy, dynamic efficiency.
Next, I queued up Vlado Perlemuter’s rendition of Ravel’s solo piano works on the Nimbus Records label, and I got here away with the identical basic impressions as I did from The Ghost of Tom Joad: good heat and atmospherics with an honest quantity of element, albeit with one thing lacking on the excessive finish. I additionally observed a touch of distortion at greater quantity ranges, which isn’t too stunning given how robust piano items may be on audio system. (Incidentally, I didn’t detect any distortion issues whereas testing out films, even once I cranked the amount.)
Finally, it was time for Ciara’s “Level Up,” and once more, identical general story: pleasingly heat, crisp, and thumpy sound, though a bit wanting in high-end element.
Bottom line
You can’t count on a lot from a price range 20-inch soundbar, but the two.1-channel Vizio SB2021n-G6 and its onboard DTS Virtual:X audio processing constantly exceeded my expectations. While it lacks HDMI ports and Wi-Fi connectivity, the SB2021n-G6’s comparatively wealthy, detailed, and expansive audio is an ideal match for reinforcing the sound of a second TV or for budget-minded viewers in cramped dwelling quarters.