Is there really a point to splashing the cash on a soundbar?

Are soundbars just non-portable Bluetooth speakers? Not if you want the cinema experience at home.

Is there really a point to soundbars?

The metre-long speakers which are meant to sit below your TV are often marketed as game changers for home entertainment. But in this day and age, when portable Bluetooth speakers can last as long as 18 hours and portable projectors can provide the same services and then some, who wants a plug-in speaker?

Is it meant to replace the home stereo? That’s a device you’d already be hard-pressed to find in the homes of Millennial and Gen Z occupants. While our Boomer and Gen X parents may have loved the clunky home devices, younger people take their music with them from room to room with speakers we can carry by hand.

In the age of streaming, some 69 per cent of Australians listened to music online in the six months up to June 2020 according to ACMA. That figure was up 5 per cent from the previous year and in 2022, it’s no doubt risen again.

BlueAnt’s newest soundbar, the XT-100, promises room-shaking sound when connected to your television. But it didn’t include a disclaimer that the device is larger than your average television legs, which means at certain angles you’ll be pressing the same button multiple times on your TV remote.

If a device to blast the sounds of the TikTok or Instagram videos you scroll through on your phone is what you’re after, then this might be it, but at $349 RRP, it’s quite the investment to make.

The BlueAnt XT100. Picture: Supplied

So what’s good about the new device?

Dolby Atmos technology is certainly an upgrade, which in English translates to a surround experience powered by what’s called dimensional sound waves.

The surround sound function on the device does have a certain draw to it. For one, the sound is projected from the outer speakers, which gives a certain kind of allude to the centre of the speaker and television.

The soundbar can also be mounted vertically, with a remote function ready to activate that.

The XT-100 is packing two 50W amplifiers. To save on price, BlueAnt has ditched adding a subwoofer, a move chief executive Taisen Maddern believes is not needed because the device is already “a beast”.

“It’s the affordable premium soundbar Australians have been crying out for,” he said. “We knew there was a need for a new player on the soundbar stage. Australians don’t just want a soundbar that’s slightly better than a TV speaker and has no punch.”

Mr Maddern may be right. But at lower volumes, the XT-100 is only slightly better than a TV speaker.

At the higher end the sound projects well, and it does indeed vary over the different modes – sport, movie, music and voice. But once you pass 20 or so in volume, then the treble and base need to be adjusted according to the genre.

One thing to tip your hat to is movie mode which takes the punch out of action scenes or television ads which are normally far louder than other scenes and segments.

In a day and age where TVs are built to replicate picture frames, where do you even put a soundbar? In BlueAnt’s marketing, the device sits on the ground below a TV and cabinet.

An ideal direction for any soundbar maker might just be to follow the path or portable projectors. A soundbar that could project onto a wall from a ledge would certainly have my vote, as long as it didn’t compromise the quality of sound.

For $349 you wouldn’t exactly be disappointed with the XT-100, especially when the likes of Samsung’s Q Series 990B surround sound system retails at $2099. But do you really want another remote to add to the collection?