Great sound at a lower price.
Tis the season for tech gifts and if you have been keeping up this year, you know that I have been high on TCL’s high-end electronics this year. Their top end Mini-LED TV is still my pick of the year and their big boy soundbar was one of the most impressive I have experienced to date. But what if your budget is a little on the lower end, but you still want a great sound to compliment that new TV you just bought? The S55H is likely where you will be looking. After spending a few weeks testing this model out, I am impressed. Yes, it isn’t going to dominate your setup quite like the Q85H, but it packs quite the punch for the price.
At the time of this writing, you can pick up the S55H for around $120, which is a decent price for a 2.1 soundbar. The inclusion of a subwoofer is always a must for me, and this model delivers one of the better ones I have heard from a variety of brands at this price range. The S55H is a simplistic design, it is made of plastic and is very light. The bar itself has the normal buttons on the top including volume, power, and inputs, but there is no LED display on the front, and instead relies on voice notifications for switching sound modes and inputs. This was a little annoying at first, especially late at night. I wish there was a way to turn this off in the app or options.
MSRP: $159.99
Price I’d Pay: $159.99
The subwoofer is a tower design with the speaker pointing towards the floor. I prefer this when a cover is not included over the speaker. I have cats, so I always fear they will attack my woofer when it is exposed out the back. It has a nice thump to it but can sometimes be overpowered by the highs coming from the bar itself. I had to place it strategically to get the most out of it. It doesn’t quite pack the punch I have seen from other bars in its range, which was disappointing. Still when watching movies, it adds just enough to help accent those explosions.
Speaking of sound quality, the bar itself does a solid job of delivering some great surround. It supports Dolby Atmos, and it sounds good even without the up-firing speakers. It isn’t going to match mid or high-end setups, but it did deliver better surround than similar soundbars I have tested from the likes of Vizio and Samsung. The sound enveloped me when watching newer movies and playing games. I just wish it had more bass to accentuate the impact. That is my biggest gripe about this particular soundbar, the bass just doesn’t hit as hard as I would like.
As mentioned, it does support Dolby Atmos as well as DTS Virtual:X, but the most impressive inclusion is the AI Sonic-Adaptation. This was featured in the Q85H and it does wonders to personalize your sound. It basically plays a sound that allows the audio to bounce off the items in your environment. This then calibrates the soundbar to direct sound appropriately to your particular room. It is definitely worth doing if you grab one of TCL’s soundbars. It also works in tandem with TCL TVs that allow it to use the speakers built into the television as a center channel. You can also customize the soundbar within the settings menu of the TV, which is a huge advantage.
The included remote is the same as the one found in the Q85H and again is similar to their TV remotes. It isn’t needed if you have a TCL TV though, as all those functions are built into the settings of the TV, which is nice. Less remotes are always a good thing. My biggest gripe about the design though is the lack of a dedicated HDMI passthrough. I have A LOT of tech devices, so the extra HDMI port is much appreciated, especially since I have to use one for the soundbar itself. It does support optical, but I haven’t used that since I adopted eARC, which is superior in every fashion. Finally, there is a light on top of the bar that shows volume level. Nice, but again I would have preferred some sort of LCD display.
TCL has impressed on every level this year. The S55H is a great low-end soundbar that packs a lot for the price. If you want a bar for a smaller room, this is the one for you. It packs some great surround sound and decent bass. I wish it had a few more features, but at that point, I would just move up to a mid-range soundbar. This would be great for a PC setup or a small office room. For those wanting big, theater sound, definitely spring for something like the Q85H, but as it stands here, this is a great alternative to those on a tighter budget.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
