Worth when reviewed

$249

Greatest costs right this moment: Hisense AX5110G

Hisense has made a reputation for itself within the value-for-money TV market, with nice fashions just like the U8H sensible TV getting a rave evaluate right here at TechHive. Impressed by that evaluate and his wonderful Class A6 43-inch 4K UHD LED TV that I had beforehand purchased, I purchased a U8H TV for myself and I am delighted with the standard Hisense delivered for the value.

That is a technique of explaining how a lot I used to be wanting ahead to reviewing the Hisense AX5100G 5.1 Soundbar with Subwoofer and Encompass Audio system. If the producer has cracked the worth code for TVs, I actually wished to see what sort of high quality they might provide in a $250 encompass sound system with 340W max audio energy, Dolby Atmos, and DTS:X.

Sadly, Hisense selected to pack the AX5100G’s spectacular array of options inside subpar speaker cupboards, making for a horrible listening expertise.

This evaluate is a part of TechHive’s protection of the very best soundbars.

[Editor’s note: At the time of publication, the Hisense AX5100G was unavailable for purchase; a Hisense spokesperson said the soundbar will be back in retails channels before the end of the year.]

How huge is the Hisense AX5100G sound bar?

In case you see the Hisense AX5100G in a retailer, you may be impressed with the specs, because it comes with a most important soundbar unit, a subwoofer, and a pair of rear encompass audio system. The primary soundbar cupboard measures 36.2 x 2.4 x 3.5 inches (W x H x D) and weighs simply 5.78 kilos. The subwoofer measures 8.4 x 11.6 x 12 (W x H x D) inches and weighs 11.6 kilos. The encompass audio system measure 3.6 x 5.9 x 4.4 (W x H x D) inches and weigh roughly one pound every.

Additionally within the field are the AC energy cables for the soundbar, subwoofer, and one of many two rear encompass audio system. There’s a 3.5mm RCA audio cable to attach the 2 rear audio system. You additionally get an HDMI cable, an optical cable, 4 wall mounts with screws, a distant management, and a couple of AAA batteries for the distant management.

James Barber/Foundry

That is a variety of tools for the cash, proper? Nicely, the expertise begins to disintegrate once you take every thing out of the field. The soundbar and rear audio system have cupboards fabricated from alarmingly skinny plastic, and their grilles are fabricated from extraordinarily skinny perforated metallic. The subwoofer cupboard is fabricated from low-grade MDF (medium-density fiberboard) with the identical metallic grill.

The construct high quality echoes no-brand electronics behind the counter at a 24-hour drugstore, the type of merchandise you solely purchase in an emergency when it is 2am and every thing else is closed. Contact the rear speaker grill and also you get a hole plastic bump with a metallic contact on the highest finish. Hit the subwoofer’s speaker grill and it seems like a type of sheet metallic stagehands use to generate thunderstorm noises.

James Barber/Foundry

Does the Hisense AX5100G soundbar assist Dolby Atmos?

The subsequent step hoped that the audio system sound higher than they appear. In spite of everything, Hisense guarantees a variety of options and so they have managed to ship TVs that carry out effectively above their worth level.

With an eARC connection to the soundbar’s HDMI port, Hisense guarantees compatibility with a variety of audio codecs, together with LPCM (2, 5.1, and seven.1 channels), Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital, and eight DTS flavors, together with 96/24 (24-bit/96kHz) and DTS:X.

Common HDMI-ARC helps 2-channel LPCM, Dolby Atmos (Digital Plus model), Dolby Digital Plus, and 4 kinds of DTS, together with 96/24. You probably have an older TV, each the optical and coaxial connections assist the identical 4 DTS codecs and 2-channel LPCM.

What number of HDMI ports does the Hisense AX5100G have?

The rear of the soundbar has an HDMI port for ARC or eARC connections. There is a USB port that allows you to insert a USB persist with play music, in addition to AUX, optical (Toslink), and coaxial ports if you wish to use the Hisense AX5100G with an older TV.

James Barber/Foundry

One of the best information concerning the Hisense AX5100G was that every thing paired up completely when plugged in and turned on. There are directions on the best way to enter pairing mode for the subwoofer and encompass audio system, however the system I examined dealt with the pairing robotically and was able to go by itself.

Does the Hisense AX5100G sound bar include a distant management?

The distant offers entry to the varied settings, so let’s describe them by wanting on the distant. There is a supply button that allows you to swap between inputs, whereas a Bluetooth button allows you to pair the soundbar with a telephone or pill for straightforward music streaming. A encompass sound button permits customers to show encompass sound on and off, and the EQ button toggles between settings for music, films, information, sports activities, late-night viewing, and gaming.

The central controls deal with quantity up and down, plus play, pause and skip features in the event you’re utilizing Bluetooth or USB inputs for music playback. The underside row of buttons permits you to management the soundbar’s bass, treble, and show brightness. There’s a mute button on the backside of the distant.

James Barber/Foundry

Is the Hisense AX5100G a Roku TV Prepared Soundbar?

In case you personal a Roku TV, the Hisense AX5100G Soundbar has been licensed as Roku TV Prepared.

Which means the product has been designed to work seamlessly with Roku TVs, together with an onscreen setup wizard and the flexibility to entry soundbar settings from the Roku onscreen interface or Roku distant. .

How is the sound high quality of the Hisense AX5100G?

After connecting my iPhone through Bluetooth, I listened to Paul McCartney & Wings’ 1973 album. band on the run streaming from Apple Music. The place to begin? The wall of acoustic guitars that kicks in about midway via the title monitor was metallic and scratchy. The highest finish of McCartney’s vocal vary had an disagreeable sharp edge to each the soundbar and rear encompass audio system.

Granted, the album was made below troublesome circumstances and the recordings have all the time suffered from the technical issues that plagued the band once they selected to file it at EMI’s primitive studio in Lago, Nigeria, however these issues cannot clarify how muddy the bass is. closing sounds via the subwoofer. To make issues worse, the Bluetooth connection was unstable and inconsistent, with an inexcusable quantity of dropouts throughout playback.

James Barber/Foundry

The subsequent step was to modify to Apple Music on an Apple TV 4K and check out once more through the eARC connection from my Hisense U8H sensible TV. Sign depth noticed an instantaneous enchancment and the general expertise was drastically improved, if not fairly nice. The roughness on the highest registers and the mud on the underside finish have been nonetheless there, based mostly on the supplies used to construct the cupboards.

Switching to films, I watched an Apple TV stream of director David Leitch’s 2022 motion flick Bullet practice starring brad pitt 4K streaming options Dolby Imaginative and prescient and Dolby Atmos sound. Footage have been incredible, with unbelievable depth of coloration and extremely deep blacks on the Hisense TV.

The Hisense AX5100G did a greater than enough job of reproducing the object-based sound placement that Dolby Atmos guarantees, even when it lacks the upward-firing drivers wanted for true Atmos top cues; as a substitute, the soundbar depends on virtualization for top cues.

In the end although, no quantity of processing could make up for poor speaker high quality. Audio on the prime of the spectrum when you watch Bullet practice it had that very same high-pitched, obnoxious high quality that ruined the music listening expertise.

James Barber/Foundry

Would the higher high quality casing for the audio system have pushed the value of the AX5100G increased than what Hisense thought the market would bear? Perhaps, however what we’re left with here’s a feature-packed speaker system that does not sound nice in any respect.

Is the Hisense AX5100G price it?

Even in the event you’re on a price range and need to benefit from the most recent audio codecs together with your TV broadcast, the painfully mediocre Hisense AX5100G simply is not price your cash. As a substitute, try another just like the Vizio M51ax-J6 5.1 Soundbar setup, a product that has the identical set of audio system for only a few {dollars} extra.

Hisense has proven the flexibility to make nice merchandise at discount costs. Let’s simply hope they do effectively with their subsequent encompass sound providing.