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JBL Bar 5.1 Surround vs Vizio V Series V21-H8

JBL Bar 5.1 Surround

JBL Bar 5.1 Surround

54 reviews

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Vizio V Series V21-H8

Vizio V Series V21-H8

121 reviews

View Product Details

Best Soundbar Under $200 For Bass

RTINGS · The 5 Best Budget Soundbars

Best Cinematic Experience On a Tight Budget

TechGearLab · Best Sound Bar of 2022

Great build and materials

Plenty of power

Can fit in front of most any TV without blocking the screen

Affordable price point

Easy to set up and use

Great sound quality for the price

Powerful bass and expressive midrange

Easy to set up

Fast UI performance

Compact size, great for small spaces

Not much dynamic control of the sound

May not provide realistic sound reproduction compared to other models

No optical channel integration

Not ideal for linking other devices via Bluetooth

Reports of sound quality issues after some time of use

Remote can be difficult to open

Verdict

The JBL Bar 5.1 Surround is a great choice for those looking to upgrade their sound system. It has a premium build and materials, plenty of power, and can fit in front of most any TV without blocking the screen. However, it lacks dynamic control of the sound and may not provide realistic sound reproduction compared to other models.

Verdict

The Vizio V Series V21-H8 is a great soundbar for the price, offering powerful bass and an expressive midrange. It is easy to set up and has a fast UI performance. However, it can be difficult to link other devices via Bluetooth and there have been reports of sound quality issues after some time of use.

Reviews by Topic

Our analysis shows how reviewers feel about different topics. Please note these are not full reviews.

Speakers

Unbalanced. Anemic 50 watt sound bar.

The JBL is simple plug and play the sound sounds good. There are basically no options. Note other sound bars have different sound modes that one will never use. Wish JBL please update the bass level to have a realistic and simple low setting/night/voice mode

The Roku Smart Soundbar seemed like the perfect solution. I used it for a few weeks and ended up returning it. Here is what I experienced:

Positive

reddit.com/r/Roku

Speaker System

youtube

The BEST Soundbar UNDER $400 - JBL 5.1 Soundbar Review

Inside the bar, you'll find a multi-channel digital amplifier, five long excursion drivers or speakers, a built-in calibration microphone, and a digit...

Positive

Vizio V21 review: Best soundbar under $200

5mm analog input and another, all-new 3.5mm connection for your "voice assistant speaker" (read: Amazon Echo Dot). Ty Pendlebury/CNETThe idea behind the "VA" (voice activated) input is noble enough. You connect your smart speaker to this port and the soundbar switches to the input automatically when it hears a command

Positive

Features

I must have purchased an outdated model from Walmart. It was missing some important features. The price was high considering that these features were missing.

youtube

VIZIO V21-H8 36" SOUNDBAR W/ SUBWOOFER | COSTCO

Wireless subwoofer that looks top of the line, looks modern and small. You can place it anywhere in that room as well. Has the better options than the...

Positive

Connectivity

youtube

JBL Bar 5.1 Surround Soundbar Review - YouTube

Now an important thing to remember on the USB is that just like on the BAR-20 that we looked at recently, it's labeled only for service however it doe...

Positive

Do Vizio soundbars support changing the volume using Google Home?

I have v21 h8 and it is been very difficult to set up. Assistant can link via Bluetooth but then you cannot have other devices link to the soundbar. There is voice assistant aux in but sadly no ga gh product has 3.5 mm jack

Negative

reddit.com/r/googlehome

Sound Quality

youtube

Best Surround Sound System - JBL Bar 5.1 REVIEW - YouTube

You can't hear it upfront as good as you can hear it with these. And as you can see on the screen, they're walking through a windy area, but up front,...

Positive

youtube

DO NOT BUY - VIZIO V-Series 2.1 Home Theater Sound Bar With Wireless Subwoofer - Model V21-H8

It's the model number v821-h8 and it was at a pretty nice deal actually 159.99, not necessarily a steal of a deal based upon what costco can often giv...

Neutral

Remote Control

Really wanted to like this!

The remote isn't bad also and hooking it up was pretty easy too. I didn't even have to read the instructions, I took a guess and everything worked. Now, here's why I returned it. 1

Vizio Customer Service scores ZERO

After extensive research for soundbar/subwoofer ordered a Vizio. Pre-read quick guide prior to arrival. Got all & was baffled at remote being impossible to open, so after googling & still couldn’t open, called Vizio. Connection to wherever the call goes to was hardly audible, finally Rep suggested I use a small coin to pry the remote open, which I gently did, and the the ENTIRE remote fell apart with pieces flying everywhere, and her suggestion was then for me to just not use the remote

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