Vizio M Series 2.1 review

The Vizio M Series 2.1 Soundbar is decent for music. It has a fairly neutral, though slightly boomy, sound profile suitable for most genres of music.

The Vizio M-Series M21d-H8R is a 2.1 Vizio soundbar with two subwoofers integrated into the bar. Its neutral but slightly boomy sound profile is suitable for many different types of audio content, and it even has some EQ presets that let you adjust the sound. Unfortunately, it can’t really reproduce deep bass, so you will not feel the deep boom and roar in action-packed movies or bass-heavy music. It does get loud, but at maximum volume it gets pretty compressed, which is disappointing if you like to turn up the volume at parties.

You have a TV, possibly a really good TV, but the sound is still mediocre. Maybe the dialogue is hard to understand. Or maybe the bass is not enough to bring your favorite movies to life. Or maybe you have read about surround sound formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X and want to try them out for yourself. If any of these cases apply, you should consider buying a Dolby Atoms soundbar. And if you’re on a budget, consider buying the Vizio M-Series 2.1 for $178. It will scratch that itch without requiring you to become an audio/video pro, run cables through your entire TV room, or get a $1,000-plus sound system.

The Vizio M-Series soundbar is one of the latter systems. The $329 5.1 configuration I tested features a three-channel soundbar, a wireless subwoofer, and two rear surround speakers that connect to the subwoofer. Vizio also offers a $179 configuration that includes just a soundbar and subwoofer, as well as a $499 5.1.2 system that adds analog treble channels to the soundbar. We wanted to look at the 5.1 system because, depending on the room, not having to consider analog treble channels can be a good thing. 329 for a complete home theater system is also a super compelling deal no matter how you look at it.

Design

The Vizio V-Series Soundbar does not break the mold, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. The device is far from ugly and will look good in front of any TV without drawing too much attention to itself. The front of the soundbar is covered in fabric, while the top and bottom are covered in plastic. Also on the top are physical buttons for controlling the soundbar in case you do not want to use the remote control. There are volume controls, an input selector, a Bluetooth button, and a power button.

On the back are the device’s inputs and outputs. There is an HDMI ARC input, an optical input, and two auxiliary ports, one of which is intended to be used specifically for a virtual assistant. We will elaborate on this later, but it is a nice touch for a soundbar in this price range. The Vizio V-Series 2.1-channel soundbar has a subwoofer that connects to the bar wirelessly and is relatively sleek and stylish. It is another black box, with a power button and a bass port on the back.

There’s little you need to do with the subwoofer other than find a spot to set it up and plug it in – after that it will automatically connect to the bar and you can all but forget about it. Last but not least is the remote control, and it’s pretty easy to use and well designed. The remote provides controls for inputs, volume, and EQ settings. The soundbar itself indicates its input by the color of the LED light on the front – and there’s a button on the back of the remote to help you figure out which input is which.

Features

Getting started with the M215a is a breeze. Connect the soundbar to your TV via HDMI or optical, plug the soundbar and subwoofer into a power outlet, and you’re all set. After a few moments, a confident-sounding male voice will tell you that the soundbar is checking for active connections and inform you if a problem has occurred while connecting to the subwoofer. If all goes well, you should be able to turn on the TV and hear much better sound than you are used to.

But this is just the beginning. Vizio includes a remote control with a built-in backlit LCD screen, a handy way to explore the M215a’s deeper settings. You can select different listening modes, adjust specific levels, and turn on/off features such as DTS Virtual:X, DTS TruVolume, and the night mode, which reduces dynamic noise so as not to wake up children/tenants/neighbors.

Although the screen is backlit, the buttons are not, so you may need an ambient light to use the remote control. With Vizio soundbars, it can be a little difficult to tell exactly what is going on. The only visual indicator is series of small LED dots on the left side of the grille, which must be interpreted through the user manual and/or the color button label on the back of the remote control.

Sound Quality

If, like many people, you have decided to replace your TV’s built-in speakers, you will like the M215a soundbar. The soundbar’s speakers project clear and accurate audio, and the subwoofer offers a wide range of low frequencies and a really wide soundstage for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X material, as well as standard stereo/Dolby 5.1 content thanks to the DTS Virtual:X upscaling feature.

In fact, DTS Virtual:X processing is so good that we recommend that you leave it on for all your listening activities. Don’t expect this tiny subwoofer to rattle your windows or your teeth-it’s meant to make you hear the lower frequencies, not necessarily feel them. However, if you’re more likely to compare the M215a to other Dolby Atmos-enabled soundbars, there are a few things to consider.

First, there are no upward-firing drivers to bounce sound off your ceiling to your listening position. Vizio “virtualizes” these altitude channels, meaning you’ll get better altitude feeling from the M215a than you would from non-Atmos systems, but it won’t produce the sensation of objects flying overhead like you get from Atmos systems with dedicated treble drivers.

Connectivity

The Vizio M215a is not rich in connectivity options, but it does not skimp on those either. An HDMI ARC/eARC port is available as a preferred connection to a TV, and there is also an HDMI input, which is useful if your TV does not have HDMI ports. The only thing it does not support is variable refresh rate (VRR) or 4K at 120 Hz. So if you are a gamer, connect your PC or console directly to the TV.

Instead, you can connect your TV to the optical port or use this port as a secondary input for a CD player or other device with optical output, such as a TV. B. a television set. Some soundbars treat the optical inputs as TV inputs, which means they cannot serve as an independent input, separate from the HDMI ARC. Inside the box you’ll find HDMI and optical cables, saving you the hassle of buying or digging out a cable from your cable collection.

There are two AUX connectors – one for regular analog stereo signals and one for smart speakers. By connecting to or from this jack, the soundbar can automatically lower the volume of your TV broadcast or other audio signals while you are talking to your favorite voice assistant. It also acts as an input for anything your smart speaker can play, from streaming music services to audiobooks and games.

Price

Vizio’s 2.1-channel Vizio V-Series soundbar is new for 2020, coming out on June 30, 2020 at a price of $179.99. This is definitely an affordable price for soundbars, especially those with wireless subwoofers like Vizio’s V Series. Remember when you had to pay more than $1,000 for a Dolby Atmos-enabled soundbar? Those days are long gone, as Vizio’s affordable M215a-J6 proves. This compact 2.1-channel soundbar supports both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X for less than $200.

As a budget soundbar, the M215a-J6 suffers from a few compromises, including the lack of a center channel, no Wi-Fi, and occasionally shrill and/or boomy audio. But while we’ve heard soundbars in the M215a-J6’s price range with better overall sound, none of them packed Atmos or DTS:X audio. We also love the eARC support, a feature we generally only see in soundbars costing hundreds more, and we dig the low-profile design and dedicated 3.5mm jack for voice assistants.

Final Words

The Vizio M21 is an excellent single bar system with lots of connectivity options and a refined, understated design. I don’t know of any other single bar that costs less than $200 and offers as much. However, it is cannibalized by the existence of the company’s M21: At $150, the V21 is too expensive by comparison. For the same $150, you can buy the V21, which comes with a wireless subwoofer. So if you have a choice between the two, go with the V21. Also, the Creative Stage V2 for $109 offers a separate subwoofer that also boosts performance, and bargain hunters looking for maximum performance for little money should buy Creative.

Dian Erwin
Dian Erwin
Dian Erwin is a review writer for Bollyinside, covering topics related to computing, such as laptops, tablets, phones, and other hardware. Dian spends much too much of his free time on Twitter, reading speculative fiction novels, playing video games, and reading comic books. He also enjoys reading video game manuals.

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The Vizio M21 is an excellent single bar system with many connectivity options and a sleek, understated design. We know of no other single-bar system that costs less than $200 and offers as much.Vizio M Series 2.1 review