With all the uncertainty around entertainment venues being open these days people are looking for ways to bring their favourite past times home. Home cinemas fall into this category as more people are looking for that cinema experience right in their living room. A sound bar is a must have item in any home cinema setup but can cost you a small fortune. This is definitely the case if you are looking at items from the likes of Sonos and Bose. If you don’t want to spend £500+ on a sound bar you may be left wondering if there are actually any good sound bars in this budget range. The JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One looks to provide good quality at a low price point but does it deliver on this? In this review we will review the JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One to help you decide if it is worth getting.
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Unboxing & Setup of the JBL Bar 2.0
The JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One is packaged as you would expect for a £100 sound bar. Don’t be expecting the same experience as unboxing a top of the range Sonos speaker but who cares about its packaging, you push it aside anyway. If you are looking to pick up the JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One then HERE is a link to the product on Amazon but always make sure you shop around for the best deal first.
In the box you get the sound bar itself, thankfully, along with the power chord, a HDMI cable and the remote to control the sound bar. Setting up the JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One is really easy to be honest and if you are familiar with setting up a sound bar then this is no different. For me it was as easy as plugging the HDMI from the JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One into the eARC HDMI port on my LG OLED TV. If you aren’t familiar with with ARC technology then a quick Google search will explain all but in short it’s a means of efficiently handling audio between TV and sound bar. Once this is connected your TV should sort everything out but a quick change of your TV’s audio source will have the JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One ready to go.
Dimensions of the JBL Bar 2.0
The dimensions of the JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One are quite compact and make it easy to fit into most TV cabinets or media units. The device measure in at – 615 x 58 x 90 mm (W x H x D)
Design & Features of the JBL Bar 2.0
Personally I think the JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One has a sleek look. The wrap around speaker grill design looks premium and overall the device is uncluttered with minimal controls on top of the sound bar. A subtle LED indicator at the top, centre of the speaker grill informs you of volume changes and is a nice touch. Port wise there is all you need with a HDMI and Digital Optical connections. The JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One also has Bluetooth on board if you need to connect wirelessly instead. There is also a USB port but it’s importance will depend on where in the world you are. Here in the U.K. it’s pointless and doesn’t do anything but in the US it can be used to connect media devices.
Simplicity is the common theme with the JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One and its features are no different. There really isn’t much to discuss here it is true plug in and play. If you like customising things like the bass levels on your sound bar then I would not recommend the JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One as there is no functionality to do that.
The JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One has 80 watts of power output. Yep, I don’t understand that either but more importantly JBL claim the Bar 2.0 features 3D sound technology which transmits sound over and around you to create an immersive experience.
Sound Quality of the JBL Bar 2.0
Now if you aren’t a true audio quality boffin you will be more than impressed by the audio quality of the JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One. This is really who the product is aimed at I believe. I wouldn’t class myself as someone who chases the best possible sound quality but even I was impressed at how good the JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One is. On numerous occasions I have found myself looking over my shoulder or muting the sound because I thought I heard a noise somewhere else in the house when in fact it was just the sound bar tricking me. Below is a video which will give you an idea of the sound quality of the JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One.
I have thrown live sport, movies and general TV consumption at this thing and haven’t noticed any issues but again if sound is your thing you might pick up on things.
Final Thoughts
If you are like I was and are looking for a sound bar that will deliver good audio quality without costing you an arm and a leg then this is the perfect option. It can still be found for £100 which is a great price for this device. It’s always worth shopping around and using cash back sites like TopCashback to get a bit of extra money off. You could get anything over £5 off the product for simply navigating to the merchant through TopCashback’s site. If you fancy joining them to make some savings you can use my referral link and you will get a £5 cashback bonus – https://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/tomc260.
Thanks for reading this review.
Until next time
