Xiaomi Mi Soundbar review: Powerful sound, highly affordable

Here is our detailed review of Xiaomi Mi Soundbar.

Xiaomi Mi Soundbar price in India: Rs 4,999

Xiaomi Mi Soundbar review: Look and feel, connectivity

A lot of stress has put in designing the Mi Soundbar and it shows. The design is definitely minimal and pleasing. The bar easily blends with interiors of your living room, or bedroom. It’s a good looking unit, although available only in white, as it is wrapped in a mesh fabric which covers the front of the bar.

The Mi Soundbar is designed to be used in two ways: keep it flat under a TV or wall-mount it. I chose it to be laid on a table top. At just over 33-inches, the bar is not the longest I’ve seen, but the whole idea of this all-in-one solution is to keep things simple and compact looking. My room is tiny, really tiny, and the bar’s size was a tight fit for the room, for any mid-size room.

The Mi Soundbar is designed to be used in two ways: keep it flat under a TV or wall-mount it.

The back panel has a slew of ports, including S/PDIF, Optical, Aux-In, and Line-in connectivity ports – and the power connector. There is no HDMI, or a USB connection. You need to remember that the Mi Soundbar is designed to be just like that.

But I was disappointed by the lack of a dedicated remote control, something I wish should have been considered in the first place. I don’t know what made the company go against shipping a remote with the Mi Soundbar —most Soundbars do; cost-cutting reasons maybe, but in 2019 how much does a remote cost? The most probable reason why there’s no remote control with the bar could be the fact that this bar can at the most let it adjust volume, as there are no, presets here or an equaliser. But there are buttons on top of the bar to take control of things.

It’s a good looking unit, although available only in white, as it is wrapped in a mesh fabric which covers the front of the bar.

The bar does support Bluetooth 4.2 with A2DP music playback, however. Keep in mind that the Mi Soundbar can be used with any TV — traditional or smart, smartphones, tablets, etc. The ideal way to connect the bar to television is through the SPDIF cable (included in the box), or else use Bluetooth. The setup is super easy and it only takes a few seconds to pair the bar via Bluetooth with the TV. We hooked up the Mi LED TV 4X Pro 55 to the Mi Soundbar. We had no problems making the connection.

Xiaomi Mi Soundbar review: Performance

The Mi Soundbar features eight drivers – two 20mm dome speakers to ensure a wide spread of audio, two 2.5” woofers to give the extra bass and four passive radiators.

So what does it sound like? Is it better than other soundbars? Speaking of which: I am not an audiophile and haven’t even owned a soundbar ever. This is my first real exposure to a soundbar. That being said, I was really impressed by the audio quality. To test the bar’s performance, I watched Andhadhun over the weekend. Based on my experience, the system’s real strength is definitely its booming bass, which packs a real punch. In fact, I did not notice any real distortion even high volumes. Initially, I wasn’t sure whether it would be able to create an engulfing surround sound experience, but the Mi Soundbar proved me wrong.

Xiaomi Mi Soundbar review: Conclusion

At Rs 4,999, Xiaomi’s Mi Soundbar really impresses. My verdict is not entirely based on its competitive pricing as it’s performance is also good. The Mi Soundbar can make you feel like you are sitting in a cinema hall and that is the biggest win in my opinion. It’s hard not to recommend the Mi Soundbar at this price. Use it with TV, or play music via Bluetooth, it’s got everything covered.