Vizio 2.1 Soundbar SV210M-0808 Review: Best New Soundbar Under $200

8.5/ 10
SCORE

Vizio 2.1 Soundbar SV210M-0808

Pros

• Huge soundstage
• Exciting, detailed sound for music and movies
• Affordable

Cons

• No analog or optical
• Need app to change settings
• No height effects

Four years ago, in the early days of the pandemic, I reviewed a speaker that became a mainstay of CNET’s audio lab: Vizio’s V21. Even though the soundbar was not without its faults (namely one-note bass), nothing else could touch its performance for the money. Today, I can say that the V21’s true successor has arrived — and it’s remarkably even better and still inexpensive.

The Vizio 2.1 Soundbar (SV210M) is a great soundbar, especially for the money. You don’t even need to own a Vizio TV to enjoy it. The speaker is compact, and the wireless subwoofer is so small that it should be easy to find a place for it. For music and movies, the Vizio 2.1 Soundbar is all that many people will need.

I listen to a lot of audio components in a year, but when a soundbar does what this model can do, and for this kind of money, it truly makes my year. The Vizio 2.1 Soundbar is now the best new soundbar under $200

Design and features

The Vizio 2.1 Soundbar is, nominally, a Dolby Atmos speaker, but I’ll come back to why in a minute. This model sports a stereo soundbar paired with a wireless subwoofer.

The design of the 2024 models has experienced a significant upgrade since last I reviewed a Vizio model, and this 2.1 model boasts the best looks of any other bar save the Elevate. Its appearance is modern with its rounded edges, and it is also quite compact at 30 inches wide by 2.3 inches high by 3.2 inches deep. The wireless subwoofer that accompanies it uses a 5-inch driver, and it’s roughly the size and shape of a top hat, so I naturally used it to make an homage to guitarist Slash.

When it comes to spatial audio, the SV210M is like similarly stickered budget soundbars in that it can read Dolby Atmos (as well as DTS:X), but I found that it could not speak it. This is strictly two woofers and a separate sub — 2.1 channels. Sadly, you can’t throw Duolingo (Dolby-lingo?) at it to make it better at playing Atmos. Yet, it does incorporate some signal processing to make the soundstage appear wider than the cabinet size would normally allow.

Unlike the $1,000 Sony Bravia Theater 8, the Vizio has the two modes most people need: Music and Movies. It’s worth noting that the previous “Clear Dialog” feature is no longer its own mode but is now an adjustable slider in the companion app. This means you can tweak dialog whenever you like without otherwise sacrificing sound quality. 

The Vizio’s connections include a single HDMI, Bluetooth 5.2 and a USB-A port. Are you running around with a USB thumb drive full of WAVs and despairing that you have no way to play them? Vizio has you covered. Also, it’s important to consider that if you have a much older TV — one without an HDMI connection — then you will need to buy a different soundbar, as this model lacks either analog or optical connections.

Another notable omission is any type of remote control. While most people use their TV’s remote anyway, the addition of a soundbar remote enables quick changes when needed — swapping from music to movie, for example. The company now offloads any of these setting changes to the Vizio Mobile app. The app is friendly enough, but does require you to connect to Bluetooth first. 

Testing

When it comes to bargain soundbars, there are three main brands in play: Yamaha, Polk and Vizio. While the former two have increasingly moved to more expensive single bars, such as the Polk React and Yamaha True X Bar 40A, there are still some models that compete with the Vizio 2.1 Soundbar. I chose the Yamaha CR-30A for comparison, which is on sale for $190 as I write this.

Given that the Vizio 2.1 Soundbar has Dolby Atmos, I started my comparisons with the opening scene of Mad Max: Fury Road. Straight away, it was obvious there was no height dimension to this soundbar. The voices that ordinarily appear in every corner of the room were on a single plane, even after I pushed the height control to max. But that’s OK as, for the money and a 2.1 configuration, it’s not to be expected. 

While soundbars such as the Sonos Beam are able to accurately simulate height they are also 2.5 times as much as this Vizio. What I did appreciate was the Vizio’s room-filling sound; the unit didn’t behave like a small speaker at all. I was sitting right in front of it, but if I closed my eyes, I couldn’t tell where the speaker was, and that’s an achievement for a budget model. There was a lack of chestiness in Mad Max’s (Tom Hardy) voice, and the sound quality of speech positively sizzled. The sub may be tiny, but it could put out some hurt when needed, whether it’s the explosions within the motor engine or of the car itself.

It was only when I switched out the Vizio for the Yamaha gear that the differences between the two bars became apparent. The Yamaha sounded a lot smaller than the Vizio and less cinematic. How it was able to make up for this was in the performance of the subwoofer. Every slam, every beat, every explosion seemed raw, untamed (in a good way, not uncontrolled). While switching the Vizio between movie and music mode may help — as you can configure the subwoofer volume separately — it does require using the app.

Given that the soundbar has a Bluetooth connection, I was keen to see how well the Vizio could play music. As it turns out, quite well. I did find, though, that the punchy sound that suited movies was too much for replaying tunes. I pulled back on the sub’s volume a little, and, as a result, Life by The Beta Band sounded natural and fun, and the soundbar was able to hit all of the notes in the deep bass outro riff. I enjoyed listening to the song so much that I started back at the start of the record that features it: Hot Shots II. It’s here where I also need to iterate that the soundbar lacks a direct mode — the soundbar bounces sound off your walls even when set to Music mode. Yet, it sounds so good that this is not even an issue. In comparison, the Yamaha sounded small and a little reserved when listening to the same song.

Should you buy it?

While a lot of code has been spilled on even flashier home theater equipment, such as the Sennheiser Ambeo, there is always a place in my heart for the bargain performers. Whether it’s an ELAC B6 loudspeaker or a Vizio soundbar, products like these demonstrate that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have great sound. With the Vizio 2.1 Soundbar, the company continues to push the envelope, and that’s great news for everyone. This speaker is an absolute winner.