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To test the B3, I actually used it over a 3-week period to be able to fully appreciate its qualities and depth of audio playback. I had it wired directly to my TV via a digital optical cable, but also played music from my phone via the Bluetooth connection.
The first thing I want to comment on is the different modes the B3 can switch between – 3D, News or Movie. I must say these different modes disappointed me, as there was no discernible difference between News and Movie. I would have expected the news mode to have a slightly weaker bass but crisper treble to make sure voices can be heard clearly. However, switching between the two modes changes very little.
Fortunately, though, the sound is good enough for it not to matter a huge amount. The bass is solid but not overpowering, while the high-end is sharp enough to mean voices and subtler sounds are reproduced well.
For example, I watched a lot of the football from Euro 2016 using the B3 soundbar. Chants and boos from crowd felt deep and powerful (indicative of the decent low-end reproduction) while it was easy to hear the commentators due to the crisp mid and top-range.
However, I would still like to have some manual control over the EQ. As I say, the sound quality is good enough to get by, but in some instances voice do sound just a touch muddy. It is still easy to hear what is being said, but it could be clearer. Manual controls – even just two simple buttons, such as ‘bass up,' ‘bass down' would have helped here.
The unit is also impressively loud. It can easily fill a room when not even at full volume, while it can reach a maximum of 100 dB if you want to annoy the neighbours. At the very loudest volume the top-end does lose a fair bit of clarity, though I cannot imagine many people keeping the B3 at such a high volume for long as it can be painful on the ears.
It is also great to have so many options for audio inputs, and the supplied wall-mounting bracket could be very useful for some people with a wall-mounted TV. The B3 is also a good size to fit under 40-inch+ TVs, though for anything smaller it does look a bit unwieldy.
For £135, the B3 certainly offers a noticeable improvement over inbuilt TV speakers – as well as looking sleek and clean.
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