Polk React soundbar review: Built-in Alexa for your TV speaker

I have experienced a voice assistant in my home for the past number of many years and it really is really hard to know how I at any time did without the need of it. The full spouse and children works by using it to change off the lights, talk to for the temperature or, to my horror, listen to endless quantities of Spotify-skewing pop new music. The Polk Respond delivers the usefulness of Alexa into a Tv-friendly, soundbar sort. The necessary issue is: Do we truly need to have a Tv speaker which is also an assistant? 

The new Respond follows up Polk’s authentic virtually-but-not-formally-an-Echo soundbar, the Polk Command Bar. The Respond differs from the Command because it won’t involve the wireless subwoofer — it really is just a one bar. The Respond seems very great and is similarly snug with films and new music, and its integration with Alexa is even slicker than in advance of. The final result is a perfectly-rounded offer for your money.

But back again to that necessary issue. Actually I favor keeping my assistant in a separate, devoted speaker. Talk to Alexa a issue on a hybrid gadget like the Respond and the audio grinds to a halt although the assistant does your bidding. That can be irritating, in particular when you have to interrupt your The Nevers session to talk to a associated issue.

Then once more, you could possibly favor an all-in-1 alternative, in specific if you do not currently have an Alexa speaker in your living space. And the Respond is a far better value than the $400 Sonos Beam, a different Alexa-powered soundbar, although it lacks Sonos’ multiroom chops. At the time of publication the Respond is out there for $200, and if you want to improve the sound you can add an optional sub ($one hundred eighty) and/or the SR2 surrounds ($one hundred eighty), offering a great up grade path for the long run.

What is in the box?

The Polk Command Bar lacked the stylishness of the Sonos Beam, but the Respond smooths out the awkwardness with touches like its delicate, woolen grill. The exclusive central ring segment continues to be — with quantity, action and on/off buttons established in a circle that seems like the leading of an aged-college Echo — but the action light is now an illuminated bar throughout the front edge. 

The bar itself measures two.two inches significant, four.seventy six inches deep and 34 inches broad. The soundbar is wall-mountable by way of keyhole keyhole mounts on the back again. The audio segment is made up of two midrange motorists, two tweeters and two passive radiators beneath for extra bass.

Inputs run to a one HDMI (ARC) output, an optical enter for Tv audio, Bluetooth, and a USB which is strictly for firmware updates. I do desire it experienced the Polk Command Bar’s next HDMI port, which is a boon for consumers with several units. The device also provides Wi-Fi connectivity, although not Ethernet, for connecting the voice assistant to the World wide web. 

The Respond includes Amazon’s Multi-Room Songs compatibility in addition to Spotify Connect, but sadly no AirPlay or Chromecast designed in. I did recognize that song requests by using Alexa can be played via Tidal by default, although.

The optional wireless Polk Respond Sub is hefty, akin to the 1 I saw on the JBL Bar two.one Deep Bass, and it prices a rather penny, as well, at $one hundred eighty. The big 16.5-by-eight.6-by-13.seven-inch box has a seven-inch woofer onboard. 

In the meantime optional rear speakers come in devoted Left and Correct versions and element ten-foot extended power cables. The speakers, shaped vaguely like a eyeglasses circumstance, are finished in grey marle and measure around eight inches extended by four inches sq..

For a fairly affordable soundbar, the distant control is rather complete. It truly is chunky but in a purposeful way and it provides a great deal of control abilities — even for the concentrations of the rears and the sub. These latter controls could also be viewed as a not-so-subtle upsell try.

Interacting with Alexa

In the time because the introduction of voice assistant-enabled soundbars, I have some next thoughts on the technology, as have seemingly many producers. There are two important good reasons. 1st, persons probably currently have a digital assistant in their living place by now, because they are reasonably low cost. Second, the sound from the primary speaker “ducks” or mutes when you difficulty a command, which means your display or motion picture is interrupted. 

Individuals caveats apart, the Polk Respond was fairly painless when it came to issuing instructions, listening to my “Alexa” wake word even when at the greatest quantity. The speaker won’t mute entirely when it ducks, which means you can however form of hear what’s heading on. Queries were promptly fixed and so the interruption was not as terrific as with other intelligent soundbars I have examined, these kinds of as the Yamaha YAS-209 or JBL Connection Bar.

If you do not want to use the distant you can also use your voice for all of the controls, like the means to alter the sub and rear volumes. In a associated style, the only thing that irked me through set up was that neither the soundbar nor the subwoofer manual notify you how to sync the peripherals. Ideally the business can correct this for its May possibly launch, but if you might be caught you need to have to push the sync button on the soundbar for four seconds, then the synching device’s for four seconds, and then touch the soundbar’s button promptly once more.

A evening on the sofa

As with the outstanding collection of Tv speakers in advance of it, the Polk Respond is similarly at property with films as it is with actively playing new music. The array of promptly-changeable sound modes implies that you can talk to Alexa on the fly if you want to enhance intelligibility (voice quantity) or bathe in pseudo-surround sound (motion picture manner).

Unfortunately, I did not have the Sonos Beam on hand for direct comparison, but I did have two subwoofer-much less soundbars, the Vizio M21D-H8 ($one hundred fifty) and the JBL Bar 5. Multi Beam ($350), that bookend the Polk in selling price.

I began my tests with 1 of the most memorable sequences from a superhero motion picture — up there with Superman flying all-around the entire world backwards — which is Ponder Lady heading “about the leading” of the World War I trenches (one:14:00). Bullets fly as our hero strides confidently via the mud in advance of bracing herself with the assistance of her shield for a machine gun assault. The scene brought me chills.

The Polk was ready to seize the movie’s epic sweep, the soundtrack swelled and bullets zinged, but I did miss some of the oomph and immersiveness a larger method could deliver. In comparison, the Vizio was not as distinct and didn’t have as substantially bass. It simply felt a minimal underpowered for this scene, even with the oft-reliable DTS Digital:X processing used.

But it was the JBL Bar 5. which sounded the most majestic in this test. With the JBL’s Good Method turned on, dialogue was however distinct but bullets whizzed all-around the place in a way that they didn’t with the other two bars. There was also a great deal of base conclude for the shells that exploded all-around our pals as they approached the German line.

With this and other materials I identified that the Polk available the greatest compromise of sounding full for a realistic sum, but the JBL was the far better property cinema speaker. Perhaps it could be really worth the excess $100 for motion picture watching, but not if you want to listen to new music.

Like other Polk’s in advance of it, the Respond is ready to tap out a tune very convincingly. Nick Cave’s Red Correct Hand sounded all-natural and well balanced on the Polk at each and every quantity level. When the JBL can go substantially louder than the Polk, its musical overall performance came with sonic artifacts. The bass line began to distort and become synth-like over and above only halfway up the dial.

When I extra the optional sub and rears the Polk was at its greatest, as you would be expecting from a method that now prices $650. The positive aspects of the sub and rears could be felt whichever type of materials I was listening to, occasionally in unpredicted strategies. For example, Lifeless Can Dance’s Yulunga Spirit Dancer, in particular in Film manner, was as pleasant as at any time — the entire world-new music-tinged tune sounded huge, and it was really hard to imagine it was coming from a soundbar method.

Should you obtain it?

With the Polk Respond the maker has specified consumers a distinct up grade path, a rarity in this classification, by offering the optional sub and surrounds. If you have to decide on in between the two it really is a tricky contact. If you mainly enjoy Tv sports activities or dramas, then the surrounds will make the most change as they give the listener the best feeling of immersion. On the other hand if you like your new music loud or your action films explodey, then it really is the sub you should really get. 

With out the optional speakers, the Polk Respond provides outstanding sonics for a one bar with a smattering of terrific capabilities for the money. For persons who want a hybrid Alexa speaker, it really is a different fulfilling method that life up to the intelligent soundbar legacy created by the authentic Polk Command Bar.