JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam  Soundbar Review

This soundbar has a simple, sleek design. The top of the bar is of metal, and there are two metal grilles on each side. Also, metal grilles wrap around the front and sides of the bar. The bottom is of plastic.

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam has a very compact design, so it should easily fit between the legs of a 55" TV stand. Also, it isn't very tall, so it shouldn't block your TV screen unless your TV sits flush on the table.

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam has a great build quality. The metal grilles help to protect the drivers inside. The metal on top of the bar feels very sturdy, and the plastic bottom feels solid, too.

• Quick Start guide
• Mounting brackets with screws, collars and template
• Remote with batteries (2x AAA)
• Power cable (4.9 ft / 1.5m)
• HDMI cable (3.9 ft / 1.2m)

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam has a decent stereo frequency response. With its Automatic MultiBeam Calibration room correction feature turned on, it has a slightly boxy sound profile that adds extra punch and boom to your audio. However, it struggles to reproduce a deep low-bass, disappointing if you like thumpy music like EDM or hip-hop and action-packed movies. It comes with a bass adjustment feature and some EQ presets to help you customize its sound.

Note: This soundbar's default bass setting is '3'. During our testing for stereo files, we turned SMART Mode Off. Stereo content played from the two front channels as well as both side surrounds.

With calibration, the JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam has a decent stereo frequency response. With its bass set to '1', it offers a more neutral, balanced sound profile suitable for listening to lots of different types of audio content. However, it still struggles to reproduce a thumpy low-bass, so you don't feel the deep rumble in action-packed scenes.

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam has a decent stereo soundstage performance. The soundstage is perceived to be a bit wider than the bar itself, but the bar isn't wide to begin with. Its focus is okay, so objects in the soundstage like voices and footsteps seem to come from a more general area rather than a pinpoint location.

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam has good dynamics. It can get pretty loud, though not quite as loud as some of the other bars we've tested, like the Sonos Arc. There isn't too much compression present when you play it at max volume, which is handy if you like to turn up the volume for parties.

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam has an impressive THD performance. At normal listening volumes, distortion falls within good limits, resulting in clean and pure audio reproduction. There's a slight jump in distortion when you push the bar to max volume, but this may not be too noticeable with real-life content.

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam has a great center channel performance. This 5.0 setup comes with a discrete center channel, which helps reproduce dialogue more clearly and accurately. It struggles to reproduce low-bass, but this shouldn't be too noticeable since there generally isn't much bass in audio content played on the center channel.

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam has a mediocre surrounds performance. It uses its front and side-firing speakers to create a phantom localization. However, this doesn't sound as clear and real as discrete surround setups, so objects in the soundstage like voices and footsteps aren't as clearly or accurately represented. Audio seems like it's coming from in front of you rather than from speakers placed all around you.

Note: During our testing for surround files, we turned SMART Mode on and Dolby Atmos off. Surround content played from the side-firing drivers as well as the two front-firing drivers.

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam has a disappointing Atmos performance. This soundbar doesn't come with dedicated Atmos drivers. Instead, it plays Atmos content from its side and front-firing channels using Dolby Atmos Virtual technology. Since it has to downmix Atmos content into surround to play it, it doesn't sound as clear or real as a discrete setup.

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam has a poor selection of sound enhancement features, especially compared to other small bars like the Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Mini. It comes with an Automatic MultiBeam Calibration room correction feature, which automatically optimizes audio reproduction based on the unique acoustic characteristics of your room. You can also choose between the two EQ presets, SMART Mode On and Off. The manufacturer recommends turning SMART Mode Off when listening to TV programs to reduce sound effects. Turning SMART Mode On enables the JBL Surround Sound feature, which is advertised to help create a more three-dimensional sound. Though it isn't in the manual, you can press the MUTE button for two seconds, followed by the - button to activate auto-volume mode. There's also a Sync feature to help reduce latency with videos, though we don't test for this.

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam comes with some physical inputs. There's a Full HDMI In port, so you can use the bar as a hub between different devices. Also, the US version of this soundbar comes with a USB port for audio playback. International versions of the bar come with a USB port, but it's only for servicing the bar.

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam has excellent audio format support via ARC. It supports Dolby Digital, which is the most common surround sound format. It also supports some object-based formats, like Dolby Atmos.

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam has amazing audio format support via Full HDMI In. It supports Dolby Digital, which is commonly found on Blu-ray discs and streaming platforms.

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam can play Dolby Digital via Optical. You can find this format on most streaming services and some Blu-ray discs. Unfortunately, it doesn't support DTS content, which is even more common on Blu-ray.

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam Soundbar has an incredible latency performance. It has low latency over its ARC, Optical, and Full HDMI In ports, so video and audio are in sync. As a result, it's suitable for watching videos and movies over these connections. However, some apps and TVs compensate for latency differently, so your real-world experience may vary.

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam has fantastic wireless playback connectivity. You can stream audio from your mobile devices to the bar wirelessly over all the formats we test for.

The JBL Bar 5.0 can passthrough the highest bandwidth signals. When you connect the bar to your TV and your PC, text on the screen appears crisp and clear.

There's a four-character display on the right side of the bar. It displays the volume level, firmware, and the input you're on. However, you may have to wait for it to scroll through longer words.

On top of the bar, there are some physical buttons. You can power the bar on/off, adjust the volume, and change the input source.

The remote is simple and lets you control all of the bar's functions. However, it isn't a universal remote, so you can't use it to control your TV.

The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam doesn't have built-in voice assistant support. According to the manufacturer, it supports voice assistants when you connect a third-party device like a Google Home to the bar. Since this requires a separate purchase, we don't test for it.