LG SN11RG Soundbar Review

The LG SN11RG is a very wide bar. It has a sleek look, thanks to its good-quality plastic build and metal grilles covering its front and side speakers. It also has two round metal grilles to protect its up-firing speakers, which is nice.

The subwoofer is made from hard black plastic. It has fabric that covers three of its sides, which can get dirty or rip. Just like most subwoofers, its port is found on its back panel.

The satellites have a metal grille that covers their top and front speakers. The rest of the satellites are made from a sleek black plastic.

The LG SN11RG is very wide, just like its previous generation, the LG SL10YG. It won't fit between the legs of a 55" TV, and you'll most likely want a larger table to place it on unless you decide to wall-mount it. Luckily, it's not very tall, so it shouldn't obscure your TV screen unless it sits flush on the table.

The LG SN11RG's subwoofer is about the size of an average desktop PC. It pairs wirelessly to the bar, but as long as you have it plugged in for power, you can place it anywhere in the room.

The satellites are slightly larger than average as they're quite long. They can only be placed in a vertical position and they need to be plugged into a power outlet, but connect wirelessly to the soundbar.

This bar has two openings. The opening on the left-hand side houses all of the inputs. Conversely, the power cable is found on the right-hand side. You can mount this soundbar on your wall by using the universal holes found on its underside.

The back of the subwoofer has a port at the bottom and the power cable connects just above it. There's also a pairing button on its back.

The LG SN11RG's satellites have a power cable each and they can be wall-mounted using the universal holes on their underside. There's also a pairing button on each satellite.

The LG SN11RG has a great build quality. The soundbar, subwoofer, and satellites are all mostly made from good quality plastic that makes them feel solid and robust. Unlike the Samsung HW-Q950T, this bar and its satellites have metal grilles to protect their speakers, which makes them feel a bit more premium. However, the sub uses fabric to cover its speakers on three sides, and it can easily rip or collect dust.

• Manual
• Optical cable
• Remote and 2x AAA batteries
• 4x Power cables
• Wall-mounting brackets and screws

Update 07/23/2021: Following user feedback, we retested all of our sound tests (stereo, center, surround, and height) with the bar's latest firmware update. We noticed a little less bass and a slightly better overall score for this test.

The LG SN11RG has a great stereo frequency response. On its default 'Standard' mode, it has a slightly boomy but otherwise neutral sound profile. It's great for stereo content, and it's well-suited for a variety of audio genres. If you don't like the way it sounds, you can also change it up by selecting one of the four other EQ presets. There's also a room correction feature, which can further improve audio reproduction depending on the acoustic qualities of your room.

Update 07/23/2021: Following user feedback, we retested all of our sound tests (stereo, center, surround, and height) with the bar's latest firmware update. We noticed a little less bass and a slightly better overall score for this test.

The stereo soundstage of the LG SN11RG is good. While the bar is pretty wide, its soundstage doesn't sound any bigger than the bar, and the bar doesn't do any tricks to help widen it. That being said, it has good focus, so objects are perceived as coming from more accurate pinpoint locations rather than from general areas.

Update 07/23/2021: Following user feedback, we retested all of our sound tests (stereo, center, surround, and height) with the bar's latest firmware update. We noticed a little less bass and a slightly better overall score for this test.

The stereo dynamics of this bar are good. It can get loud enough for a large or crowded room. It also performs quite well at max volume, but there are still a few compression artifacts present.

Update 07/23/2021: Following user feedback, we retested all of our sound tests (stereo, center, surround, and height) with the bar's latest firmware update. We noticed a little less bass and a slightly better overall score for this test.

The THD performance of the LG SN11RG is satisfactory. At a normal listening volume, there's a small amount of distortion, particularly in the bass to low-mid range. When the bar is pushed to its max volume, there's a big jump in THD, again in the bass to low-mid range. However, it may not be audible with real-life content.

Update 07/23/2021: Following user feedback, we retested all of our sound tests (stereo, center, surround, and height) with the bar's latest firmware update. We noticed a little less bass and the same overall score for this test.

The LG SN11RG is a 7.1.4 setup that has an excellent center channel performance. Thanks to its configuration, it has a dedicated center speaker, which reproduces clear and accurate audio reproduction of dialogue in movies.

Update 07/23/2021: We retested this soundbar with its latest firmware update. There was previously an issue where the sub didn't play audio with surround content, but that's been fixed with the update. With the update, surround audio plays on both the sub and the satellites.

The LG SN11RG has a passable surround performance. It has dedicated surround speakers, but they don't perform as well as that of the Vizio SB46514-F6. Still, surround objects seem to be coming around you, rather than in-front as with soundbars without rear speakers, thanks to the localization of their speakers.

Update 07/23/2021: Following user feedback, we retested all of our sound tests (stereo, center, surround, and height) with the bar's latest firmware update. We noticed a little less bass and the same overall score for this test.

The LG SN11RG has an alright height performance. Unlike the LG SN10YG which doesn't have satellites, this soundbar uses up-firing speakers on its bar as well as its satellites to help bounce sound off the walls and ceiling to give you the impression of height.

Update 05/06/2021: Added more information about the dialogue enhancement feature for clarity.

The LG SN11RG has outstanding sound enhancement features and it has pretty much all common features except for a graphic EQ. It does have a few EQ presets, though: 'AI Sound Pro', 'Bass Blast', 'Standard', 'Movie', and 'Music'. That said, its Dialogue Control feature, which helps make voices more clear and crisp, only works with DTS enabled content.

The LG SN11RG can serve as a hub between your TV and other devices as it has quite a few inputs. However, there's no Analog Audio In which could be used to play audio from older devices. You can play music stored on a USB thumb drive, though.

The LG SN11RG can play all common surround formats thanks to its HDMI ARC port. It also supports eARC, so it can play advanced object-based surround signals as well as high-quality lossless formats.

The LG SN11RG has excellent surround sound and object-based sound format support thanks to its two Full HDMI In ports. This ensures an immersive sound experience when watching content from streaming platforms or Blu-ray discs.

The LG SN11RG supports both Dolby Digital and DTS content via its Optical Audio In. This content is usually found on Blu-ray discs as well as streaming platforms.

Just like the LG SL10YG, this soundbar has excellent wireless playback options. You can use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to play content. You can also use Chromecast built-in, which is nice if you like to play audio from streaming platforms on your smartphone. If you prefer a soundbar that also supports Apple AirPlay, check out the LG SP11RA.

If you're using this soundbar as a hub for your devices, you can pass through the highest quality signals without a problem. It also supports 4:4:4 so when you're using your PC, the text remains clear and easy to read on your TV.

This subwoofer connects to the bar wirelessly, so you just have the power cable. There's also a small button on the center back of the sub so that you can pair it with your soundbar.

The LG SN11RG's satellites connect to the bar wirelessly and as such, they only have a power cord. There's also a button towards the center back of the satellites so that you can pair them with the soundbar.

There's a small display screen behind the LG SN11RG's metal grille, and it's more towards the left-hand side of the bar, which may annoy some as it's not centered. This interface displays the volume levels as well as the current input you're using. There are also four lights underneath the display screen.

The top of the LG SN11RG's bar has several touch-sensitive buttons. From here, you can turn the bar on/off, change the inputs using the 'F' button, control volume, play/pause, mic mute, and activate Google Assistant.

This soundbar has a remote that's basically the same as that of the LG SL10YG. You can control all of the bar's functions, and there's also a button that allows you to cycle through EQ presets. This soundbar also recognizes voice commands, which some users may prefer.

Update 08/04/2021: We added more information to mention that you can only cast files when a USB thumb drive is plugged into the soundbar. A window appears on the app that lets you see the list on songs on the thumb drive.

Update 05/06/2021: Updated the text to reflect that the soundbar is compatible with a new app.

The LG SN11RG is compatible with the LG Sound Bar app. The app lets you control most of the bar's features, though you can only access the bass and treble adjustments on the remote.

Update 08/04/2021:Added more information to the text about the auto-off feature.

The LG SN11RG enters auto-off mode after fifteen minutes of inactivity. It also supports HDMI CEC, so you can use your TV remote to control the basic features of the soundbar such as power and volume.