This budget-friendly soundbar with Dolby Atmos blew me away — I felt like I was at the movies

Tom's Guide

3 days ago

If one of your primary concerns is cost, then the Sharp 3.1.2 HT-SBW53121 soundbar could be one of the best soundbars for you. At just £329, the soundbar and subwoofer combo provides an immersive Dolby Atmos (and DTS Virtual:X) experience. I could feel the famous James Bond Italian car chase scene in my soul, and physically flinched every time a gun was fired.
With a 3.1.2 setup and compatibility with 2.0.2 rear speakers, this soundbar is one of the most affordable ways to elevate any home theatre experience. Sharp also makes a £449 5.1.2 soundbar, which is just as impressive.
If you want to upgrade your home setup for the least amount of money possible (who doesn't?) then I can't recommend the Sharp 3.1.2 setup enough. Find out the full story, including its flaws, in this Sharp 3.1.2 HT-SBW53121 review.
If you're in the U.S. and want a similar performance, I'd check out the Polk Signa S4 soundbar, which is a 3.1.2 channel setup for $399.
Price
£329 (+ optional £179 rear surround speakers)
Connectivity
HDMI (with 4K pass-through), eARC, Optical, Bluetooth 5.3, 3.5mm aux
Weight
4.5kg
Dimensions
100 x 7.6 x 12.5 cm
Colors
Black, white
Subwoofer
Yes
Dolby Atmos
Yes
Channel
3.1.2
The Sharp 3.1.2 HT-SBW53121 soundbar is pretty affordable, all things considered: it's £329 from Amazon U.K. Yep — it's only available in the U.K., so if you're a U.S. reader, I'd recommend the Polk Signa S4 ($399) instead. It has a 3.1.2 setup too, and it's a genuinely fantastic soundbar.
As I said, £329 for a soundbar + subwoofer combo is a great deal. Usually, soundbars of this channel setup start from around £400. Heck, the Samsung Ultra Slim soundbar is £549 for a 3.1.2 setup. The Sharp price/performance sacrifice is almost certainly in the subwoofer: I do wish it was more powerful. However, it could be a worthy tradeoff. Sharp also makes a 5.1.2 channel soundbar and subwoofer for £449, which is also an incredibly reasonable price for a soundbar of this quality. If you want a more immersive experience, I'd recommend that model.
Just like its older sibling, the Sharp 5.1.2 soundbar, the Sharp 3.1.2 Soundbar looks like just about every other soundbar. It's quite long, at 40 inches, but relatively low-profile. I was able to fit it on my testing TV's stand easily.
Instead of having a plastic or metallic mesh covering, the Sharp 3.1.2 Soundbar is lined with fabric, which gives it a more premium appearance. It's definitely worth taking ease of cleaning into consideration, though: dust could look more prevalent on a fabric soundbar.
The top of the mesh houses six buttons that control volume, Bluetooth, and power. I found myself solely using the remote, though. It's quite weighty and well-made when compared to rivals like Bose and Majority's flimsy feeling remotes.
At the back of the soundbar, you'll find the ports: there's one eARC HDMI, 2 x HDMI, an Optical, USB, 3.5mm aux, and power input. I tested via eARC, as this provides the best quality.
The subwoofer is wirelessly connected, so it only has a power input at its rear. Controlling the subwoofer is easy via the remote, which has subwoofer controls and a bass volume increase.
If you want to spend another £179, the 3.1.2 Soundbar is also compatible with Sharp's 2.0.2 rear speakers. I don't think these speakers are essential, but they are nice to have. I found it very easy to connect via the 'Pair' button on the reverse of each speaker. You can also independently increase the volume via the remote control.
Considering the £329 price, it's not surprising that the 3.1.2 Soundbar doesn't have a huge range of features. It does, however, have a range of listening EQs. These are: Movie, music, game, night, voice, sport, and independent treble and bass controls. I found myself using 'Movie', which increased the bass. I'd recommend cycling through these features and figuring out which one sounds the best, as there's no one-size-fits-all approach here.
The Sharp 3.1.2 soundbar also has Bluetooth connectivity for instant music playback. Accessing the connection is super easy: just press Bluetooth on the soundbar (or change the source input on the remote) and the soundbar will pop up instantly in your phone settings.
Again, if you're after a huge range of smart home or AI features, it's worth checking out a pricier soundbar like the Bose Smart Soundbar ($499) or the Samsung Ultra Slim soundbar I mentioned earlier.
I don't mind having a simple soundbar, though. If you just want a soundbar that'll make movies sound even more epic, and don't necessarily care about being able to link it to your smart home, then the Sharp 3.1.2 is more than enough.
I test every soundbar with 'Top Gun: Maverick' on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, TV shows on Netflix, and music on Spotify and Qobuz.
To test the Sharp 3.1.2 Soundbar, I watched 'Top Gun: Maverick', as always. The opening scene has the perfect amount of bass, high-frequency sound effects, and challenging treble, which makes it perfect for testing soundbars. I'm looking for intense bass in the jet engines, clear treble in the 'Danger Zone' track, and clear high-frequency diegetic sounds like ropes whooshing, metal clinking, and radio dialogue.
I upped the bass to the max, but I was still a little disappointed by the subwoofer's performance, just as I was with the Sharp 5.1.2 Soundbar. It's to be expected, as the 3.1.2 uses the same physical subwoofer as the 5.1.2.
Despite this semi-disappointing subwoofer performance, I was still impressed by the dialogue clarity. The soundbar itself definitely excels with treble; percussion in the soundtrack was rich and piercing without being pinching or tinny. On top of the soundtrack excellence, I never struggled to hear anyone, even over radioed dialogue.
I switched it up for the next movie and watched 'Wicked'. I wanted to evaluate the musical performance and figure out if 'Movie' or 'Music' EQ would suit.
In both EQ modes, I found the dialogue crystal-clear. The dialogue performance equals that of the Sharp 5.1.2 Soundbar, but, again, the bass was a little disappointing. However, I was still able to enjoy the movie.
I wasn't blown away by the Dolby Atmos performance, but 'Wicked' isn't as well-known for Dolby Atmos as, say, 'No Time To Die', which I watched next to test the Sharp 3.1.2 Soundbar's 360° audio performance.
In the iconic Matera chase scene, not only was the dialogue clear and audible, but the mixture of the engines, soundtrack, and environmental sounds made for an incredibly immersive listen. I could feel Bond shouting and the squeal of the tyres on the road in my soul. When Bond and Madeline are being shot at, the bullets seem to ricochet off the inside of my brain.
I was much more impressed with the Dolby Atmos performance in 'No Time To Die' than 'Wicked'. Actually, 'No Time To Die' was probably the most impressive movie I watched with this soundbar. I would recommend getting this movie just to be amazed by the soundbar's performance.
On the whole, I was impressed by the movie performance. I felt immersed in the scenes and I honestly could've been at the movie theatre. I just wish the bass had a touch more power.
To replicate real-world usage, I watched TV on the basic tier of Netflix. Not everyone has premium streaming services or UHD 4K Blu-rays, so it's only fair to test with standard resolution audio as well as the premium options.
I watched 'Stranger Things' on Netflix, which has a great combination of a synthy, bassy soundtrack, dialogue, and action scenes. Overall, I was really impressed with the performance.
Obviously, the lack of bass oomph meant that some action scenes weren't as overpowering as I'd want them to be. Even so, the high-frequency sound effects were clear, which added to the atmosphere.
The underground scenes were particularly great: I could really feel the characters' stress due to the immersive soundscape and the buzzing of the fluorescent lights in the scene. This is 100% a worthy upgrade for TV.
To test music performance, I listened to a variety of genres using Qobuz, our best music streaming service for audiophiles.
'Money' by Pink Floyd was a little tinny at the top of the percussion section. The bass was a little quiet too, but soundbars are never excellent at music performance. 'Money for Nothing' by Dire Straits was atmospheric at the start and affecting throughout, but, again, disappointing bass. I still had a great time listening to these tracks, but it wouldn't be my first choice of home speaker.
'Bad guy' by Billie Eilish is a very bassy song, so I wanted to see how the Sharp 3.1.2 would deal with its sonic makeup. Surprisingly, it was the best sounding song I listened to on the soundbar. This is likely because there wasn't much sonic differentiation: as the song is almost entirely bass, the subwoofer had to put in extra hours and couldn't sneak away without clocking out.
In general, the music performance was a little lacklustre, but soundbars are never amazing in this regard. If you want a home sound system setup, I'd definitely recommend getting some dedicated speakers for music like the Fluance Ri71.
For the low, low price of £329, the Sharp 3.1.2 Soundbar is really competitive. The sound excels with dialogue and high-frequency sound effects. With the optional 2.0.2 rear speaker upgrade, the Dolby Atmos performance is truly excellent. However, if you haven't got Premium Netflix or the like, then this 360° audio will be lost.
Even so, when I was watching basic tier Netflix, I was still really impressed by the Sharp HT-SBW53121's performance. This is a very versatile setup. It's much better value than the competition, including Bose, Sonos (the $449 Beam 2 is 5.0, so no sub), and Samsung. As a result, I'd recommend the Sharp 3.1.2 Soundbar wholeheartedly for those trying to upgrade their home cinema setup on a budget.
As I said earlier, if you're in the U.S. and want a similar performance, I'd check out the Polk Signa S4 soundbar, which is a 3.1.2 channel setup for $399.