I tested this soundbar and subwoofer combo with Dolby Atmos — and I can't believe how affordable it is

Tom's Guide

2 days ago

It's so tricky to find a good soundbar under £500, let alone a soundbar and subwoofer combo. So the Sharp 5.1.2 Soundbar (HT-SBW55121) was like finding a diamond in the rough. It's just £449 and has a full Dolby Atmos setup, including support for DTS:X.
Is this enough to make it one of the best soundbars? Well, just because something has a subwoofer doesn't guarantee that the subwoofer is particularly mind-blowing. In the Sharp 5.1.2 Soundbar's case, it's simply good enough. There were moments during testing when I'd amped up the bass to max and was still left a little disappointed.
However, that doesn't negate the soundbar's areas of excellence. It performs phenomenally with dialogue and high-frequency sound effects, and the Dolby Atmos is truly immersive. I think, all things considered, this soundbar and subwoofer is a steal. I'll go through everything in this Sharp 5.1.2 HT-SBW55121 Soundbar review.
This is a U.K. only soundbar. If you're in the U.S., I recommend the Polk Audio Signa S4 ($399).
Price
£449 (+£179 rear surround speakers)
Connectivity
eARC, HDMI, Optical, Bluetooth 5.3, aux in, USB playback
Weight
12.3 kg
Dimensions
126 x 7.6 x 12.4 cm
Colors
Black
Subwoofer
Yes
Dolby Atmos
Yes
Channel
5.1.2 / 2.0.2 rear speakers
The Sharp 5.1.2 Soundbar is only available in the U.K. and is purchasable from Amazon U.K. for £449. The soundbar is compatible with two rear surround speakers, which I used during testing. These speakers are £179 also from Amazon U.K.. I do not think these rear speakers are an essential addition, but they were nice for extra surround sound.
All things considered, this is an incredibly affordable price for a soundbar of this quality. No, it doesn't have as many features as the Samsung or JBL similarly-priced offerings (the Samsung Q600C and JBL Bar 500), but it performs excellently for a £450 soundbar. The £499 Sonos Beam 2 has no subwoofer, so the Sharp setup has a one-up there.
As with seemingly every other soundbar I've tested, the Sharp 5.1.2 Soundbar looks just like a soundbar. There's nothing unusual about it, which is both a good and bad thing depending on your personal preference.
While the Samsung Q range seems to be quite plasticky in construction, the Sharp 5.1.2 has a fabric lining, which means it might be trickier to clean — but it does look and feel slightly more premium.
On top of the soundbar are six buttons for volume, Bluetooth, input, and power. I found myself mostly using the remote, though, which is a bit weightier than the Bose and Samsung remotes I've used in the past. You can control everything from rear speaker volume to input source on the remote, so it's a handy piece of kit to have.
The rear of the soundbar houses the source inputs: I used an 8K HDMI cable in the eARC port. There's also an optical port, USB port, a 3.5mm jack input, and two additional HDMI ports with 4K pass-through.
Considering this is a £449 soundbar + subwoofer, I think it's pretty fair that it lacks a number of features. Of course there are EQ presets (Movie, music, game, night, voice, sport, including independent treble and bass controls) and a range of connectivity options, but in terms of proprietary features akin to Samsung's 'Adaptive Sound', you're out of luck.
I didn't mind or notice this absence during testing. I'd much rather my soundbar excel at its one job (elevating my home theater experience) than be stuffed full with loads of arbitrary features that don't necessarily do much.
I found 'Movie' was the best EQ for watching movies (shock horror), and TV aligned best with 'Voice'. 'Music' did little to improve music quality, as soundbars aren't generally designed to excel at music playback.
If you've got an extra £179, the 5.1.2 soundbar can be upgraded to a 7.1.2 soundbar with two wireless rear speakers. These were easy to connect with a 'Pair' button, and you can individually alter volumes with the remote.
All in all, the 'lack' of features didn't negatively affect my listening experience, and I genuinely enjoyed testing this soundbar.
I test every soundbar by watching 'Top Gun: Maverick' on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, TV on Netflix, and by listening to music on Spotify and Qobuz.
First, I watched 'Top Gun: Maverick' with the 'Music' EQ. In the opening scene, I could feel the jet engines rumble through the floorboards, but this bass performance didn't overpower the high-frequency sound effects of ropes whooshing and metal clinking.
When the iconic 'Danger Zone' by Kenny Loggins started up, I was amazed by how clear the vocals sounded. Although I wanted a little more oomph in the bass, I couldn't get over the vocal clarity. I found myself rewinding just to hear that crystal-clear voice again.
For the second run, I increased the bass volume to 5, which is the loudest it can go. I could still hear the high-frequency whirring and whooshing sound effects without losing that powerful bass. I actually found myself longing for the scene to be longer, as everything sounded so good.
In the dogfighting scene, the radio dialogue felt immersive and close, but I didn't feel as submerged in the scene as I did with the JBL Bar 1300X — a soundbar nearly three times the price. The soundtrack was a little lacklustre, even with the bass turned up to the max.
This didn't majorly impact the overall effect of the soundbar, as the treble and dialogue were so clear. I never struggled to understand speech, which I've found a little tricky with cheaper soundbars like the Samsung HW-S60D ($349, 5.0 channel).
After 'Top Gun: Maverick', I watched 'No Time To Die'. This movie is renowned for its Dolby Atmos performance, particularly in the opening scene and the first car chase scene through Matera.
When the young girl is hammering on the locked door, I could feel the reverberations as if they were just next to me. The masked killer's breathing and dialogue were horrifyingly close, as if vibrating right in my eardrums.
When Bond knocked out the attacker's glass eye, I felt it bounce off the road. During the car chase, when the church bells are ringing, I could hear the scene all around me. Then, when Bond and Madeline are being pummeled with bullets, I could feel the impact of the bullets in my chest.
Finally, I watched 'Wicked' to test the musical performance. Again, the bass wasn't as powerful as I would've liked. It was still good, but just not mind-blowingly good. Even so, the vocal performance was excellent, and I never struggled with understanding dialogue.
When Elphaba summons stones and throws them at other children, I heard the stones rising as if they came from behind me.
For the most part, I was really impressed with this performance. I wish the subwoofer was just a touch louder — but I still had a great time.
To test the TV performance, I watched a variety of shows on 'Netflix'. To reflect real-world usage, this is basic Netflix with 5.1 sound, not Dolby Atmos.
I'll discuss 'Stranger Things' here, as it had the most challenging sound performance of the shows I watched.
Unlike while watching 4K UHD Blu-rays, I found the dialogue a little muffled. As a result, I turned down the bass and changed the EQ to 'Voice'. This performance is likely due to Netflix's inferior audio resolution rather than the soundbar itself, but it's still worth noting.
'Voice' EQ did little to help this dialogue issue. However, as I mentioned earlier, when I say a little muffled, I literally mean a little. Overall, I could still hear every word said, but it wasn't as clear as while watching the movies. Of course it wouldn't be — it's like comparing apples to oranges. 4K Blu-ray and Netflix basic aren't really in the same ballpark.
Yes, the Sharp 5.1.2 Soundbar is intended for movies, and that's where it excels. And of course that's the case — give an F1 racer a 1999 Toyota Corolla and see them come dead last. However, the soundbar still performs well for TV shows. I use the Bose Smart Soundbar at home, and while its 4K movie performance is lacklustre, it excels at TV. I'd get a cheaper and lower-spec soundbar if you're not going to watch movies.
To test music in a real-world setting, I listened via Bluetooth on Qobuz, our best music streaming service for audiophiles. You can also use a 3.5mm aux connection or a music streaming app on your TV.
It was easy to connect to Bluetooth: I simply changed the source input on the Sharp remote and selected the soundbar from my settings menu. I know soundbars will never sound great for music. If you want a decent speaker, you should just get one of the best Bluetooth speakers, like the JBL Xtreme 4 ($349). Therefore, it's unfair of me to massively criticise the lacklustre music performance, as soundbars simply aren't designed for it.
I will, however, describe how it sounded. I upped the bass to the max and changed the EQ to 'Music', but the Sharp 5.1.2 Soundbar still sounded pretty tinny. I listened to 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' by Nirvana, and was excited for the bass to kick in after the intro. However, that bass never kicked in, and I was left disappointed.
I tried a few different genres. First, something a little more acoustic, with 'Garden of Eden' by Billie Marten, which sounded great and really immersive. I could feel the guitar strings around me, and Marten's vocals were soft and clear.
After, I switched it up dramatically to 'Hot In It' by Tiesto and Charli xcx. Like with the Nirvana track, the bass was pretty disappointing, even turned up to max. However, the vocals were clear. I just don't think the soundbar likes bass-heavy genres: I didn't like listening to bass-heavy genres on it anyway, so it's a mutual breakup.
The Sharp 5.1.2 HT-SBW55121 Soundbar and subwoofer is really very good. No, it's not perfect, but it's most of the way there. The soundbar handles 4K UHD Blu-rays like a boss and excels with dialogue and immersive sound effects. If the subwoofer was a touch more powerful, this could be a soundbar worthy of battling with the big names like Bose, Sonos, and Samsung.
This isn't a TV-oriented soundbar: it would be an injustice to watch anything but 4K Blu-rays and high-resolution movies on it. If you want to get the best performance out of it, you'll need something capable of playing Dolby Atmos, like Netflix's Premium tier or physical media.
But if you want to transform your home cinema for less, then the Sharp 5.1.2 Soundbar is a fantastic way to achieve that. £449 is almost unbelievable for this quality. There's not much competition at this price point.