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The Onn soundbar delivers an enjoyable listening experience for its entry-level price, making it ideal for the price-conscious buyer on the lookout for good sound without many bells and whistles. It’s also got good bass but misses out on surround sound performance.
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Table of Contents
Product Snapshot
Overview
The Onn. 42” 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos Soundbar is an entry-level soundbar that also includes a subwoofer in its setup. The subwoofer delivers satisfactory bass levels, and this, plus its support for Dolby Atmos, makes it ideal for an immersive movie-watching experience.
With a soundstage that is also slightly wider than its bar, owners will be able to easily pinpoint exactly where object sounds are coming from.
Most top-end speakers support streaming through Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, work with Apple AirPlay, and have Chromecast built-in, but he Onn. 42” is limited to Bluetooth.
As is typical with the best soundbars in the market, the Onn. 42” also supports a wide range of audio formats, including Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Digital Plus.
Its range of physical inputs include one HDMI ARC port, one HDMI Out port, one AUX port, and three Full HDMI In ports.
Consensus
our Verdict
The Onn 42 soundbar is a 5.1.2 channel setup that includes a sub for heavy bass output, and its customizable sound profile consists of clear vocals and instrumentals plus balanced mids for a pleasant movie or TV watching.
Despite support for Dolby Atmos, its surround sound performance is not ideal since sounds like it’s coming from in front instead of around.
While its wireless connectivity is reliable, it is limited to Bluetooth and Apple AirPlay, but its port selection is good, with one Optical Audio In, three Full HDMI ports, one AUX port, and one USB plus Ethernet port.
Its tested latency performance is stellar, at 26ms over ARC and 22ms over Optical connections. Unfortunately, there’s no voice assistant support, and the sound also gets distorted when loud.
The Onn. 42” 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos Soundbar is an entry-level soundbar that also includes a subwoofer in its setup. The subwoofer delivers satisfactory bass levels,…
The Onn. 42” 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos Soundbar is an entry-level soundbar that also includes a subwoofer in its setup. The subwoofer delivers satisfactory bass levels, and this, plus its support for Dolby Atmos, makes it ideal for an immersive movie-watching experience.
With a soundstage that is also slightly wider than its bar, owners will be able to easily pinpoint exactly where object sounds are coming from.
Most top-end speakers support streaming through Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, work with Apple AirPlay, and have Chromecast built-in, but he Onn. 42” is limited to Bluetooth.
As is typical with the best soundbars in the market, the Onn. 42” also supports a wide range of audio formats, including Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Digital Plus.
Its range of physical inputs include one HDMI ARC port, one HDMI Out port, one AUX port, and three Full HDMI In ports.
The Onn. 42’’ soundbar includes a subwoofer while the Sonos Arc does not, but the Sonos Arc comes with features such as dialogue enhancement and…
The Onn. 42’’ soundbar includes a subwoofer while the Sonos Arc does not, but the Sonos Arc comes with features such as dialogue enhancement and auto-volume/night mode that are not found on the Onn. 42’’ soundbar. Still, the Onn. 42’’ comes with a Digital Optical Cable that’s missing on the Sonos Arc, but the Sonos Arc has a wider soundstage for more accurate sound projection. Lastly, the Onn. 42-inch supports Bluetooth, while the Sonos Arc does not.
The Onn. 42’’ Dolby Atmos soundbar ships with a HDMI cable, which the LG SP8YA ships without, and with a max volume of 99.1dB, it…
The Onn. 42’’ Dolby Atmos soundbar ships with a HDMI cable, which the LG SP8YA ships without, and with a max volume of 99.1dB, it gets louder than the LG soundbar, which peaks at 93 dB. Still, the SP8YA supports WiFi connectivity and Apple AirPlay while the Onn. 42’’ soundbar does not.
The Onn. 42-inch 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos soundbar ships with a subwoofer, while the Onn. 36’’ 5.1 soundbar does not, resulting in the Onn. 42’’, delivering…
The Onn. 42-inch 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos soundbar ships with a subwoofer, while the Onn. 36’’ 5.1 soundbar does not, resulting in the Onn. 42’’, delivering a much stronger bass output. However, the Onn. 36’’ comes with two satellite channels, while the Onn. 42’’ does not.
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