Latest news with #Naga60
Tom's Guide
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
No, a $67 soundbar isn't going to perform like Sonos — but this one actually surprised me
Right off the bat, let's make one thing very clear. Many of the best soundbars cost an arm and a leg, and for good reason. To get expansive, room-filling sound powerful enough to rival your local IMAX at home, it's gonna cost you. For example, the Sonos Arc Ultra features a massive 9.1.4 channel setup with virtual Dolby Atmos surround, which is probably as close as you can get to home theater (without breaching prosumer territory). However — and that's a big however — the Sonos Arc Ultra is also one thousand big ones. Yep — $999 for a soundbar. Heck, even the semi-basic Bose Smart Soundbar I personally own is $499. Now more than ever, that just feels difficult to reach for most people. So when I found the Majority Naga 60 soundbar for $67 (not a typo, yes, just sixty-seven), I knew I had to test it out. Obviously a $67 soundbar is never going to be a Sonos or Bose rival, but I was actually pleasantly surprised. And here's why. Although it doesn't have mind-blowing sound, for $67, can you really complain? With a little EQ fiddling, the Naga 60 soundbar actually really impressed me. Its imitation-Dolby Atmos was surprisingly room-filling, and there's even a subwoofer out for building a home theater. I'll preface this by saying obviously this soundbar doesn't have Dolby Atmos. It's $67. It's a 2.1 channel soundbar. The Majority Naga 60 has no true immersive 360° audio whatsoever — neither do many of the best cheap soundbars. So why did it almost sound like it does? When I was watching 'Stranger Things' (as one does when Stranger Things's fifth and final season is due later this year), I truly felt like I was in the scene. During sections with walkie-talkies, the dialogue sounded as if it was coming from all around me. Don't get me wrong, the Naga 60 isn't perfect. It struggles with female voices and super low bass (but more on the subwoofer out in a second). However, it performs considerably better than TV speakers, so it's most definitely a worthy upgrade from a TV. If you've got a Samsung TV, though, may I point you in the direction of the Samsung HW-B650? It has a 3.1 channel setup and although it's $249, it is an utterly mesmerizing soundbar + subwoofer combo. Although this is a very cheap soundbar, it has a premium feature that some other big-name brands lack: a subwoofer out. This means you can get a third-party subwoofer (wired only) and connect it up to the Naga 60 for a bassier setup. Of course, the soundbar doesn't have extra outputs for surround speakers, so the setup would remain a 2.1 channel, but it's a very respectable start to a home theater setup. Interestingly, the $99 Sony HT-S100F soundbar doesn't have a subwoofer out, nor does the $99 Majority Elias. So if you're a TV/AV newbie and you want to dip your toe in the proverbial water, then I think the Naga 60 is a pretty decent starter soundbar. On top of having a subwoofer out, the Naga 60 is a Bluetooth soundbar. I was able to link up to my phone and Spotify app to play music, so it doubles up as a speaker in a pinch. However, if you've got a little extra $$$ to spare, then I recommend the Polk Signa S4 as the number one entry-level home theater setup. It has 3.1.2 channel setup with a wireless subwoofer, and while its MRSP is considerably higher than the super-budget Naga 60, it's utterly phenomenal. Given the extremely low price, obviously some corners have been cut — some sacrifices have been made. In the Majority Naga 60's case, these sacrifices are threefold: 1) it's got an annoying, fiddly setup, 2) its semi-ugly bulky design, and 3) its sound comes ever-so-close to Tinny City. Tinny City isn't a real place — it's just something I made up to describe cheap low-quality audio gear. You know, when poor drivers or speakers transform previously-vibrant bass and mids into flat, lifeless sound and make your eardrums rattle, like someone's shaking a tin can around inside your brain? That. Thankfully, avoiding tinniness is relatively easy on the Naga 60 — just put the soundbar on 'movie' mode and activate '3D sound'. Don't touch these settings, ever. I can assure you that any other sound mode will make you think I'm crazy for even suggesting this soundbar is good. Another issue is the frustrating setup. I couldn't get the soundbar to work upon initial unboxing, so I had to reach out to Majority itself. An engineer instructed me to fiddle with my TV settings (I discuss exactly how to do this in my Majority Naga 60 review), and ta-da! It worked. Finally, the design. I find pretty much all soundbars relatively ugly (except the Marshall Heston 120), but the Naga 60 is a little extra ugly. It's bulky and weirdly tall. However, this is a worthy tradeoff for costing literally $67.
Tom's Guide
2 days ago
- Tom's Guide
I just tested this $67 soundbar, and I'm blown away for the price
The Majority Naga 60 has something I've never seen before on a soundbar: a sub-$70 MSRP. The Naga is by far the cheapest soundbar I've ever tested. But is that enough to make it one of the best soundbars on the market today? Well… it depends on what you're after. Are you looking for a super affordable upgrade from TV speakers? Then it could be the one for you. Conversely, if you're looking for a buildable home theater setup, then it's probably not adept enough to impress you. If you configure the EQs correctly (Movie mode and 3D on), then the Naga can hold its own. However, for just $67, I'm inclined to say that this is the top bang-for-buck soundbar out there — admittedly, there's not that much bang, but there's so little buck that I can forgive it. Find out the full info in this Majority Naga 60 soundbar review. Price $67 / £69 Connectivity HDMI ARC (not eARC), Optical, Bluetooth, USB Weight 3.7 pounds Dimensions 24 x 4.6 x 3 inches Colors Black Subwoofer Built-in, but poor. Sub output for wired third-party Dolby Atmos No Channel 2.1 The Majority Naga 60 is incredibly affordable. The 2.1 channel soundbar is just $67 from Amazon U.S. and £69 from Amazon U.K. It is, by far, the cheapest soundbar I've ever reviewed. The other budget options I've tested are the Majority Elias ($99, 3-stars) and the Sony HT-S100F ($99, 4-stars). While I would wholeheartedly recommend the Sony HT-S100F (which you'll be hearing a lot about in this review) over the Naga 60, for that extra $32 saving, the Naga 60 could be a good option for those on a very tight budget. I'm just going to discuss the Naga's connectivity issues right off the bat. Even though it has an ARC HDMI output, it won't work without fiddling with your TV's settings. Once the soundbar is connected, you'll need to go into the advanced settings and change the S/PDIF settings to PCM. PCM is usually reserved for optical connectivity, so I was utterly baffled by this. However, once this was sorted, I was able to watch TV as usual with the Naga soundbar. While this might seem a bit daunting for newbies, if you follow Majority's steps carefully, it should be easy to correct. Connectivity issues aside, the soundbar looks like any other soundbar. It's a little bulky at 3 inches tall and 4.5 inches deep, which is considerably bigger than the Sony HT-S100F's 2.5 and 3.5 inches respectively, but this could be a worthy sacrifice for the $32 saving. There's a range of buttons on top, but these are all remote controlled too. The remote feels decently made, with slightly tactile buttons. These buttons control EQs (flat, movie, music, dialogue, 3D), bass and treble levels, and Bluetooth connectivity. Disappointingly, though, I didn't find the tone controls all that effective. This is either due to such a weak built-in subwoofer that increasing the bass volume to max does nothing, or that the button controls don't actually do anything. The minimum volume (01) and max volume (04) sounded virtually identical to me. Volume 4 resulted in some unpleasant vibration interference, but didn't actually improve the movie's sound, so I turned it back down to stop this vibrating. Considering this is a $67 soundbar, I didn't expect a massive range of features, and that's exactly what I got. There's a built-in subwoofer, Bluetooth connectivity for music or linking to your phone/laptop, and a range of playback EQs I mentioned above. I got the best sound out of the 'Movie' mode with '3D' mode turned on. It appears you can turn on 3D mode and one of the listening modes simultaneously. I found 'Flat' to be very tinny, so I would never choose that EQ. Similarly, 'Dialogue' and 'Music' did little to improve the sound itself — only 'Movie' mode sounded good. I'll discuss the quality of the sound and Bluetooth connectivity for music in detail in the 'Sound quality' section below. I always test soundbars with 'Top Gun: Maverick' on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, a range of TV shows on Netflix, and music via Spotify and Qobuz. As with all soundbars I test, I watched 'Top Gun: Maverick'. The opening scene is fantastic for putting soundbars through their paces: it has thumping bass in both the diegetic jet engines and the soundtrack, plus high-frequency sound effects of whipping ropes, clinking metal, and radio sounds. While a lot of this nuance was lost, I could still hear sounds like the roaring engines and the whooshing wind. True, I couldn't make out the clinking metal sounds and flicking rope effects, but for a $67 soundbar, can I really complain? Throughout the movie, the OST's brass motif was a little tinny and flat, and I wanted some extra oomph from the action scenes — especially when Maverick was flying. However, this soundbar is a little better than my Panasonic TV speakers, and is just $67. There were some moments where the Naga 60 couldn't handle the sound: for example, when Maverick's jet is taking off at the start of the movie. This sound was condensed and clipped, almost muted. When I increased to volume 20+, the jet sound didn't really get louder, while dialogue and the soundtrack did. To test sound quality on TV, I watched a variety of shows on Netflix. Considering the Naga 60 is just $67, I think it's a worthwhile assumption that most customers will be using it for TV rather than surround-sound Dolby Atmos setups. Especially as the Naga 60 isn't actually compatible with Atmos. There were a few standout moments during testing: for example, when I was watching 'Stranger Things', the characters speaking over walkie-talkies was really immersive. The radio dialogue sounded as if it was coming from around me. When the characters were hiding in a school bus, the footsteps on the metal body echoed throughout the scene. While the soundtrack was pinchy in the treble and a little crackly at the top of the frequency range, this didn't detract massively from the general experience. The soundbar really struggles with high-pitched feminine voices, especially Winona Ryder's — which is a massive shame seeing as she's the main character in 'Stranger Things'. This impacted my ability to watch the show for long periods. The Naga 60 also really struggled with the 'Stranger Things' intro, which is very bassy, and just churned out an unpleasant vibrating and grating sound. Overall, the soundbar performed well, all things considered. It's a major step up from TV speakers, but it won't impress when playing Dolby Atmos-enabled movies or home cinema enthusiasts. For that, I'd recommend the Sony HT-S100F. To test music playback, I connected to my Naga 60 via Bluetooth on Qobuz, our best music streaming service for audiophiles. First, I listened to 'Certified' by Miso Extra, which is an upbeat pop track with synth motifs and a groovy bass beat. I couldn't really hear the bass synths, but the treble melody was audible. The vocals were soft yet a little flat, but overall the song sounded alright — just nowhere near as good as one of the best Bluetooth speakers. 'Memoirs of Miso' by The Orielles is a psychedelic indie track with rolling guitar melodies and airy vocals. This track sounded quite muffled in the bridge and chorus, as if the soundbar couldn't separate all the instruments layered across the track. However, the sound was still palatable. Another track worth noting was 'There's No Future In Optimism' by Garbage, which has a dense soundscape with electronic bass, guitars, and heady percussion. There was a little crackling at the peak of the bass, and the vocals were a little overpowered by the rest of the sound, but, again, I can't really expect more from a $67 soundbar. Overall, the soundbar did alright with music, but I'd just recommend getting a speaker (like the JBL Flip 7, $149 on Amazon). The Naga 60 soundbar is a great way to upgrade from TV speakers for as little money as possible. However, $67 is still a decent amount of money for a first soundbar, and, given the setup headache, I'm not sure how easy this is to use for complete beginners. If you can spare another $32, I'd recommend the Sony HT-S100F soundbar. It's just $99 and has fantastic, room-filling sound quality. On top of that, it never struggled with dialogue or bass like the Naga 60 did. However, it's worth noting that it doesn't have a subwoofer output (unlike the Naga, which can be connected to a wired sub), so it is not great for building a home theater. With all that being said, if you want a super cheap soundbar that sounds better than TV speakers (but not as good as a pricier soundbar), then the Majority Naga 60 is a good option — it just won't blow you away.
