Vizio SB362An first look: US giant enters UK market with £149 soundbar

Vizio may not be a household name in the UK but it’s one of the biggest soundbar and TV manufacturers in the US, and it’s about to hit the UK market – at speed. It’s beginning its assault with the compact Vizio SB362An, but will be following that up with a couple more products from the range, including a 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos soundbar.

The SB362An looks unusual – like a squashed Toblerone in shape – but in terms of its features, it’s nothing special. It’s a basic 2.1 all-in-one soundbar with no subwoofer or surround-sound features; about what you’d expect for £149.

Despite this, it delivers most of the features you need from a TV speaker. It supports Bluetooth connections; has 3.5mm, USB and optical digital inputs; and, beneath the speaker grille, there are two integrated 3in subwoofers and a pair of 2.25in full-range drivers delivering the audio.

There’s also, surprisingly, support for DTS Virtual:X, a technology that’s designed to add height to audio in the manner of Dolby Atmos.

The bar comes with all the hardware required for wall mounting and the cables you need to get started, so it looks like it could be the ideal starter soundbar for people who want better sound but are unwilling to pay for it.

It’s a pretty impressive list of features for a soundbar costing this little and, if reviews in the US are anything to go by, it’s a soundbar you need to put on your list if you’re on a bit of a tight budget.

I did have a quick listen to the soundbar at the Plug Into Exertis show floor, but there was far too much other noise in the vicinity to be able to tell anything useful about what the Vizio SB362An actually sounded like. To my ears, there was plenty of body, but it was tricky to discern too much else useful.

The Vizio SB362An is already on sale at Amazon UK – at a discounted price of £141 – and we’ll be getting one in to see if it’s the budget soundbar to buy. Watch this space for the full review.