JBL Bar 300MK2 Review

Design

• Understated minimal design
• Black plastic housing with LED display
• HDMI, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi streaming

As mentioned, the design of the Bar 300 MK2 is on the plain side. It’s made from smooth black plastic, with a metal perforated grille around the sides. There’s a debossed JBL logo in the centre of the top panel and three capacitive touch buttons to control the volume and change input.

On the plus side, it won’t detract attention from whatever you’re watching, but I would love to see a little more visual flair. It’s a stark contrast to the Marshall Heston 60 (the last soundbar I tested), and by comparison, the JBL just feels a little boring.

There are a couple of design choices that I really appreciate, though. There’s an LED display that shines through the front grille, and it makes it clear which input you have selected, as well as showing your exact volume level. Displays like this are a rarity, especially around this price, and it’s genuinely convenient.

I also appreciate that you get an IR remote included in the box, as many competitors choose to rely wholly on eARC/IR learning of your existing remotes. This soundbar can do that too, but if that’s not working properly for whatever reason, a dedicated remote can be a real lifesaver. In addition, it means you’ll be less reliant on the smartphone app, as the remote can control things like bass level, surround sound mode and room calibration.

The Bar 300 MK2 is wall mountable, and it comes supplied with the necessary kit to do so. I can’t comment on this, as I only used it on my TV stand, but appreciate the option. The bar is just under a metre long, and it married perfectly with my (admittedly compact) TV unit, it looks like it belongs with a TV in the 50-inch-ish size range

When it comes to connectivity, there’s an HDMI input that supports 4K HDR pass-through, an HDMI eARC in/out, Optical, and a USB-A (but that’s only for service updates, at least in the UK). Power is handled by a figure-8 AC input.

You shouldn’t have any trouble with modern TVs, but the lack of any analogue inputs means this soundbar isn’t the most flexible option. On the plus side, there are plenty of wireless options, including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi streaming.

Features

It’s a pretty simple application, but it does everything you’d need it to. Connecting the Bar 300 MK2 to the Wi-Fi took a matter of minutes, and then I was able to stream music directly to the soundbar via apps like Spotify and YouTube Music. I’m an Android guy, so I can’t speak to the Apple experience, but AirPlay 2 support should mean that it’s just as seamless.

Of course, there’s also Bluetooth 5.3, so for any unsupported apps, or perhaps a different device like a laptop or tablet, you can wirelessly transmit your tunes that way instead.

In the app, you can use a virtualised version of the included remote, you can tweak the output with a custom 7-band EQ, and you can change settings like the audio mode, PureVoice vocal boost, room calibration and audio sync.

Room calibration will automatically happen the first time you set up the soundbar, and it’ll play swooping blips and bloops to correct for your environment. Then, you’ll be treated to a demo sound showcase that demonstrates just how powerful this soundbar is, and how wide the soundstage can get.

Oddly, there’s a button in the app that says “Create a Home Theatre”, designed for connecting a wireless sub or rear channels. But, as far as I’m aware, the Bar 300 MK2 doesn’t actually support that, and I can’t see any separates available in JBL’s store.

One particularly novel feature is called “Moment”. You can choose between a variety of relaxing soundscapes, like rain or forest sounds, and you can listen to them at any time by pressing the heart symbol on the remote. You can also link this button to your favourite playlist. As someone who enjoys background noise, I can see myself using this quite frequently.

Sound Quality

It supports both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X decoding, but since there aren’t physical height channels, any sound that appears to come from above is clever virtualisation created by JBL’s Multibeam 3.0 tech.

These factors, and the relatively low price point, meant that I didn’t have the highest expectations of the Bar 300 MK2, but it genuinely shocked me. This bar sounds fantastic, with the deep, rumbling bass that you normally only get with a dedicated sub, and an incredibly wide and immersive soundstage. At the same time, it’s exceptionally detailed, and vocals are clean and well-defined.

I tested it by watching the Golden Gate Bridge scene in Godzilla (2014), and I felt it performed as well, if not better, than some soundbars I’ve tested at three times the price. Explosions hit with full force, gunshot sounds are thrown about the room with great positional accuracy, and dialogue cuts through the noise with ease.

I also watched a good chunk of Blade Runner 2049 to test the Atmos performance. It sounded fantastic, but of course, there are limitations with the virtualised height channels. The sound is incredibly immersive and room-filling, but I wouldn’t say that it ever truly sounds like it’s coming from above. It didn’t take away from the enjoyment, but it’s worth tempering your expectations.

The Bar 300 MK2 is excellent for music, as well. Again, I was shocked by the amount of bass this relatively slim soundbar can produce; it extends well into the sub-bass frequencies, and does so without clouding the mids. Vocals are a strong point here, too.

The only real limitation of this soundbar is that the bass can distort at high volumes, and I noticed that more with music than movies. By default, the bar ships with a substantial bass boost in the EQ, and I found that lowering it a few notches gave me better results. I do wonder if that’s more to do with my TV cabinet than the soundbar itself, but regardless, that’s how it performed for me.

Should you buy it?