Living in a small space has some challenges, but poor cinematic sound doesn't need to be one of them. For those in an apartment or who have a smaller room for watching television and listening to music, the TCL A65K Soundbar is not a bad option among the best soundbars out there.
Priced at $499 on Amazon (the list price is $699), this pencil-shaped soundbar is about 35 inches long and stands two inches high but packs 460 watts of power. With the included sub (which measures about 14 x 14 inches square), you can blast the latest Netflix movie or crank up any one of the three new Drake albums at high volume. Dolby Atmos support, a brilliant room adaptation feature that uses AI, and a compact design are the main highlights.
Call it a niche product if you want, but judged as a compact audio product, I liked the features and design of the TCL A65K even if the actual audio quality can’t compete with the Sonos Arc Ultra or even come close to the Focal Mu-So Hekla. Audiophiles should definitely take a pass, but the rest will find a lot to like for the price, the small size, and smart design.
Setting It Up #
One of the TCL A65K's smart design choices has to do with the product size. The A65K soundbar weighs only 2.5 pounds so I found I could easily hold it with one hand. The sub, which is designed to face toward you, weighs almost 12 pounds. But it's also not a back-breaker. Compare that to something like the Focal Mu-So Hekla soundbar at 34 pounds and the A65K feels featherlight.