Pioneer SBX-N500 review

Pioneer’s latest sound bar wants to simplify your home cinema setup in more ways than one; the single unit design does away with a separate subwoofer, and the array of wireless connectivity should mean you won’t need to break out a cable just to stream music from a smartphone, or play video from a tablet or laptop.

The SBX-N500 has more connectivity options than many smart TVs, including Bluetooth for audio playback, and both Wi-Fi Direct and Miracast for wireless video. Connecting a phone or tablet is as simple as going to Settings on your device, pressing Display, then choosing Cast Screen. The device will detect the sound bar and automatically beam the picture to your TV.

We could watch videos saved to our smartphone at HD resolutions, and stream video from YouTube, and although picture quality wasn’t as good as a wired connection, the picture artefacts and compression we could see weren’t enough to ruin the viewing experience. Unfortunately there’s quite a bit of display lag, up to a second at times, meaning it’s difficult to play games that need quick reactions. Simpler titles such as Angry Birds work well, though.

At 900mm long, the SBX-N500 is a good fit for 42-47in TVs, but anything larger and the screen will begin to dwarf the speaker. Finished in black plastic, with a metallic grille covering the entire front panel, we’d describe it as functional rather than stylish. It certainly won’t steal attention away from the images on your TV screen. A pair of feed are bundled in the box to elevate it an extra 20mm, should you choose to place it on a low TV stand, and there are also wall-mounting brackets built into the back in case you want to fix it in place below a wall-mounted TV.

The bundled remote is rather simplistic, and the free Pioneer Connect app for Android and iOS provides greater control. You can adjust the SBX-N500 directly from your smartphone or tablet. It has a simple layout and felt responsive in our testing, changing the sound bar’s volume the instant we made a change onscreen.

Although the focus is very much on wireless connectivity, the SBX-N500 doesn’t skimp on wired inputs either. You’ll find two digital optical inputs and a single HDMI output at the back of the unit, along with a USB port and 3.5mm audio jack on the front for easy access. There’s also an infrared output for the bundled infrared blaster, should the speaker bar obscure the infrared receiver on your TV, and an Ethernet port should you prefer not to use the built-in Wi-Fi adaptor.

The HDMI output supports Audio Return Channel (ARC) so you’ll be able to send audio from your other devices through your TV and out of the sound bar. Unfortunately, the lack of HDMI inputs presents a problem when watching Blu-ray films or playing games. You’ll have to switch inputs on your TV to change settings on the sound bar, as there are lots of options that can’t be changed using the single-line LCD display alone. It’s fiddly, especially if you only want to make a quick change or switch from one sound mode to another.

The HDMI output isn’t just for an onscreen menu, though. The SBX-N500 includes a YouTube client and it’ll play multimedia files from any DLNA media server or from a USB flash drive plugged into the front of the unit. The interface is easy to navigate and is fairly responsive, but not quite as fast as the latest batch of smart TVs or Blu-ray players. At least file format support was superb, with all our test videos playing correctly, DivX and Quicktime MOV files.

Throughout our testing, the SBX-N500 produced crisp, clear audio that should easily fill a small or medium-sized room. It won’t drown out a dedicated 5.1 speaker system, and it isn’t ear-piercingly loud, even at maximum volume, so you’re unlikely to get complaints from the neighbours.

The sense of stereo sound is excellent, as long as you sit directly in front of the unit; speech was always distinctly separated from other audio, even during hectic action sequences. Unfortunately the virtual surround sound effects aren’t quite so impressive, and the speakers lose a lot of their punch if you sit to the sides of the bar.

Whether we were playing music or watching films, the SBX-N500 had a dominant mid-range and slightly sharp high-end. This manifests itself mainly in cymbal crashes, hi-hats and action scenes with screeching brakes or breaking glass. It’s not ear-splitting, but it’s a little harsher than we prefer. Happily, the SBX-N500 includes an equaliser, so you can boost or reduce certain frequency bands.

As the SBX-N500 is a single unit sound bar, we weren’t expecting much in the way of bass compared to other models with external subwoofers. However, the SBX-N500 does a fairly good job at adding low-end rumble to action scenes and music. Rock and dance tracks won’t rattle the furniture, but there’s enough bass to enjoy your music. If you want more bass, you should consider Pioneer’s SBX-N700, which includes an external subwoofer.

For £250, the SBX-N500 has an incredible amount of features. Many other sound bars in this range make do with Bluetooth, but Pioneer has managed to include wireless video, DLNA streaming and even some smart TV abilities. Despite the fiddly HDMI issue, the SBX-N500 is still great value overall.