So this is the JBL Bar 700, its basically a supped up version of the JBL Bar 500 which also comes included with an external subwoofer… but what makes the 700 very interesting is that it has detachable and rechargeable satellite speakers. Overall, JBL’s soundbars give you a very big bang for your buck… so lets see what JBL’s surround sound system in a box is all about.
Regarding pricing, the JBL Bar 700 retails for $900, which is not bad given that it comes included with an external subwoofer and 2 rechargeable satellite speakers. But just knowing JBL, I do expect this system to go on sale from time to time. Nonetheless, if you want to pick this soundbar up it’ll be linked down below.
Now first, I do have to point out that the Bar 700 come included with and has to be used with the external subwoofer. Now some people will be happy that this soundbar comes included with an external subwoofer… but some people might be looking for a fully self contained system cause they don have the room for an external subwoofer. So if you’re looking for a self contained option similar to this size, then you’ll might want to look at either the Sony A5000 or A7000 or you could look at the Bose Smart Soundbar 900.
But now lets talk about the design of this sound bar. Now the satellite speakers are magnetically attached to the sound bar itself and if you want a really clean look, there are covers that you can attach to both the Soundbar and satellite speakers. But the satellite speakers connect to the sound wirelessly, so you can place them where ever you want and they have a battery life of 10 hours. And to charge these satellite speakers you can either attach them back onto the soundbar… or you can charge them through their built in USB C Ports.
Now with the satellite speakers attached, the 700 has a length of 46 inches, a width of 4.7 inches, a height of 2.2 inches and it weighs in at 10 pounds. So the 700 is a relatively long soundbar… but it isn’t huge or super heavy like with some other soundbars out there. Now this soundbar is also matte black plastics so it does a really good job of not creating any reflections so it disappears when you’re watching movies… and there’s also a built in screen and physical control buttons up to. They only thing is, you can’t deactivate these buttons which could be a problem if you have a kid in the house.
Now the Bar 700 also comes included with wall mounting brackets… and this sound bar isn’t super heavy, weighing in only at 10 pounds… but also, this sound bar does not have an external power brick to worry about.. you just plug in an AC cable. So since this sound bar comes included with a wall mounting kit, its not super heavy, and there’s no external power brick, wall mounting this sound bar is very easy. And even if you’re not going to wall mount this sound bar… just not having an external power brick to worry about is just cleaner.
But also, like I mentioned earlier, the Bar 700 comes included with an external sub woofer. Now this external sub woofer also doesn’t have a power brick that you have to worry about, and since its wireless, you can place this subwoofer anywhere you want and it’ll automatically connect to the sound bar. The only thing is, this subwoofer is pretty big. Its 12 by 12 and it has a hight if 17.3 inches. So placing it can be a bit of a problem.
Now when it comes to ports, there’s an HDMI earc port which goes connected into your TV. And this sound bar comes included with a decent HDMI cable. But then there’s also an HDMI in port that supports up to 4K, HDR10 and Dolby Vision. So if you have a Blue Ray Player or a gaming console, you can plug it into there. But if your TV doesn’t have an HDMI Arc port, there’s also an optical port… but the Bar also still has an ethernet port, which is rather rare these days for sound bars. So if you want to hard wire your sound bar into your network, you can do that, and there’s also a USB A port where you can plug in a USB Stick and play music off of it.
But if you want to, you can always connect this sound bar up to your wifi, and I recommend that you do so that you can get the most out of it. Now the Bar has support for both Airplay and Chrome Cast, so you can always stream music to it as long as you’re on the same wifi network whether you’re an iPhone or an android user, but it also has bluetooth, so you can also connect directly to it with out the need of wifi.
Now this sound bar also comes included with a decent remote control… but honestly, I never use the remote control on my sound bar and instead I like to use their app. And thankfully JBL now has a sleek app for their sound bars. Now from here you can easily adjust the EQ of this sound bar to your liking. You can also easily do an audio calibration, and you can delay the Audio Sync if you have to. But also from here you have access to your remote control where you can toggle your source, adjust the volume, and adjust your Dolby Atmos Settings.
But now lets talk about sound, when it comes to speaker set ups, this system has a total of 5 speakers in it. Three are located in the soundbar it self… and each satellite has one speaker in it. And the main soundbar itself has 3 built in tweeters. The middle one shoots out the front and the other two shoot out the sides a little bit. And like I mentioned earlier, the soundbar itself doesn’t create any bass… all of the bass is handled by the external 10 inch subwoofer. But now we’re going to jump in to the sound test, the JBL Bar 700 is playing at 75% volume and we’re going to use it with the satellite speakers attached and detached… and we’re also going to use the built in speakers found in the 2023, Sony Bravia X90L tv and they’re going to be playing at max volume.
So like you may have just heard, obviously a sound bar is just going to sound better than your TV’s built in speakers. Your TV most likely just has a pair of drivers that shoot sound downwards, they don’t get all that loud and when the bass really gets going they’re just going to be a distorted mess.
Now the speakers on the Sony X90L’s get decently loud and distortion isn’t a problem for them like with some more affordable TV’s… but with the Sony X90L you’re still going to want to upgrade to a sound bar if you want to truly envoy your movies.
Now first, lets talk about max volume performance on this system. Now the Bar 700 is going to get plenty loud for a large living room, the external subwoofer on this system is going to rattle the walls in your house, this is also a good system if you’re looking for something to entertain guests with in the living room, and plainly said this system is overkill for any bedroom.
Now as for the bass in this system, all of the bass is handled by the external subwoofer, and this is the same subwoofer that you'll find with the JBL Bar 500. Overall, with this subwoofer you’re going to be able to physically feel what’s happening on the screen and this subwoofer is going to rattle the walls in your house. However, I can’t help but feel that sometimes this bass can get a little muddy at times and sometimes I wish this subwoofer put out a little more bass, just given its sheer size.
Now you can always go in and raise the bass on this system… and you’re going to get more bass… but I still wish it was a little more… plus this bass isn’t as precise or as control as with some other subwoofers out there.
Now when it comes to the overall sound quality of this sound bar, the 700 has a balanced sound signature to it and its very easy to hear dialog with this system. But the most important thing is, this system has much better left and right channel separation than what’s found on lets say the JBL Bar 500 or Bar 300… cause all of the main drivers aren’t clustered in the middle of this soundbar. The soundbar itself has 3 well spaced out drivers, and the other two can be found in the satellite speakers which you can place behind you.
But the very important thing is, that if you do decide to detach these satellite speakers, its recommended that you go through the audio calibration every time, unless you’re going to be placing your satellite speakers in the exact same spot every single time. The only thing that I don’t like about these satellite speakers is that it can be a little difficult to see their battery life. All you get is a red light on them… the app itself won’t actually tell you their current battery life. So hopefully they can add that through a software update.
But what you can do through the app is that you can adjust the intensity of your satellite speakers. And for the most noticeable affect, you want to crank it all the way up.
But with all of that being said, the JBL Bar 700 is a surround sound system in a box that gives you a really big bang for your buck. Even though the wireless subwoofer is pretty big, placing it is super easy… but more importantly, the Bar 700 is a great option for someone that wants a surround sound system… but they don want to deal with any fuss. Now yes, there are plenty of wireless satellite speakers out there… but you have to worry about getting power to them. Where as with the Bar 700, you just detach them and you place them, and when you’re done, you can just put them back and they’ll charge back up and be ready for you next time.