AVerMedia has been working with sound and vision for a long time now. This is their first foray into soundbar offerings, and I’m rather impressed with what’s here. The AVerMedia SonicBlast Gaming Soundbar (G331) is a great entry-level soundbar on its own, that’s perfect for home theater or desktop gaming that’s solid for small and large scale usage. You’d be hard-pressed to find something so impressive and scalable.
It’s style is subdued, but is mainly built for gaming. It is a solid replacement for general TV watching and movie viewing. There’s three equalizer modes: game, movie, and music. Game mode evens all the sound for highs and lows, movie mode amplifies the treble to hear all sounds properly, and music prioritizes bass. The EQ settings are subtle, but do sound different enough. While it isn’t surround sound, the 2.0 speakers boast 20 watts of power for each speaker for a decent 40 watts of sound that carries and fills any room it is in.
Setup is incredibly easy, and you have three physical options to choose from for your audio: 3.5mm audio jack, component audio, and optical audio to get audio from your TV or PC to the speakers. I found the optical audio to be the best sounding of the three, as it was clear, crisp, and responsive. The 3.5mm jack sounds tinny and sounds like quality was lost. The component audio is a fair balance between the two. With the AVerMedia G331 SonicBlast Gaming Soundbar supporting Bluetooth 4.0, you can wirelessly stream music from mobile devices. So no USB or cables required.
The AVerMedia G331 SonicBlast Gaming Soundbar is complete system, but without the intended G335 Subwoofer, feels like you’re only experiencing half of it. The bass is present, but doesn’t give the “oomph” you’d expect. The G331 SonicBlast Gaming Soundbar has subwoofers built-in, but we weren’t give one to test or compare. There’s no LED or LCD screen, only an LED light indicating which method you’re connected for audio, so you can’t tell sound levels or EQ mode at a glance.
When using this for PC audio, it can be loud and emphatic for desktop gaming. As a home audio solution, it is no slouch. From its multiple EQ settings to its sheer volume, this can be a solid placement in your living room or bedroom. Its lightweight and slim design, measuring at 620 x 69.5 x 65 mm also makes it a portable sound system wherever you go.
All-in-all, the AVerMedia G331 SonicBlast Gaming Soundbar works well as an entry-level sound system in terms of price, but sound quality is that of something you’d find in a high-end surround sound system. It doesn’t boast the power or features of that, but its sound quality absolutely delivers. I think the G335 Subwoofer would make an excellent and necessary companion here, and I almost wish it was bundled with it as a means to impose its importance.
A hardware unit was was provided by the AVerMedia for review purposes
