Temper expectations for a good time: Groov-e 160 Soundbar review

The Groov-e 160 Soundbar is the biggest of the brand's budget soundbar selection, which includes smaller options like the Groov-e 50 and Groov-e 75. The 160 soundbar offers decent specifications at a reasonable price, including 160 watts of power (giving the product its name) and a 2.2 speaker configuration, which includes a bass driver and subwoofer. It carries AUX, optical, USB and Bluetooth connections.

Generally speaking, the Groov-e 160's highs and midrange are clear, and the sound has great detail and is an improvement over the speakers on a budget TV. Three sound modes – Music, Movie and Voice – allow you to tweak the EQ, but only slightly. The Music and Movie modes are pretty close to each other, while Voice makes the most notable difference, with the midrange kicking forward to make the range of speech much clearer in the mix. It's handy if you struggle with modern movies' love of grisly mumbled speech.

The built-in woofer is disappointing as it never delivers a satisfying low-end grunt, but broadly, the bass is present enough for watching TV shows, gaming, and movie night, but don't expect to have the room rocking. With 160 watts to play with, there is undoubtedly volume here, too, though the clarity and tone range decrease significantly as you push into the highest range.

It's not an HDMI ARC soundbar, so the Groov-e 160 can't be controlled through the TV remote, meaning you are adding another remote control to your living room. For the best experience, turn your TV volume down, leave all audio to the soundbar, and use the Groov-e remote to control the volume. The only pain here is that the remote control is sluggish.

Verdict: The Groov-e 160 soundbar is a budget soundbar through and through. Its performance is a step above the speakers of a budget TV and has a generalist sound profile that does a decent job across music and movies. Considering the RRP of £80, it's a purchase that you can be pleased with so long as your expectations are in place.

What's good?

Sometimes, cheap tech looks like cheap tech. This isn't the case with the Groov-e 160 soundbar – it has an understated look that gives it a more premium feel. Its display readout is tucked behind the front grille, shining through with relevant information, such as volume, mode, or source. If you find it distracting, you can dim the display or turn it off entirely. There are onboard controls on the top of the soundbar, which are well-designed and sit flush with the case.

There are rubber feet, which help to isolate the soundbar from the surface and reduce vibrations. It has the bar sitting at a nicely raised position. A small thing, but it does add a dash of style into proceedings.

The connections are basic but functional. The soundbar comes with a lead for optical audio, which I used throughout testing, but there's also an AUX-in and a USB. The wireless connection is via Bluetooth, and I found it useful for streaming music from my iPhone.

A further positive aspect of the Groov-e 160 is its price. At one penny under £80, its RRP puts it firmly in the budget camp. What's more, it is regularly available at a discount. While I do have reservations about this soundbar, I cannot deny that for the price, it's very appealing.

What's okay?

The Groov-e 160's sound can only be classified as okay. It's a generalist, offering a good enough performance across most media types and music genres, but it doesn't offer a knockout performance in any one area. The closest it comes is when it adds clarity to spoken word, which is ideal for watching TV shows and dialogue-dense movies.

I booted Sniper Elite 5 on Xbox, hoping the soundbar's stereo would add some extra magic to the simulated battlefield and give me a better read on enemy location via panning. The experience was louder and wider, with a bit more crack to shots thanks to the Groov-e's decent midrange, but essentially, the experience was the same as with my JVC TV.

On a rewatch of The Sopranos, the soundbar responded well to the nasal and screeching New Jersey accents throughout, demonstrating the soundbar's midrange clarity once more. Incidentally, the introduction music to the show, with its iconic woozy bass line, reveals a disappointing weakness in the sub-woofer, which throughout my testing provided just as much low end as my TV, i.e. not much.

A night spent listening to music over the Bluetooth connections confirmed all of my thoughts about the Groov-e 160 sound. Listening to guitar-led music the soundbar performed admirably, with the midrange offering clarity. The performance was lacking on more dancier tracks, where bass is a priority.

Any negatives?

The Groov-e 160 does not support eARC, meaning your TV cannot control its settings, so you must use the dedicated remote. At sub-£80, this isn't a problem at all. The issue is that the soundbar is really sluggish when responding to inputs.

For example, if you press a volume button, there's a delay of nearly a second before the soundbar reacts. Adding to this delay is that commands don't stack, so you can't get around the delay by hitting the volume down five times and waiting for all to take place. You can't even hold the button – each press only performs one action. So, if you have the volume at 20 and want to reduce it to five, you must press the remote 15 times and wait with each press. Tedious.

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Who tested it?

William Austin-Lobley was the tester for this particular soundbar. William is What's The Best's longest-serving reviewer and has five years of experience with audio and AV technology.

How was the product tested?

William took the soundbar into his home, setting it up in his living room. He used the soundbar for three weeks, watching TV shows and movies and playing video games. The Bluetooth connection was tested using an iPhone to play music and podcasts

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William Austin-Lobley  is the Editor for What's The Best. Here, he oversees, curates and researches listicles and reviews as many products as his home office can handle.

He has spent nearly five years writing about tech, audio, outdoors and fitness and has reviewed everything from smartphones to ice baths. In addition, he's well-versed in sniffing out the best deals and savings the internet offers.

When not at his desk writing, reviewing or deal-hunting, he'll be relaxing with Japanese crime novels, bingeing some classic anime, strolling the countryside or at the gym listening to the heaviest metal Spotify has to offer.

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