The JBL Bar 1300X is a premium 11.1.4 Dolby Atmos soundbar. Similar to the JBL Bar 9.1 and the JBL Bar 1000, it has detachable truly wireless satellites that you can place anywhere in your living room to create the most immersive sound possible. These satellites are advertised to last up to 10 hours off a single charge, though they lasted even longer in our tests, and you can recharge them by connecting them back to the bar. The satellites also act as wireless Bluetooth speakers, and you can pair them to one device for audio playback or connect them to make a stereo pair.
Our Verdict
The JBL Bar 1300X is good for mixed usage. This 11.1.4 soundbar is suitable for lots of different audio content, from music to movies to TV shows. With its discrete center channel, dialogue is clear and present in the mix, and its large subwoofer is great for feeling the rumble in bass-heavy music. There's lots of support for immersive audio formats often found on streaming platforms like Dolby Atmos. Up-firing channels built into the bar and the satellites bring an immersive all-around feel; you can even move the satellites around to get the sound you want.
- Room correction tool.
- Extended low-bass.
- Dolby Atmos support.
- Truly wireless satellites.
- No HDMI 2.1 support.
The JBL Bar 1300X is excellent for dialogue-centric TV shows and podcasts. This soundbar has a discrete center channel designed to improve the quality of vocal reproduction. Its ClearVoice dialogue enhancement tool is also available to make dialogue clearer and more crisp in the mix. With relatively low latency, you don't notice any lip-synching issues with videos or movies, either. If you prefer dialogue-only content like podcasts, lots of wireless playback options are available to stream from your mobile devices.
- Room correction tool.
- Graphic EQ.
- No traditional bass and treble adjustments.
The JBL Bar 1300X is decent for music. Like most premium bars, this setup has a room correction feature designed to calibrate the bar's sound based on your room's acoustics. A 3-band graphic EQ is available in the JBL ONE companion app if you want to adjust its sound manually. You may not want to, though—out-of-the-box, the bar has a great stereo frequency response, with clear and detailed reproduction of instruments in the mix. The big sub has no trouble reproducing a deep, extended low bass. However, there's some considerable compression as you crank the volume that can affect audio quality.
- Room correction tool.
- Graphic EQ.
- Extended low-bass.
- No traditional bass and treble adjustments.
The JBL Bar 1300X is good for movies. This premium 11.1.4 soundbar supports many of the audio formats commonly found on both streaming platforms and Blu-ray discs, including Dolby Digital and Dolby Atmos. Its two satellites are detachable from the bar, and you can place them anywhere in your room to get a more immersive feel. Dialogue is clearly reproduced, too, and the sub brings out all the thump and rumble in action-heavy scenes. However, with Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus, the soundbar processes audio meant for the left and right surround channels simultaneously with the bar's L/R, instead of treating them as separate channels, which feels more enveloping with the trade-off of precise localizability.
- Extended low-bass.
- Dolby Atmos support.
- Truly wireless satellites.
- No traditional bass and treble adjustments.
Changelog
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Updated Dec 10, 2025:
We retested the audio format support with a firmware update and updated the scores and writing for Audio Format Support: ARC/eARC, Audio Format Support: HDMI In, and Audio Format Support: Optical. The verdict scores have subsequently changed slightly, too.
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Updated Nov 28, 2025:
The Stereo Dynamics box was updated to mention the JBL Bar 1000MK2.
- Updated Sep 23, 2024: Updated Stereo Dynamics results with new methodology from TBU 1.3. Added text to Audio Latency: ARC, Audio Latency: HDMI In, and Audio Latency: Optical boxes. We've also retested this bar's Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus implementation using firmware OneOS2.3 (24.33.31.80.00) and found that these formats are still incorrectly implemented.
- Updated Sep 19, 2024: We've converted this review to Test Bench Update 1.3. If applicable, we've retested stereo sound based on the manufacturer's recommendations. Additionally, we've expanded our audio latency tests to the following boxes: Audio Latency: ARC, Audio Latency: HDMI In, and Audio Latency: Optical. You can see the full changelog here.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The JBL Bar 1300X is available in Black and the label for our model is available here.
If you come across another version of the bar, let us know in the forums so we can update our review.
Popular Soundbar Comparisons
The JBL Bar 1300X is a premium soundbar setup with more channels than similar models like the JBL Bar 1000 or the JBL Bar 9.1. Still, it retains JBL's signature design, with truly wireless satellites that make its soundbars stand out from the competition. It provides an immersive sound overall, with lots of sound enhancement features to make the most of your listening experience. Plus, the large subwoofer brings a lot of bass, great for fans of genres like EDM and hip-hop.
You can also take a look at our recommendations for the best soundbars, the best Dolby Atmos soundbars, and the best soundbars for movies.
The Samsung HW-Q990C is a better 11.1.4 setup than the JBL Bar 1300X. The Samsung has a better sound quality overall, with a more balanced sound right out of the box. It can get louder, too, with less compression at max volume. It offers built-in voice assistant support, whereas you have to buy a third-party device to control the JBL with your voice. Some users may prefer the JBL's truly wireless satellites, which can be used as Bluetooth speakers and don't need to be plugged into an outlet to work.
The Samsung HW-Q990D is a better soundbar setup than the JBL Bar 1300X. While both soundbars support HDMI In, the Samsung supports video passthrough of up to 4k @ 120Hz with support for both FreeSync and G-SYNC. Combined with its lower latency across the board, the Samsung is a better pickup if you game with a soundbar. Additionally, the JBL encounters serious compression in the treble range even at more typical listening volumes, which negatively impacts the clarity of audio reproduction as you crank up the volume.
When compared, the JBL Bar 1000MK2 and the JBL Bar 1300X have different strengths, but mostly they share similarities. The Bar 1000 MK2 is newer with a more balanced surround tuning and much better dynamics performance with a higher top output volume. The Atmos effect is more present in the mix. However, it's somewhat hindered by a bit of a lag in the Atmos-equipped satellites, which impacts the definition of 3D objects. The Bar 1300X doesn't have this same latency when handling Atmos, but it's much more subtle in the mix overall by default. Otherwise, it has two extra channels and a very similar tuning. Even so, its compression flattens out the liveliness of trebly sounds, and it doesn't get as loud at max volume. Still, both soundbars use the same app with features like room correction, EQ, voice enhancement, night mode, and channel level adjustments.
The JBL Bar 1300X is better than the JBL Bar 1000. The 1300X is an 11.1.4 setup, meaning that it comes with more channels than the 7.1.4 1000. Both bars boast similar designs, but the 1300X offers better sound quality, especially with Dolby Atmos content. It's able to reproduce more height, so you get the feeling of effects coming from above and behind you. Plus, the 1300X's satellites can be used as Bluetooth speakers, which is a cool touch.
Test Results
