Vizio M-Series M21d-H8R Soundbar Review

The Vizio M-Series M21d-H8R is a budget-level 2.1 soundbar released in 2020. It's an upgrade over the existing Vizio SB362An-F6, and it comes with an HDMI input and two integrated subwoofers. Also, as part of the company's M-Series line of soundbars, it's advertised to create a premium theater surround sound. Its main competitors are the Vizio V Series V21-H8, the Sonos Beam, and the Sony HT-X8500.

The Vizio M21d-H8R is a sleek soundbar with a unique, trapezoidal shape. It's mostly covered by a tight cloth material, and the sides and the bottom are made of plastic. The buttons are located on the right side of the bar.

This setup doesn't come with a subwoofer. Instead, it has subwoofers integrated into the bar.

This setup doesn't come with any satellite speakers.

The Vizio M21d-H8R is a bit long, and it may not fit between the legs of a 55" TV. However, it isn't very tall, so it shouldn't block your TV screen unless your TV sits flush on the table.

On the back of the bar, there's an opening for the power cable and the inputs. There are also universal holes underneath the bar so you can wall-mount it.

The Vizio M21d-H8R has a good build quality. The sides and the bottom are made of plastic, which feels solid. The tight fabric material covering the bar doesn't seem like it could rip easily, though it may collect some dust over time.

• Manuals
• Optical cable
• HDMI cable
• 3.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable
• Stereo RCA to 3.5mm cable
• Remote with batteries (2xAAA)
• 2x Wall-hang parts
• Power cable
• Mounting template

When set to its 'Music' preset, the Vizio M21d-H8R has a decent stereo frequency response. It has a pretty neutral sound profile suitable for listening to lots of different audio genres, and the extra boom in the bass range can please fans of bass-heavy music like EDM. However, it struggles to reproduce a thumpy low-bass, so you don't really feel the rumble in action-packed movie scenes. There are some EQ presets, as well as bass and treble adjustment features to help you customize its sound more to your liking.

With calibration, the Vizio M21d-H8R has a decent stereo frequency response. It still has a pretty neutral, though slightly boomy sound profile that adds a little extra warmth to your mixes. However, because it lacks a dedicated subwoofer, it still struggles to reproduce the deep thumps and rumbles from the low-bass.

This soundbar has a fair stereo soundstage performance. While the soundstage is barely as wide as the bar itself, it has decent focus, so objects like voices and instruments generally seem to come from an accurate location instead of a general area.

The Vizio M21d-H8R has poor stereo dynamics. While it can get pretty loud, there's a lot of compression when you play it at max volume, especially in the treble range. As a result, it may not be suitable for listening to music at parties or in large rooms.

This soundbar has a very good stereo THD performance. At normal listening volumes, the THD falls mostly within good limits, resulting in a mostly clean and pure sound reproduction. At max volume, there's a small jump in distortion, but it may not be audible with real-life content.

The Vizio M21d-H8R has an adequate central channel performance. This 2.1 setup uses its left and right speakers to simulate a sound in the center, which sounds more diffused and less clear than a dedicated center speaker. That said, it still reproduces a balanced mid-range, so dialogue in TV shows is still fairly clear and accurate.

This soundbar has poor surrounds performance. It's a 2.1 setup, so it has to downmix surround content into stereo to play it. However, this doesn't produce the most accurate or clear representation of surround objects, and sound seems like it's coming from in front of you rather than from speakers placed all around you.

This soundbar doesn't support Dolby Atmos content.

The Vizio M21d-H8R has a poor selection of sound enhancement features. It comes with four EQ presets: 'Movie', 'Music', 'Dialogue', and 'Game'. There's also a TruVolume feature that provides a consistent volume level across different programs, such as commercials and TV shows. However, it lacks a full graphic EQ, and it doesn't have a room correction feature, so it may sound a bit different depending on the room you use it in.

The Vizio M21d-H8R has several inputs. There's a 3.5mm AUX port, which lets you wire older devices to the bar to listen to audio. There's also a Full HDMI In port, which lets you use the bar as a hub between different devices.

The Vizio M Series 2.1 soundbar supports some of the most common formats for streaming platforms and Blu-ray discs, including Dolby Digital and DTS. However, it doesn't support higher-end formats like Dolby Atmos.

This soundbar supports Dolby Digital content over its Full HDMI In port, but it lacks support for other higher-end formats like Dolby Atmos.

The Vizio M21d-H8R supports both Dolby Digital and DTS content via its Optical Audio In. These formats are typically found on Blu-ray discs and streaming platforms.

The Vizio M Series 2.1 soundbar has a disappointing latency performance. Its latency via Full HDMI In is low enough to be suitable for watching videos, but there's a significant delay between the picture and the audio via ARC and Optical In. However, some apps and some TVs compensate for latency differently, so your real-world experience may vary.

The Vizio M21d-H8R only supports Bluetooth connectivity, so you can stream audio from your phone to the bar wirelessly. However, you can't connect your devices to the bar using Wi-Fi, Chromecast, or Apple AirPlay.

The Vizio M21d-H8R can pass a 4k signal between your device and the soundbar.

In the middle of the bar, there are lights that flash depending on your settings. There's also audio feedback when you select one of the four EQ presets and when you change the input.

On the right side of the bar, there are buttons that let you power the bar on/off, change the input, activate Bluetooth pairing, and adjust the volume.

The remote is quite simple, and it lets you control all of the bar's settings. Like the Vizio V Series V51-H6, it also has a display screen.

This soundbar has an eco-power mode that powers down the bar after a period of inactivity. It also supports HDMI CEC, so you can use your TV remote to control the bar's basic functions.