The Vizio V Series V21x-J8 is a budget-friendly 2.1 setup released in 2021. This soundbar has a bass-heavy sound profile that adds extra punch and boom to your audio, though vocals and lead instruments are still mostly reproduced clearly and with detail. It comes with a few EQ presets so you can customize its sound, but it lacks more premium sound enhancement features. It also doesn't support Dolby Atmos or DTS:X content.
Our Verdict
The Vizio V Series 2.1 Sound Bar is fair for mixed usage. This 2.1 soundbar has a bass-heavy sound profile that adds extra punch to your audio, but you can use its bass and treble adjustments to get a more neutral sound if you prefer. Its mostly balanced mid-range can still reproduce dialogue clearly, which is handy for TV fans. However, it has a poor surround performance, and it doesn't support Dolby Atmos content.
- Bass and treble adjustments.
- Dialogue enhancement feature.
- Poor surround performance.
- No height channels.
The Vizio V Series 2.1 Sound Bar is satisfactory for dialogue-centric content like TV shows. Its mostly balanced mid-range reproduces voices clearly and with detail. There's also a dialogue enhancement feature that can make voices more crisp and clear. However, it lacks a discrete center channel, so voices seem to come from a more general area rather than a pinpoint location.
- Dialogue enhancement feature.
- Bluetooth-compatible.
- Disappointing center channel performance.
- No support for Wi-Fi, Chromecast built-in, Apple AirPlay.
The Vizio V Series 2.1 Sound Bar is decent for music. On its 'Music' preset, it has a bass-heavy sound profile that adds extra emphasis in the bass range. However, voices and lead instruments are still mostly reproduced clearly. You can also use its EQ presets and its bass and treble adjustments to get a more neutral sound, if you prefer. While the bar gets pretty loud, unfortunately, there's some compression present at max volume.
- Gets loud.
- Bass and treble adjustments.
- Compression at max volume.
- No graphic EQ.
The Vizio V Series 2.1 Sound Bar is acceptable for movies. Its bass-heavy sound profile helps you feel the deep rumble and punch in action-packed movie scenes, and dialogue mostly reproduces clearly. It supports surround content, but unfortunately, it has to downmix it to stereo to play it. Also, it doesn't support object-based audio formats like Dolby Atmos or DTS:X.
- Gets loud.
- Bass and treble adjustments.
- Poor surround performance.
- No height channels.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Vizio V Series 2.1 Sound Bar comes in Black, and you can see the label for the model we tested here.
If you come across another version of this soundbar, let us know in the discussions, and we'll update our review.
Popular Soundbar Comparisons
The Vizio V Series 2.1 Sound Bar is a budget-friendly setup, and is the next generation of the Vizio V Series V21-H8. Unlike its predecessor, it has an AUX In port that lets you plug in third-party voice assistant devices to control the bar. Its bass-heavy sound profile adds extra boom and punch to your audio, and it also comes with some sound customization features.
See our recommendations for the best budget soundbars, the best soundbars under $300, and the best Vizio soundbars.
The Vizio V Series V21x-J8 is better than the Vizio M-Series M21d-H8R. The V Series comes with a dedicated sub that can reproduce a more extended low-bass. It also has a better soundstage performance, and far less compression when you play it at max volume. That said, the standalone M-Series is better suited if you don't have a lot of space in your room.
The Yamaha YAS-209 is a slightly better soundbar for mixed usage than the Vizio V Series V21x-J8. The Yamaha offers a more neutral sound profile out-of-the-box, which some listeners may prefer. It also has a better center channel performance and more wireless playback options. Unlike the Vizio, it comes with built-in voice assistant support and a Full HDMI In port. However, the Vizio has some more sound enhancement features, including bass and treble adjustments and an auto-volume mode.
The 5.1 Vizio V Series V51-H6 is a better soundbar than the 2.1 Vizio V Series V21x-J8. The V51-H6 gets louder, and it has better center and surround performances. Also, some listeners may prefer its more neutral out-of-the-box sound compared to the V21x-J8's more bass-heavy sound profile.
The Vizio V Series V21-H8 is a better soundbar for mixed usage than the Vizio V Series V21x-J8. The V21-H8 has a slightly more balanced sound profile out-of-the-box, and it gets louder with less compression at max volume. Also, it has a better center channel performance. That said, the V21x-J8 has an AUX In port for third-party voice assistant devices, and its sub is a bit smaller.
Test Results
