Customer Ratings & Reviews

I went into the TCL A65K with a bit of a weird comparison point. I’m currently downsizing from a full 5.1 floor standing speaker setup because my multi-purpose theater room has slowly turned into a playroom. So while I wasn’t expecting this slim soundbar system to fully replace a much larger speaker setup, I was curious how close it could get while taking up a fraction of the space. The first thing that stands out is the design. This is easily one of the better-looking soundbars I’ve had in my room. The main bar is slim, clean, and blends in fairly well. The subwoofer is also small and slim enough that I can tuck it away behind a blanket ladder and not have it stick out. Setup was also very simple. The sub paired automatically, and HDMI eARC handled most of the work. I did set up the TCL Home app, but I wouldn’t say it is absolutely required. In fact, I preferred using manual settings so I could fine tune things myself. I ended up turning the sub down to -1 and dropping the center channel to -3 while boosting the front channels to +6. That gave me the best balance. For testing, I watched Encanto with my toddler for literally the 15th time this week. On one hand, I’m getting tired of it. On the other hand, it’s actually a great test because I know the songs, dialogue, and little background details painfully well at this point. Dialogue was impressively clear, though just a little thin at times. That’s not too surprising, since midrange is where a lot of soundbars struggle. The bass was not lacking at all, and I actually had to dial it back a bit to keep it from muddying up the midrange. What impressed me most was the overall punch of the system. For something this slim, it held up better than expected, even compared to my much larger speaker setup. The channel separation was also better than I expected. During songs like We Don’t Talk About Bruno the backing vocals had a nice sense of space across the front soundstage. With the front channels turned up, it actually gave me a little bit of that discrete speaker feel, which was impressive for a compact soundbar. That said, I would not describe the surround or Atmos effect as truly immersive. The front soundstage is wide and sounded pretty good, but I didn’t really hear sounds wrapping around the room or coming from above me in any meaningful way. It creates a bigger sound than TV speakers by a mile, but it still feels more like a strong front-facing system than a true surround replacement. Build quality is a little harder for me to judge. The look is fantastic, but the main bar is surprisingly light. I’m from the era where weight equals quality, so the lightness gave me a little pause. It may hold up just fine, but it was almost curiously light when I picked it up. One other disappointment is AirPlay. The Best Buy listing I saw showed AirPlay 2 as a capability, but TCL’s own information did not appear to list it, and I couldn’t find a way to enable it through the TCL app. That’s a pretty big bummer for me, and may even become a dealbreaker because it means I can’t easily connect it into my whole home audio setup without using an adapter. Overall, I’m impressed with the TCL A65K. It looks great, sets up easily, has strong bass, clear dialogue, and a surprisingly wide front soundstage for its size. It doesn’t fully replace a true surround system, and the lack of AirPlay support is disappointing, but as a clean and compact soundbar for a living room, playroom, or smaller theater setup, it has a lot of positives!

TCL is calling this their first “UltraThin Designer Series Soundbar,” and I think that’s a good description of why this is a good product. I love the look and the shape of this soundbar. However, soundbars in general are not known for their good sound quality, and the tradeoff with this one puts aesthetics above performance. That said, the sound that this produces is nothing to scoff at. The subwoofer provides thunderous bass of the sort that is usually reserved for movie theaters, and it is tuned to fill in nicely for frequencies that the tiny speakers in the soundbar itself aren’t able to produce. Although there are some irregularities in the frequency response around vocal frequencies, overall the system produces pretty even and powerful sound. AESTHETICS The soundbar comes in a package small enough to fit under the mounting stand of my TV, which I found really nice—though I wouldn’t want to actually slide it *under* the TV since the up-firing speakers work best when they have a clear shot to the ceiling. There’s a cloth covering that wraps around the front and sides of the bar, which I find visually pleasing. The rest of the bar is a glossy black plastic, which also looks really nice and gives the unit an understated minimalist style. The subwoofer cabinet is not quite as stylish, but its shape lends itself to fit under or behind furniture. A 12” circular cloth grille covers a roughly 4.5” cone driver, and a port is positioned above the removable power cord and a “pair” button. It has rubber feet on one side which must be the bottom—if I want to lay it flat, say, under a sofa, I wouldn’t be using the feet. Even though it’s very common in soundbars, I’m going to complain about the segmented LED display under the cloth grille in the center of the soundbar. These things never looked that great, and for a soundbar that’s otherwise beautiful, I think they could have done a lot better to use an aesthetically pleasing display. The display is only on when selecting modes or adjusting settings, but it looks clunky. And since it’s only got room to display 5 letters, almost everything needs to scroll to show what it is trying to say. PERFORMANCE The system is loud, and the bass performance is its best quality. It’s the kind of bass you can feel, without necessarily being overpowering (although it gets close). It reminds me of the sound in a movie theater: tuned with much more presence than necessary, and just shy of being obnoxious. I suppose bass like this is a matter of preference. It’s not my preference—I love clean, accurate, and honest sound throughout the spectrum—but I can appreciate what they’re doing here. If I have some friends over for an action movie, this system would definitely add to the fun and excitement of the event. If you ever had to listen to the soundbar without the sub, it would sound very disappointing. But it’s designed and tuned as a system, and as a system it sounds relatively good. I was impressed with the frequency response throughout the range. The only time it left something to be desired was in the mids, around the range of voices. I didn’t notice this much listening to my favorite music, but when I listened to dialogue I was less impressed. Even so, this is a minor deficiency compared to the quality of the rest of the product. The only input choices are HDMI eARC and Bluetooth. eARC is all you need when connecting to a modern TV, but this is worth keeping in mind when comparing to other products that may have analog or optical inputs. The HDMI input supports Dolby Atmos encoding. There are no rear channels so it’s hard to call this surround sound, but the up-firing speakers can create a convincing overhead sound—at least in a room shaped to facilitate sound reflected off the ceiling. There’s some processing that tries to spread the width of the soundstage beyond the width of the soundbar, but I had mixed results with this. For some audio, it almost convincingly sounded like the sound was coming from the left and right walls of my room, but for other audio it seemed to collapse and just sounded like it was all coming from right in front of me. One last complaint: when switching sound modes, like from “Music” to “Movie”, the sound cuts out for a second or two before coming back. Kind of annoying. SUMMARY A soundbar is always going to be a tradeoff in sound quality to fit into a particular form factor. This product nails the form factor, and it looks great. The sound quality isn’t bad, but there are better-sounding soundbars. For someone who wants something that looks great under their TV, this is a good option, but the price suggests a level of refinement that isn’t there in the audio quality.

I wanted to pair something up to go with my TCL TV and figured I'd get this to go with it. I really like the design language of TCLs products and this is my first TCL soundbar subwoofer stack. ____________ Right off the bat I'll say I really like how easy the set up was. Simple plug and play. TCL provided mounting brackets to mount the soundbar, which I opted out for the time being until I get my TV mounted. ____________ Sound is very clear. I can hear every channel/section being hit in the soundbar. I tested out on some YouTube sound test videos and it was hitting every corner of the soundbar. I dove into after and enjoyed the series finale of The Boys to experience the sound clarify and bass. Don't get me wrong, it's not going blow you away bass wise compared to others, but it will get the job done. It has more than enough boom and considering this is for my bedroom, it's perfect for it. _________ To piggy back off the bedroom purpose, that's where the design comes in. The sleak style of the subwoofer gives you lots of freedom and flexibility to position it in multiple sections of your room how you please. TCL has some really great designers as I'm always impressed by their manufacturing design language of their products. ________ I think one thing TCL can work on here is opening up the settings more, especially if you are connected to a TCL. It shouldn't be locked down if you're on HDMI Arc and should be able to utilize Beusonic. _______ Overall though, if you want high def, clear sound for all your listening needs in a sleak package, and a solid, smooth, not muffled bass that takes away the quality of your entertainment experience, then this is the way to go.

The TCL A65K Sound Bar System with Subwoofer is a sleek looking system. I love the compact, slim design of both the bar and sub. The color is a nice charcoal black, which gives it a sophisticated look. This fits nicely on my mantle just below my TCL TV with the wireless sub hidden off to the side. It does include wall mounting hardware if you prefer that method, with simple looking instructions. Perfect! Setting up was easy, the pieces come already paired and you just plug in the e-ARC cable that it comes with into your TV and you are ready for enhanced sound. The system came thoughtfully packaged, with minimal materials, which is great! I appreciate that there’s less for me to have to recycle or throw away. There’s also an app you can use as a remote or extra calibration. Now for the sound, from Bang & Olufsen, it’s great! It’s kind of a must to have at least a soundbar now with your TV. I think this works perfectly for the living room, but could be in your theater room as well, with great bass sound and clear dialogue. I do suggest using the AI Sonic Auto Room Calibration, I mean, it’s there might as well let it do it’s thing! It helped make the sound a little crisper and clearer. Ultimately, this is a nice unit, with a beautifully thought-out design, slim and powerful. If you are looking for a new soundbar and subwoofer with a sophisticated look and good, clear sound this is a great choice.

Very easy setup. The subwoofer was already paired to the soundbar. You can wall mount the soundbar or just place under your TV. We place it in front of the TV on our cabinet. The subwoofer will go on the floor near your TV. Very small footprint for both pieces. It also comes with an HDMI cable. Make sure you connect to the HDMI eARC port on your TV. The preset sounds all sounded very similar. You will need to customize your settings. It also pushes you to use the TCL app AI Sonic to tweak the settings for the viewing distance. That did help with speech somewhat. The bass quality is very good and voices are easily understood. There is a night mode that is softer all around so you won’t disturb others. We have a new TCL TV and it easily connected. But when we turn on the TV, sometimes the soundbar doesn’t automatically connect at startup. Not sure why. Then I have to disconnect and reconnect as it is not found. Never had this happen before with a soundbar. Nice smaller soundbar for limited space.

I recently paired this TCL A65K soundbar and subwoofer with my 65-inch TCL QM9K television, and I have been very impressed with the results. Out of the box TCL includes everything needed for setup: the soundbar, wireless subwoofer, power cables, HDMI cable, wall-mount kit, remote control, and batteries. But you'll also want to download the TCL app since it gives you access to additional sound customization options and system controls. What I like best about the A65K is its form factor. I read online that this model is part of TCL’s UltraThin Designer Series and it certainly is that. The soundbar is surprisingly slim and very light. The size is absolutely ideal, particularly for our TCL TV, where it sits on the stand in front of the TV and becomes practically unnoticeable. Compared to the soundbar it replaced this unit is probably about a third of the size which makes the entire entertainment setup look much cleaner and less bulky. Setup was quite simple. It was essentially plug-and-play, ie, connect everything, power it on, and it worked immediately with the TV. HDMI eARC helps make setup easy.  Honestly I didn’t feel the need to make many adjustments right away because the default "Standard" sound profile already sounded very balanced.  That said, I did use the AI Sonic Auto Room Calibration feature which analyzes your room and adjusts the sound output accordingly. After calibration, dialogue became noticeably clearer and the overall sound felt fuller and more balanced for our living room layout. Voices in movies and TV shows especially benefited from the tuning. For such a compact system the real test is whether the sound quality can measure up, and in my opinion this soundbar/subwoofer combo absolutely delivers. The wireless subwoofer adds solid low-end bass without overpowering the room, while the soundbar itself produces clean, detailed audio across movies, sports, streaming shows, and general TV viewing. Dialogue clarity is excellent, which is one of the biggest things I look for in a sound system. "Voice" mode really helps bring it out, and I've done some tweaking with the "Custom" setting to enhance dialogue as well. Like most soundbars, I expect it will take a little more time to fully dial in all the settings to my preferences and I’m still making small tweaks here and there. But so far I’ve been genuinely impressed with the overall performance. The combination of sleek design, easy setup, smart calibration features, and strong audio quality makes this a fantastic upgrade for my TCL television setup and at a reasonable price point. If you want a soundbar that looks clean, doesn’t dominate your entertainment center, and still produces rich, room-filling sound, the TCL A65K definitely fits that bill.

The TCL A65K 3.1.2 Channel Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer is a slim soundbar with minimalist aesthetics that produces sound that punches well above its weight. It’s designed to look great in any room and not take up so much space that it overpowers a room with messy clutter. It’s slim enough to be placed underneath a TV without blocking its remote sensor. In fact, the soundbar is so slim and light that I was a little skeptical about how well it would perform. Package Contents The package comes with the following items: The TCL A65K Soundbar itself with AC power brick and AC cord Wireless subwoofer with AC power cord Remote with batteries HDMI cables Mounting brackets Quickstart Manual, Warranty Pamphlets, and a Wall Mount Template Quick Specifications Audio by Bang & Olufen Supports Dolby Atmos & DTS:X 3.1.2 Physical channels 8 Sound Modes (Standard, Movie, Music, Voice, Game, Night, Sports, and Custom) EQ for bass and treble Individual level control for center, front top, and subwoofer TCL AI Sonic-Adaptation HDMI eARC 2.0 connector USB-A input Bluetooth 5.3 The TCL A65K Soundbar is a 3.1.2 channel system meaning it has 3 front channels (front left, front center, and front right), along with 1 low frequency channel (wireless subwoofer) and 2 up-firing channels for the height effects. The 6 channels are implemented using 9 physical drivers. The 3 front channels are implemented using a high-performance tweeter and a dual magnet racetrack-shaped full range driver. According to TCL, this system is capable of producing bass down to 40Hz and high frequency up to 20kHz. Setup Setup was very easy. Just connect an HDMI cable to the soundbar and your TV and plug in AC power to both the soundbar and wireless subwoofer. In my case, the wireless subwoofer automatically paired with the soundbar although the subwoofer does have a physical pairing button if something goes wrong. I currently have it hooked up to a 43-inch Hisense R6G 4K HDTV and mounted to the wall using Insignia Soundbar Wall Mounts. The soundbar automatically turns on when the TV is turned on and goes to sleep when I turn off the TV. Everything just worked out of the box. First Impressions The wireless subwoofer is compact and has a solid and hefty feel to it. The build quality seems premium. I prefer smaller compact subwoofers, so it doesn’t take up much floorspace and this is perfect for me. Also, living in a townhouse means I could never really take advantage of a huge subwoofer anyways. The soundbar itself is extremely light which didn’t give a good impression. It felt almost too light. There’s no way a soundbar this light and slim can produce a good sound. Sound Quality However, I was pleasantly surprised by the sound quality. It punches way above its weight. There is plenty of bass which provides the theater-like experience that people expect from a soundbar. There were many times I had to dial the bass down (by using Night mode) because I was worried that it would disturb my neighbors. The bass was crisp and tight which is how I like my bass. The midrange seemed balanced, neutral and natural. The TCL A65K also produces a decently wide soundstage with very clear dialog. When I sat right in front of it, it produced an enveloping sound when playing Dolby Atmos demos and there were times when it seemed the sound was actually moving around me. The surround effects were more subtle compared with soundbars having physical surround speakers, but I was pleasantly surprised, nonetheless. I have been testing the soundbar by binge watching shows like “The Boys” and watching YouTube videos. During my testing, I have mostly been using the Movie and Night sound modes with the Center Channel level up to +6. At these settings, I have been getting a great theater-like experience with very clear and crisp dialog. User Experience Overall, my experience with the TCL A65K has been great. It gives a theater-like experience and offers much improved sound over a TV’s built-in speakers. The more time I have spent with it, the more impressed I am with it. I appreciate the digital display on the soundbar which lets me know the status of the soundbar when I am using the remote. So, if I press the Sound Mode button on the remote to change the Sound Mode, the display will indicate which Sound Mode it is now on. If the soundbar didn’t have this display, I would need to use the TCL Home App to determine the sound mode. The remote is similar in design to remotes used for many streaming devices. It is not backlit which can make it difficult to determine which button to press in a darkened room. I found that it offers access to most of the features a user would want access to. For finer control and access to a few extra features, you would need to download the TCL Home App. One of these extra features is using AI Sonic Adaptation to calibrate your personal sonic environment. Once you have calibrated the system you can save it to a profile (you can have up to 3 different profiles saved). The remote allows you to toggle the AI Sonic Adaptation to one of the saved profiles or have it be OFF. To be honest, I’m not sure if I hear much difference between having it turned OFF or to one of the saved profiles. Another feature that the TCL Home App offers is something called Beosonic which allows you to tweak the sound to be more bright, relaxed, energetic or warm. I couldn’t really hear much difference when watching TV. I suspect this might be more noticeable when listening to music. The number of inputs to the TCL A65K is very limited. It only supports HDMI eARC, USB and Bluetooth. This isn’t a problem for me since I am using HDMI but for people that have an older TV that doesn’t have enough HDMI ports, the lack of an optical connector might be a problem. There are two improvements that I would like to see in the TCL Home App. There doesn’t seem to be any way to delete an AI Sonic Adaptation profile, and I would like the ability to remove a profile. I would also like the app to display information on the current sound format (Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Atmos, PCM etc.) that the soundbar is playing. Summary I can easily recommend the TCL A65K Soundbar and Wireless Subwoofer to anyone looking for a simple Dolby Atmos soundbar that looks great, takes up very little space, sounds great, and doesn’t need to use an optical port for connecting to the TV. The TCL A65K provides a theater-like experience, with clear dialog, and punches well above its weight compared to larger and bulkier soundbars.

Just going to dive right into it! PROS: -Absolutely fits perfectly on my newer TV console (measured prior). I was using a bigger "full size" TCL design, but ended up moving it to the bedroom. This A65K is the perfect compromise for space limited situations. -Multiple EARC seamless setting compatibility with Google TV. -Remote is modern and matches the newer TCL designs. CONS: -Sound isn't going to blow most people away if larger room, but it's a step up from onboard TV audio. Can't really beat physics, regardless of speaker driver tech. - HDMI cable as small and doesn't reach over to port on my 85" TCL TV. Had to swap to a longer cable, which worked fine. NEUTRAL: Sound is subjective, and it's a really nice overall package down to industrial design. I just don't know if I could recommend it fully unless you're limited on space innately. I think it's a good device, but lacks oomph in a typical 17x15 foot living room. Might be better in a smaller bedroom. OVERALL: I think this is a decent sound bar, but it's not going to fulfill every situation and I would generally recommend a lower cost entry design unless you're absolutely constraint on space. With that said, this is absolutely perfect if you need something smaller. Certainly better than onboard TV audio. I would look into an alternative TCL full-size design if you're focused on entertainment in a large room!

I recently got a new TV with all the technological bells and whistles. Outstanding pictures and great sound. However, for a great viewing experience, the sound has to match. I added the TCL A65K 3.1.2 Channel Designer Series Sound Bar to the equation and it left me impressed with its performance. Setting it up was so easy; a true plug-and-play device when you use the HDMI eARC connection. The soundbar is very thin and has a sophisticated look with a dark gray fabric-textured finish and rounded curves, and the build quality seems solid. I wasn’t expecting that much sound from such a thin device, and it sounded great. I must confess that when I learned the tuning was done by the legendary Bang & Olufsen, I got a bit biased. The 3 front channels, with a dedicated center channel, deliver accurate, clear sound. A pair of up-firing speakers placed on each end provides the necessary height effects for Dolby Atmos. The desert sequence in Dune: Part Two with the sandworms and sandstorms is among my favorite scenes to test the effectiveness of a Dolby Atmos audio device and the TCL A65K did impressively well with believable effects. The subwoofer also occupies a small footprint, making it easy to place, and delivers quite a punch. It won’t give out room shaking lows but the bass is solid and impactful. It doesn’t lose its sound quality when playing at high volumes. Beside the HDMI connection, it connects through Bluetooth, Apple Airplay 2 and also WiFi for update purposes. The A65K soundbar offers several sound modes such as movie, music, game and voice. My favorites are movies and music. In my experience, soundbars struggle at delivering good music sound but this one does a decent job at it. The sound delivery can be fine tuned to the room by using the AI Sonic Adaptation through the TLC app. It takes about 2 minutes to perform the tests and it’s not too complicated. In my opinion, it made a difference with the sound balance and clarity. With its clean design and high performance, the TCL A65K Designer Series Sound Bar delivers a great cinema-quality sound tuned by true professionals. It is a solid choice for those looking to upgrade their TV sound and take it to the next level at a very affordable price.

The Good! It sounds really good, it comes with eARC which is pretty much standard nowadays, but still, I’ve seen some newer soundbars with just ARC! It works as it’s supposed to, giving me control over it using just my TV remote. Sounds great on Apple TV, sounds great on the Nintendo Switch 2, and sounds great with the Nex Playground. The bass is also really punchy, I never was one of those guys to turn down the bass of a sound system before, but the bass here can be a bit too powerful which in my opinion is a good thing! It’s there when you need bass, but it’s something you can turn down fairly quickly. I really like the fact you can quickly get it to night mode, so that is a fast way to turn things down if you do want to have it rumbling. Set up was super easy, and again it sounds good, it also comes with wall mounting hardware and template if that’s something you want to do. That didn’t really apply for me though. Lastly in “The Good” category is it has an app that can help with some additional settings if you don’t wanna pull out the remote. The Bad The surround sound is rather lacking, I know it’s a soundbar, but I’ve heard some truly amazing soundbars that simulate surround really well. This unfortunately does not do that very well. Playing Resident Evil Requiem on the Switch 2 was meh at best for surround sound feel. However the sound was quality coming out. I could hear things, but just couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from. I have two docking stations for my Switch 2, and bringing it down to the basement and setting it in the dock there was significantly better on that soundbar. Still all that said, it’s still fine, I am very happy with it and would be bummed without it. It improves the sound of the TV drastically! So sounds good, but surround not so much. The Ugly I’ll keep this part short, the app is bad! Like really bad. First it forces you to sign up for an account so you’re giving TCL your information just to use the extra functions of the app. The app is glitchy on my iPhone, it crashed, and the app had a hard time connecting to the soundbar using Bluetooth for the “AI Sonic” profile. I finally got it to work, but it was not worth the hassle. I do like the convenience of using the app though, when my lazy butt doesn’t wanna get up and grab the remote though for mode changes, but other than that, I really think you can skip the app. It’s not good!

I bought a BRAND NEW TCL TV 65" and this to combo with it, and the sound bar and subwoofer need to be reconnected every time we power on the tv/soundbar. WHY?!

Soundbars that try to disappear into your living room usually make compromises somewhere. TCL's A65K is their new Designer Series model and the thing is thin. Like, two inches deep, tucks right under a TV and you kind of forget it's there. Looks great. Picking it up for the first time though? Made me nervous. Suspiciously light. But that skepticism lasted about ten seconds after I powered it on. There are nine drivers crammed into that slim frame, laid out in a 3.1.2 channel config with a pair of up-firing speakers that bounce Dolby Atmos effects off your ceiling. Bang & Olufsen tuned the audio on this one, and whatever they did to the factory defaults just works. I sat down after setup and didn't feel like I needed to touch anything. Dialogue is sharp, the dedicated center channel does its job well, and the wireless sub with the 6.5-inch driver hits harder than you'd expect for how compact it is. I ended up dialing the bass back a couple of clicks because it was too much in my room. Good problem to have. Setup barely deserves its own paragraph. HDMI cable goes into your TV's eARC port, you plug in the sub, they find each other automatically. Done. Wall mount hardware and an HDMI cable come in the box, which is a nice touch. Where I'd temper expectations is the surround effect. Front soundstage is wide and sounds really good, but the Atmos height effects stay subtle. Sound wasn't really wrapping around me or dropping from the ceiling in any dramatic way. Big step up from your TV's built-in speakers, absolutely, but anyone coming from a real multi-speaker surround setup should know going in that this is still a front-facing system. For a slim soundbar with up-firing drivers, the sense of space is pretty solid. Just don't expect a full home theater experience from something you can pick up with one hand. TCL includes a Home App that gives you access to the AI Sonic room calibration and some extra EQ controls like Beosonic. Calibration takes a couple minutes and I noticed an improvement in how balanced everything sounded for my room layout afterward. You can also fine-tune the center channel, subwoofer, and front top levels individually from the remote, which covers most of what you'd need on a daily basis. Connectivity runs through HDMI eARC, USB, and Bluetooth 5.3. No optical port, so if your TV doesn't have an eARC or ARC connection, keep that in mind before buying. For a soundbar built around looking good and fitting tight spaces, the A65K punches above its weight on the audio side. Bass is punchy, dialogue stays crisp, Night mode keeps things neighbor-friendly late at night, and the Bang & Olufsen tuning gives it a polish you can actually hear. If you want clean, room-filling sound without a bulky bar dominating your setup, this one delivers.

SETUP: Since I own and use daily a TCL Q65H soundbar with our primary HDTV, I am thoroughly familiar with the initial TCL configuration. Just plug the power to the units, use the supplied HDMI cable to your HDTV, install batteries in the remote, and you are basically good to go. APP: I highly recommend installing the Android or iOS application to be able to configure the A65K to its fullest capabilities. There are numerous sound preset choices, bass & treble settings, sub settings, and surround / Atmos settings. Add to the mix is the AI Sonic room calibration. And there’s more, a Bang & Olafson “Beosonic” option that simulates a joystick control for fine-tuning the overall soundstage from varying combinations of Bright, Energetic, Warm, and Relaxed. Very cool indeed. SOUND QUALITY: Using the application, I had zero issues with finding more than one setting for a balanced soundstage with immersive effects that did not overpower the actors’ dialogue that are always clear and completely understandable. And I am impressed with volume capabilities without encountering distortion. SIZE: Normally “size matters” with regard to drivers (speakers) with larger equating to improved sound quality and overall projection. But in this case, this diminutive soundbar does provide a better that average theater experience. And kudos for TCL incorporating racetrack speakers with dual magnet structures. The A64K may not be perfect for larger sized rooms, but it gets the job done without taking up substantial room real estate if that is an aesthetic requirement. ATMOS: The A65K actually is a true 3.1.2 system integrating dual up-firing Atmos speakers. Although they are very small drivers, they do provide a more realistic immersive soundstage versus simulated Atmos units. (Be aware that some other systems will claim “Atmos Compatible” by simulating up-firing speakers using virtual algorithms similar to surround sound without using rear speakers.) CONNECTIVITY LIMITATIONS: At the time of this review, both the Specifications and Features state the TCL A65K Soundbar has an HDMI Input port, an Optical Audio, and AUX inputs. None of that is true. The A65K only has one HDMI (eARC) for connection to your HDTV, Bluetooth, and a USB-A for audio files. That’s it… The problem this creates is the soundbar requires one of your HDTV HDMI ports but does not provide any means to replace the port it uses. Therefore, if your HDTV is already using all of its HDMI ports (like all of my current HDTV’s) for existing media, you will have to disconnect a device or purchase an aftermarket HDMI switcher. MISINFORMATION - HDMI Input: (Dolby Vision and 4K HDR pass-through on the HDMI input provides additional connectivity for your media player or gaming system.) MISINFORMATION - Digital Optical Audio Input: (Added flexibility for connection to TVs without HDMI ARC or eARC.) MISINFORMATION - AUX Input: (Easily connect legacy devices with the included auxiliary input.) MISINFORMATION - AirPlay 2: Playback music and podcasts wirelessly to your sound bar from your computer or mobile device. I have altered Best Buy (Did we get something wrong?) for these errors and hopefully both the Features and Specifications will be corrected shortly. In the meantime, buyers please beware or your existing HDMI available port requirements before considering the A65K. RATING: After using for the past 3-days, with a HDTV that required disconnection of one of my media devices (my Blu-Ray), I believe it earned itself a 4-Star Rating for better than average overall sound quality in the very small footprint package at a reasonable price point. Due to the connectivity limitations of not supplying an HDMI port to replace the one it uses, it lost 1-Stars. Finally, I will acknowledge this soundbar may function just fine in your home environment if you have an unused HDMI port available, or will consider removing one of your media devices, or intend to purchase an aftermarket HDMI source switching device for the HDTV you intend to pair with this soundbar. .

**Overall Rating:** ★★★★★ (5/5 Stars) **Pros:** * Incredible, crystal-clear sound quality with deep, rich bass from the wireless subwoofer. * Flawless, seamless setup even though my TV and remote are a completely different brand. * Zero programming needed—my current TV remote immediately controlled the soundbar out of the box! * Super sleek, low-profile design that fits perfectly in a bedroom setup. **Cons:** * A frustrating digital audio glitch during YouTube commercials (but it is easily fixed!). * Cannot expand the system with separate wireless/Bluetooth bed-side speakers. **Full Review:** I am absolutely in love with the sound profile of this TCL A65K system! I have it set up in my bedroom, and the audio clarity is fantastic, paired with phenomenal bass from the wireless subwoofer. Setting it up was completely seamless and hassle-free, even though my television is from a completely different manufacturer. What is truly wonderful is that I didn't even have to program my existing TV remote—as soon as I plugged everything in, it started working right away, and my regular remote controlled the soundbar perfectly. I actually intentionally waited an extra few days before writing this review because I initially encountered a massive frustration that almost ruined a perfect score for me. Every single time a commercial came on while I was watching YouTube, the soundbar would cut out and reset itself two or three times in a row. It was incredibly irritating! I discovered it’s just a digital format "handshake" glitch between YouTube's ad coding and the TV. If this happens to you, **DO NOT return the soundbar.** Simply open the YouTube app settings on your TV and turn OFF "5.1 Audio" (or change your TV's main audio output format to PCM). Doing this fixed the commercial stutter instantly and completely saved my sanity! My only minor wish is that you could buy separate, add-on wireless Bluetooth speakers to place right by the bed. Because this system is in my bedroom, when my fan is running on high and I'm laying down to watch TV, sometimes I can't hear what's on very well and would love to have speakers closer to me. You can't add extra speakers to this particular system, but it's still a minor issue compared to how great the overall setup is. I’m so glad I took the time to understand the system because it truly deserves a perfect 5-star rating. Highly recommended!

This is a beautiful piece of kit. The Bang & Olufsen tuning and super slim, sleek design are a welcome change from the black-box soundbars you usually see sitting under a TV. I’ve got this TCL A65K in my master bedroom under my 65-inch TV, and it fits the space perfectly. I use the TV mostly for the main streaming services, and a ton of stuff from my Plex server. The soundbar is wrapped in a nice dark gray fabric with subtle curved edges that make it look more like art than audio gear. It’s only about two inches deep, so it tucks right under the TV without covering the bottom bezel or messing with the remote sensor. The wireless subwoofer is smaller than expected, about the size of a medium storage bin, so I was able to slide it into the corner behind my nightstand without any hassle. Hooking everything up took maybe ten minutes. Just ran an HDMI eARC cable to the TV, plugged in the power cords, and the sub paired automatically. I went ahead and tried the AI room calibration through the TCL Home app. You hold your phone at ear level where you normally sit and it plays some test tones for a couple minutes. In my bedroom it didn’t totally transform the audio, but it did make a useful tweak. The center channel dialogue popped a lot better, and I could hear voices clearer even when the action got loud. You’ve got proper left, right, center, plus two up-firing Atmos height drivers that bounce sound off the ceiling. Throw in the wireless 6.5-inch sub and it actually digs down surprisingly low for such a compact system. I’ve seen specs saying it hits around 40Hz, and yeah, it feels like it. Total power is listed around 460 watts, and it never sounded like it was struggling even after I pushed it a bit. The Bang & Olufsen tuning keeps everything balanced—no harsh highs or bloated bass. It just sounds natural and refined. I’ve only had it a few days, but I’ve already put it through some Atmos and DTS:X tracks, and that’s where this soundbar really showed what it could do. Dune: Part Two was the first big one I tried. Those sandworm scenes are ridiculous in Atmos, and the A65K made the whole room feel huge. You hear the deep rumbles shaking through the sub while the height channels create this overhead sense of swirling sand and ships flying above you. Dialogue stayed clear the whole time, even when the score kicked in hard. I also threw on Top Gun: Maverick. The jet flyovers have this perfect whoosh that moves across and above you. During the carrier deck scenes, the engine noise hit hard but the radio chatter from the center channel stayed crisp. It genuinely felt cinematic right in my bedroom. Music has sounded surprisingly good too on the stuff I’ve streamed from Plex and Tidal. The bass stays tight and the vocals come through clean. I’ve been messing with the different presets—Movie mode for films and Night mode when I want to keep things quiet but still hear everything. The app lets you tweak EQ if you feel like getting into it. Connectivity is solid. HDMI eARC passes full lossless Atmos and DTS:X from the TV without problems. Bluetooth 5.3 works great for streaming from my phone, and my TV remote controls the basic stuff. The soundbar turns on automatically with the TV, which is convenient. It comes with brackets if you want to mount it on the wall. A couple small things worth mentioning after a few days: the sub still needs its own power outlet, so you have to plan that. The app is fine but feels a little clunky in spots—like the menus could be cleaner. And while the Atmos heights work really well in my bedroom with normal 8-9 foot ceilings, I could see someone in a huge open living room maybe wanting extra speakers later. Volume gets more than loud enough for a bedroom setup. After using it every day for these first few days—binge-watching shows and movies—I’m really happy I picked this up. At around $500 it feels like a solid value. It replaced my old bulky soundbar and the difference in both looks and performance is already obvious. The design is elegant, the B&O tuning makes it sound refined, and the immersive stuff actually works without turning my bedroom into a speaker jungle. If you want good sound but hate the cluttered look of traditional setups, the TCL A65K is worth checking out. It’s one of those rare products that looks as good as it performs. Definitely a beautiful piece of kit that delivers on the promise.

I was reworking a small guest room and wanted a sound bar to help out my TV. As it is a small room, I was looking for the soundbar to have a subwoofer, but a smaller one. I had no room for a giant 12 inch cube the size of an end table. This TCL package gives me that. I really like the design of this soundbar. It's very simple and sleek. It pretty much disappears in front of the TV and the slim subwoofer is easy to hide away. Setting it up was very simple. You can put it on the stand in front of the TV (which I did) or it comes with brackets and a template to mount it on the wall. Then Just plug in the power and hook to TV with hdmi. The subwoofer is already paired at the factory so everything just started working! It has all the features I need and then some. The multiple choices of sound options is great depending on what you're watching and Bluetooth if you just want music. This does have a display, which I think every sound bar should have. Visual feedback of what you're doing is a must. Nicely hidden away behind the fabric. I'm very impressed by the sound this little guy can put out. When I unpacked it, I was a little worried due to how small the soundbar is, but that was short lived. TCL chose the right partnership with Bang & Olufson! Voices are nice and clear and you'll definitely get fully immersed in your movies. I definitely recommend this soundbar if you're tight on space or just wanting a clean look.

I paired this soundbar system with a projector and was worried I’d run into some hiccups, but it ended up being as close to a plug‑and‑play experience as possible. It comes with everything you need right in the box—HDMI cable, wall‑mount kit, and the remote. The soundbar itself is insanely thin, so I definitely recommend mounting it or securing it to something so it’s not at risk of being bumped or knocked off from a height. The built‑in center speaker makes dialogue super easy to hear. I hate when I’m watching a show or movie and the music or action is a whole octave louder than the voices. This system completely fixes that. The wireless subwoofer is the perfect addition too—the added bass makes everything sound clear, full, and vibrant. Using the TCL Home app is necessary, but setup is quick and painless. I also love that even though I mainly use this with my projector, I can connect my phone as well. It really makes the whole system feel versatile and fully utilized. Overall, this is a great sound system that checks all the boxes for me. Def recommend!

The A65K makes for a very good looking, compact audio system. With specs you'd usually see in something a bit bulkier, a wireless subwoofer that can be tucked away anywhere, and an included option for wall mounting, it's probably one of the easiest audio systems to integrate into just about any living room theater setup I've come across. Unfortunately, it struggles to perform quite as well as it looks. As mentioned, the soundbar looks great. Setup can be accomplished in just a few minutes, with only two plugs and one cable to worry about. Basic quality of life features like CEC for power and volume control worked out of the box, all of the supported audio formats worked without any added latency, pops, or dropouts, and if you do want to try and mount it all the hardware and mounting templates are included. One peeve of mine is that it does have only the one HDMI port for ARC - so you are going to be losing the use of that HDMI port on your TV. With fewer and fewer people bothering with physical media these days I recognize that's becoming less of a dealbreaker than it once was, but I still have a fair number of older boxes that need HDMI so there was definitely some grumbling at having to break out an old HDMI splitter to get things working. Unfortunately, that's where the experience dropped off somewhat. While audio quality is a definite step up from the built in TV speakers (owing in a large part to the subwoofer, which demonstrated excellent responsiveness) it's not quite as much of an improvement as I might have hoped. While the audio is surprisingly well tuned for what it is, there is an unfortunate gap in the frequency response between the tweeters and the sub, which deprives the system of some body in the final sound. Anything that can trigger the sub will feel suitably bass-y for you to feel it in your chest, but dialog and music sounds rather tinny and compressed. The best results I got were by switching it to movie mode, which amps up the low end enough to help compensate for this but unfortunately also seemed to be drowning out a lot of the dialog and sound effects. How much of a problem that will be is likely going to depend on whoever did the audio mix for whatever you might be watching. This might have been a bit easier to live with if one of the other features of the system - cheap, satellite-free surround, had been able to deliver with some added immersion. Unfortunately I can't really recommend it if that what you're looking for. While fully integrated surround sound has come surprisingly far as of late the A65K is not an especially good example of the tech. I didn't really notice anything to suggest the upper channels were significantly extending the soundscape overhead, and without side or rear channels it mostly just sounds like stereo, just with better mixing. So despite the system winning points for ease of setup and aesthetics, I can't really recommend it as anything more than a basic update for your TV sound. It's a soundbar for the bedroom or the gym, not your main viewing area.

I have several sound bars of various sizes and price ranges, and I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It's compact, but provides a rich and clear sound that's been a perfect partner to my office AV system. The TCL A65K bar is definitely thin, but coupled with its subwoofer (which is also narrow and sleek), it delivers enough power to feel the rumbly bass of an action scene, yet not muddy voices. Music expands and fills the room! It's really a small thing, but I LOVED the fact that simple sound bar mount brackets are included. The mounting template lined up perfectly and everything screws in secured - and I'm not worried about the bar causing stress on the brackets because it's so light weight. Although not needed for standard operation, there is a TCL Home app that provides easier configuration access than what's done with the remote or directly on the sound bar. The app allows you to update firmware, set the AI room profile (which works beautifully, BTW) and even set the audio-video sync offset if needed. Yes, you have to register an account in order to use the app. If I were to have any complaint about the bar, it's that I wish it had additional inputs (optical and/or RCA). As it stands, both its HDMI-ARC and bluetooth inputs are reliable and haven't given me any problems.

This is a very nice soundbar, and I’ve been using it for about a week now. I’ve experienced several soundbars over the years, and all have generally sounded very good to excellent, with this TCL among the excellent. My most recent big-screen TV made a point of stating in its setup manual that you don’t need a soundbar with this TV because its sound quality is so excellent. I don’t doubt that, but I think a soundbar is a tremendous improvement over most any TV’s built-in sound system. Like most new soundbars these days, this one works best with a TV HDMI port that has the eARC capability. Most TVs sold in the last few years have at least one HDMI port with this feature, and it’s labeled “eARC.” This capability allows two-way communication between the TV and the peripheral, and, in this case, it allows, among other things, the soundbar’s volume level to be controlled by the TV’s remote control. Setup could not be simpler. Simply connect it to your TV, plug it in, locate and plug in the included subwoofer, and turn everything on. The bar should pair automatically with the subwoofer, and you’re off to the races. Instructions are included to manually pair the subwoofer, but I did not need to. There is a display on the soundbar that provides all sorts of information, including power status (on or off), audio source, whether or not the subwoofer is paired, volume level, and which of the various optional sound modes is in use. This soundbar features more modes than I’ve ever seen in a soundbar, including Standard, Movie, Music, Voice, Game, Night, Sports, and Custom. Yikes! It took me a half-hour playing with them all to find what I liked best for just regular TV, and it turned out to be Standard. Included in the package is wall-mounting hardware, which I did not use. My TV is mounted above the fireplace, and the soundbar is on the mantle right below, so it’s a perfect place for it. The subwoofer is recommended to be on the floor near the TV. I have mine a few feet off to one side to keep it away from the fireplace, and it sounds fine. It’s a subwoofer to give a real sense of presence that really sets apart a soundbar setup from a TV’s built-in sound system, and it’s why I like soundbars so much. So go and buy one of these. You’ll love it.