Creative Sound Blaster Katana V2 soundbar review: Game on

(Pocket-lint) - One portion of accusation that should beryllium wider cognition extracurricular of enthusiast tech-lovers is that adjacent an mean soundbar universally makes for an upgrade connected built-in TV speakers. Despite immense leaps guardant successful surface exertion implicit the years, adjacent fancy tellies typically conscionable dependable a spot middling.

• Best soundbar rated 2021: Boost your TV audio with these speakers

In an perfect world, though, you'd drawback a soundbar that makes for a immense betterment - but they tin often outgo a tiny fortune. That's wherever Creative's second-gen Katana fits into the puzzle, delivering eye-catching goods with ear-jangling goodness, including a abstracted subwoofer.

We tin attest to the astronomical volumes the Katana V2 tin easy reach, but conscionable however bully is its wide prime and is determination thing missing from this package?

Design

• Soundbar: 600 x 95 x 62 mm
• Subwoofer: 150 x 367 x 367 mm
• RGB underlighting, LCD accusation display

The past procreation of Creative's Katana already had a reasonably coagulated acceptable of looks, truthful Creative has efficaciously chosen to refine that alternatively than commencement from the crushed up. The caller mentation is simply a precise akin size and falls easy into the compact extremity of the market.

Our mean soundbar is the Sonos Beam, and the Katana V2 is really a bully woody smaller than that already diminutive bar, truthful we're decidedly impressed by however shrunken it is. This makes it casual to slot nether a TV connected your stand, oregon successful immoderate statement you mightiness use.

That said, it's evidently got a connected subwoofer which is decidedly bigger, and fitting that into/around your setup is apt to beryllium a spot much of a challenge, if it's thing similar our situation. Still, erstwhile you find a way, we deliberation the soundbar looks beauteous solid.

It's got an LCD show connected the beforehand that'll fto you cognize what root you're playing from astatine a glance, on with measurement and different accusation becoming visualised arsenic you alteration it. Underneath the bar, there's RGB underlighting which makes for a bully effect - benignant of similar Ambilight for soundbars (as you mightiness person seen successful immoderate Philips TVs).

That lighting has a music-reaction mode that's connected by default which we recovered beauteous janky, though, flickering distant overmuch much than desired. That's faded overmuch much nicely into the inheritance erstwhile we utilized Creative's app to disable it.

The Katana V2 is finished successful a bully brushed metal, though we recovered that it collected particulate similar nary one's business. The beforehand has a grille, the aforesaid arsenic 2 sections connected the apical of the 'bar.

The abstracted subwoofer is the explanation of nondescript successful the looks department, truthful is amended disconnected hidden. That's benignant of the constituent of it though. But you'll privation it arsenic cardinal arsenic imaginable to present bass wherever it should be.

Sound quality

• 5.1 virtual situation system
• Dolby audio (but not Atmos)
• 50 - 20,000 Hz frequence range

If you're blessed with however the soundbar looks, of course, the biggest adaptable is truly however it sounds. We've recovered the Katana V2 a spot of a grab-bag of positives and negatives, connected that front.

On the 1 hand, from the infinitesimal we connected it, we've been impressed by its maximum volume. This happening tin crank retired actively antisocial levels of sound, acold much than we tin truly ideate anyone needing successful a mean home setting. We were typically down connected the 3rd oregon 4th rung (out of much than 50), an absurd grade of powerfulness that could easy capable ample rooms.

That's each good and good, but thankfully there's besides a richness to that dependable which means it should dependable bully astatine precocious levels, too, with loads of warmth and bass acknowledgment to that chunky subwoofer. Swapping betwixt dependable profiles besides brings noticeable changes, which is useful for antithetic types of contented - movies, sport, gaming, news, nighttime viewing, and truthful on.

This is simply a gaming soundbar archetypal and foremost, though, and we utilized it successful a assortment of genres to spot however it managed. In shooters similar Call of Duty: Warzone we recovered that we were so capable to prime retired the benignant of footstep audio that's usually reserved for headset users, though not 100 per cent of the time.

In the sprawling RPG Tales of Arise, meanwhile, the swells of the soundtrack dependable excellent. That said, connected the soundbar's gaming mode we recovered that dialog was a small undercooked and prone to getting mislaid successful the premix - thing that we had to tackle with our ain equaliser edits.

Overall, portion we're impressed by the brute unit of its volume, and the warmth of its dependable is mostly thing you tin trust on, we're inactive a small disappointed by the Katana V2's subtlety - oregon deficiency thereof. You won't needfully beryllium wowed by however consistently it deals with lows and highs.

Features

• EQ customisation
• Lighting controls

This isn't a soundbar that's airy connected features, to beryllium fair, truthful if you privation plentifulness of options past it's got much than capable up its sleeve. For 1 thing, the distant is acold amended than past clip around, with mode much controls, including customized buttons that you tin representation to shortcuts successful the originative app.

In that aforesaid app, you tin power (or crook off) the RGB lights to an awesome grade of precision, and play astir with your preferred dependable settings. Creative has been astir the artifact much than a fewer times, truthful you'll really find equilibrium settings circumstantial to games and bid you mightiness beryllium into, for quicker setups.

There are besides loads of ways to link to the soundbar, comprising Bluetooth 5.0, HDMI ARC, Optical-in, AUX-in, USB-C and SXFI-out. That should beryllium much than capable for astir people, and the summation of HDMI ARC - audio instrumentality transmission via the HDMI port, truthful visuals and audio tin beryllium handled from a azygous root - is simply a chunky bonus compared to the past mentation that lacked it.

There's besides a headphone jack connected the beforehand of the barroom for those who privation to sometimes walk their audio done for much sociable listening astatine aboriginal hours, and we're impressed by the information shown by that layout.

Writing by Max Freeman-Mills. Editing by Mike Lowe. Originally published connected 21 October 2021.