Sound quality: Hisense's HS219 has Fair overall sound quality - this model has sonic shortcomings that leave a lot to be desired when listening to music but don't rule it out for dialog. The soundbar was assessed in the Music "EQ" sound mode with the "Surround" sound mode set to off, the bass level set to "0", the treble level set to provide the most even tonal balance with the midrange, and the subwoofer placed away from the back and side walls of the listening room. Bass goes deep, but has excessive impact, is very prominent, tubby and muddy, and with some program material is also thuddy and sounds like it is bottoming out; there is a doubling effect due to this model's soundbar/subwoofer noticeable latency (the lag between the time the soundbar and subwoofer receives and reproduces their parts of the same audio signal). Midrange is fairly even, but is somewhat congested and muffled, and is overwhelmed by any bass content. Due to this model's noticeable soundbar/subwoofer latency and lack of filtering out of midrange notes from the subwoofer, lower midrange tones were also subject to noticeable doubling effects. Treble is somewhat subdued. It does a so-so job of recovering the actual room ambience from the recording and the overall sound is somewhat congested. The stereo sound field extends a bit above and not much beyond the width of the soundbar, and lacks front to back depth. Unlike most other soundbar/subwoofer systems the subwoofer of this system calls attention to itself and can be heard as separate from the soundbar; depending on where it is positioned this sense of separation can be more or less pronounced. The various sound modes have a noticeable effect on the sound field and/or tonal balance. When 5.1 channel program material is played back in the Music mode the width and height of the sound stage expands, and depending on the program material extends somewhat above and a bit beyond the sides the soundbar enclosure. The various sound modes have a noticeable but minimal effect on the sound field and/or tonal balance. There was no significant difference in sound quality between the HDMI ARC, optical, coaxial, Aux, USB, and Bluetooth inputs. The bass level control was set to "0" (the soundbar's default bass level setting) during our tests because of a defect in the design of this model; regardless of the level the bass control was set to, changing the soundbar volume caused the bass level to change back the default ("0") setting on both of our test samples. Even though the actual bass setting was "0" and the lower frequency tones of the soundbar reverted back to what they were with the bass default setting, the displayed bass level setting did not change. This model was also tested with the subwoofer placed much further away from the wall behind it than is usual, or even practical in most use situations. Placing the subwoofer closer to a wall to the rear of it would have resulted in even more prominent bass, and due to the previously noted tone control issues any reduction of the bass using the bass level setting would only last until the soundbar's volume level was changed. The system can provide satisfying volume in a medium sized room.
TV setup and ease of use: good overall.
Features setup and ease of use: good overall.
